Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner speaks as mayors from around the country listen during a press conference at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel during the U.S. Conference of Mayors Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. (Photo by Hans Gutknecht, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG)
Long Beach is set to host the U.S. Conference of Mayors — a major event which draws hundreds of political leaders from across the country to its host city each year — in June 2026.
The UCSM, according to a Monday, June 24 press release from Meet Long Beach, is a nonpartisan organization representing cities with populations of 30,000 people or more.
The annual meeting will also serve as a platform for the organization to outline its priorities for advocacy at the federal level.
The first conference, according to the organization’s website, took place during the Great Depression when Detroit Mayor Frank Murphy gathered city leaders from across the country to call on Congress for economic relief — which the federal government provided after their request.
“(The) conference continues to be the leading voice of cities in our nation’s capital,” USMC’s website said, “(and) to this day is a nonpartisan forum where mayors engage directly with the President and Congress on the most pressing issues of the day.”
The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ 94th annual meeting, which will take place in Long Beach, will bring together mayors from the organization’s 1,400 member cities to discuss various issues and policy priorities.
“The annual meeting is one of two major meetings the organization hosts each year to adopt policy resolutions that guide the organization’s advocacy work,” the news release said.
Discussions will include key issues affecting major cities, including homelessness, mental health, gun violence, the environment, and more.
Mayor Rex Richardson, who serves on the USCM Advisory Board and has participated in the organization’s events in the past, said Long Beach hosting the annual meeting will be an important opportunity for the city to show off its leadership on homelessness, climate, infrastructure, and economic development policy.
“I look forward to welcoming America’s mayors to Long Beach (for the U.S.) Conference of Mayors,” Mayor Rex Richardson said in the news release. “This is a time of dynamic change and opportunity in Long Beach, and I am eager for the Conference to see it up close.”
The event will get underway in Long Beach in June 2026.
