Mayor Holt presides over annual U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting

Published on June 09, 2026

In his closing act as president of the nation's mayors, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt presided over the 94th Annual Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors in Long Beach, California. At the conclusion of the meeting, Mayor Holt turned the gavel over to the new president, Mayor Todd Gloria of San Diego.

The meeting lasted for four days and included seven plenary sessions and over 50 breakout sessions. Mayor Holt presided over all plenary sessions and played a central role throughout the proceedings.

During plenary sessions, Mayor Holt interviewed California Governor Gavin Newsom, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, actor Danny Trejo, hip hop artist Chuck D, LA28 Chair Casey Wasserman, and visual artist Ed Ruscha, among others. Ruscha is an Oklahoma City native who graduated from Northwest Classen High School. Holt presented him with the Citizen Artist Award on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Americans for the Arts.

Mayor Holt was also a key participant in the evening events hosted by Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson. Notably, Mayor Holt helped Mayor Richardson bestow the Key to the City of Long Beach to Long Beach native Snoop Dogg. Mayor Holt also presented Snoop Dogg with the Citizen Artist Award.

For the last year, Mayor Holt has served as the 83rd President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. In this role, Holt has represented the nation’s mayors in national media and at gatherings around the world. He also presided over the Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C., and hosted leadership meetings in Oklahoma City in September 2025 and in Los Angeles in February.

In addition to the programming at those meetings, some of his legacies at the U.S. Conference of Mayors include the adoption of the organization’s first bylaws, which Holt wrote, and Holt’s updating of the organization’s Constitution. Additionally, Holt has worked with bipartisan Members of Congress to support a landmark housing bill that appears on the cusp of final passage. And Holt drafted the Oklahoma City Declaration, a statement in support of pluralism, compromise and civility, and against political violence. The Oklahoma City Declaration has been signed by over 230 mayors.

A member of the Osage Nation, Mayor Holt is believed to have been the first Native American President of the United States Conference of Mayors. Former Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett served as the 74th President of the United States Conference of Mayors in 2016-2017. Oklahoma City is the 18th city to have had at least two USCM presidents. Oklahoma City also hosted the 78th Annual Meeting in 2010 when Cornett was in office, and Holt was serving as his chief of staff.

The United States Conference of Mayors was formed in 1932 and is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. Today, there are over 1,400 such cities in the country, and each member city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor.

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