Mayor Patrick Henry Hays

Chair of the Board, ICLEI USA

Mayor, City of North Little Rock, Arkansas

Mayor Hays, a native of North Little Rock and a 1965 graduate of North Little Rock High School.  Mayor Hays is an attorney educated in Political Science and Law at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.  He practiced law in North Little Rock from 1973 until November, 1988, when he was elected Mayor.  Mayor Hays is currently serving his sixth four-year term.

While in law school and practicing law, Mayor Hays was active in the American Bar Association, serving as President of the Law Student Division and a National Officer in the Young Lawyers Division.

Mayor Hays' legal career, in addition to private practice, included: serving as Assistant City Attorney for the City of North Little Rock; assisting the Arkansas Secretary of State as Chief Legal Counsel; elected to the 1979-80 Arkansas Constitutional Convention; and elected State Representative for District 66 and served in the 76th (1987-1988) Arkansas General Assembly.

Mayor Hays is a current member and Past President (twice) of Metroplan, the regional council of local governments for central Arkansas and Past President of the Arkansas Municipal League.  He serves on the Board of Directors of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of Commerce, the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Arkansas.

Active for many years in the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Mayor Hays was elected to the Conference's Advisory Board in 1996.  In 1999, he was elected as a Trustee.  As one of 13 Trustees, Mayor Hays shares in the executive and policy-making responsibility for the Conference.  As a strong advocate of rail transportation, Mayor Hays served as Co-Chair of the Conference's Rail System Restoration Task Force. He serves as Vice Chair for Railroads and Passenger Rail of the Transportation and Communications Committee.  Mayor Hays has been on the Conference's Energy Committee for more than 15 years and is presently a Vice Chairman of the Committee.

In June, 2003, Mayor Hays was appointed Chairman of Amtrak's Mayors' Advisory Council. Additionally, Mayor Hays serves on the National League of Cities' Energy, Environmental and Natural Resources Steering Committee, as one of 39 members, who recommend energy and environmental policy to the governing body of the National League of Cities.

Mayor Hays currently serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of ICLEI USA.  He also serves on the ICLEI USA Executive Committee, the Policy Committee, and the North America Regional Executive Committee.

Mayor Hays is a recognized leader in community economic development, neighborhood revitalization, community-oriented policing, historic preservation and recreation development.

Mayor Hays is married to Linda and they have a daughter, Josie, and three grandchildren, Savannah Lou, Isabella Jo, and Harper.