Thursday, November 12, 2009

Know Your Mayors (12 of 21) Joe Riley of Charleston, SC




Today we feature one of America's longest serving mayors as we profile Joe Riley (D) of Charleston, SC, who was first elected in 1975.

Riley was born in 1943, and he is an alumnus of The Citadel, a military college located in Charleston.

Now in his ninth term, Riley--- according to The City of Charleston's web site--- has helped the city increase its commitment to racial harmony and progress, achieve a substantial decrease in crime and assisted in the revitalization of the city's downtown.

Riley has won many state and national awards, including being named Municipal Leader of the Year by American City and County in 1991.

Riley is also a member of the bipartisan Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, and he was mayor when Charleston was struck by the devastation of Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

UPDATES- There are some changes to mayors that we have previously featured in this series. While Bill Bell (D) remains the mayor of Durham, NC, Yvonne Johnson (D) was defeated in a shocking upset by Republican challenger Bill Knight. Charlotte, NC's new mayor-elect Anthony Foxx (D) will replace retiring Republican mayor Pat McCrory, who unsucesfully ran for governor last year.

And, Mark Kleinschmidt (D) takes over as Chapel Hill, NC, mayor replacing Kevin Foy (D) who chose not to run for another. Foy endorsed Kleinschmidt in that election.

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