The leadership of the U.S. Conference of Mayors met in Denver, CO, September 24-25 to begin deliberations on a new action agenda to carry into the upcoming Presidential and Congressional election year. Conference President and Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb told over 45 mayors that "with the increased confidence in the nation's cities, mayors have a rare opportunity to outline and advocate a more vigorous national agenda for cities. "

Also attending the meeting were National League of Cities President and Mayor of South Bay, (FL) Clarence Anthony, National Association of Counties President and Commissioner of Howard County, (MD) C. Vernon Gray, and the Large Urban County Caucus Chairman and Prince Georges County (MD) Executive Wayne Curry. In partnership with these three national leaders, Webb pledged to take a united voice for local government into the election cycle.

At the three day meeting the mayors were joined by business leaders and other speakers who addressed current urban issues which included such topics as - untapped markets, the labor skills gap, public schools, gun safety, brownfields redevelopment, and drug prevention.

Mayor Webb kicked off his presidency of the Conference in New Orleans last June when he challenged mayors to think "outside the box " as national leaders. Emphasizing public safety, public schools, and economic revitalization as the cornerstones of healthy, vibrant cities, he encouraged his colleagues in June to creatively address new ways to promote the competitive assets of cities, to help working families, and to promote smart growth and regional cooperation. Much of the Denver leadership meeting was devoted to continuing the debate on how best to form a new partnership between the federal government and its cities in those areas.

Along with their coalition of city and county organizations, it was clear that Mayors will try to position themselves as central figures in the upcoming 2000 elections.  Mayor Webb reminded both the mayors and business leaders that "our economy is being driven by 317 powerful metropolitan economic engines. " He suggested that cities will come to the election debate from a position of strength as key players in the nation's economy and that urban/suburban areas are critical to continuing economic growth.

Conference Advisory Board Chairman and New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial in the closing press conference said, "Mayors were serving notice to every presidential candidate in each party that our interests will not be ignored. When your talking about the cities and the suburbs, you're talking about huge blocs of votes, " Morial added.

Mayor Webb told the gathering that in previous elections local officials had waited for the candidates to come to them, but next year local officials planned to aggressively take their message and vision for a new partnership with cities to the candidates. "We have a coalition with the National Association of Counties, the Large Urban County Caucus, and the National League of Cities, so we are stronger " "With a coalition of this size, the candidates will be more likely to listen to us, " he said. NLC President and South Bay Mayor Clarence Anthony said, "we look forward to a strong partnership with the Conference, NACo and LUCC to carry a strong voice into the campaign. "

Throughout the meeting the mayors discussed the status of congressional action on priority issues and reviewed several Conference initiatives that will undoubtedly influence and presage what they will tell the candidates as the campaign season gets underway:

Brownfields/Superfund Reform

Fort Wayne Mayor Paul Helmke called for the mayors to continue their push for more co- sponsors to H.R. 1300, the "Recycling America's Land Act " that Representatives Bud Shuster (PA) and Jim Oberstar (MN) have championed in the 106th Congress. This bipartisan brownfields/ Superfund reform bill is among the top legislative priorities for the Conference during this Congress. Helmke specifically urged each mayor to secure one new cosponsor to help move the bill to the House floor, pointing out that H.R. 1300 has already garnered nearly 140 cosponsors.

In a related initiative, the mayors heard from Ralph Grossi, President of the American Farmland Trust, who outlined a number of strategies to bring mayors and agricultural interests together around the issues of farmland preservation and urban redevelopment. The discussion focused on the partnership opportunities between the two organizations, a joint effort which was launched by then Conference President and Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini at the New Orleans Annual Meeting.

Aviation (AIR-21)

Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth L. Barr led a discussion with mayors on pending aviation legislation, underscoring the Conference's strong support for the Shuster/Oberstar bipartisan aviation bill, known as "AIR-21 " (H.R. 1300), legislation which passed the House 316-110 in June. Noting how AIR-21 provides for significant increases in federal spending commitments to airport investment and capacity-building at the Federal Aviation Administration over the next five years, he called on the mayors to contact their Senators to urge action on pending aviation legislation, requesting Senators to work toward legislation and aviation funding commitments as provided in the House-passed bill. It was noted that Senate leaders schedule a Senate Committee proposal which simply extends current aviation programs, with some modest spending increases, through the next fiscal year. Just before the Denver Meeting, Conference President Wellington E. Webb wrote to mayors requesting contacts with their Senators on the aviation legislation.

Gun Safety

At the suggestion of Bridgeport Mayor Joseph P. Ganim, Co-Chair of the Gun Violence Task Force, the Conference sent a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert requesting immediate action on gun safety legislation. The letter was sent in response to reports the negotiations on the juvenile justice bill, the Senate version of which contains important gun safety proposals including closing the gun show loophole, had stalled.

The letter, signed by 27 mayors, stated, "As the leadership of The U.S. Conference of Mayors is meeting this week in Denver to set the priorities for our nation's cities in the year ahead, we are alarmed by the reports of slow progress toward a conference agreement on gun safety legislation. This is particularly disturbing in light of the fact that so many of the mayors in our organization came to Washington, DC with their police chiefs on September 9 -- Gun Safety Day -- appealing for quick action on gun safety. "

The letter concluded, "As we made clear on September 9, for every day that action is delayed, the gun violence death toll mounts in our cities. You have before you now what is truly a life and death issue. We ask for your leadership. "

Methamphetamine Conference Announced January 26, 2000

With the support of Conference President Webb, Boise Mayor H. Brent Coles, Vice President and Drug Control Task Force Co-Chair, announced that a special meeting on the methamphetamine crisis in mid-sized cities and rural communities will be held on January 26, 2000 in Washington, DC. The methamphetamine meeting will be held on the front end of the Conference's 68th Winter Meeting.

The meeting will focus on the rapidly emerging issue of methamphetamine in America, discuss the unique needs of smaller and mid-sized communities to deal with the crisis, and develop prevention, treatment and interdiction strategies for methamphetamine which can then be applied to cities of all sizes as the methamphetamine crisis spreads across the nation.

The Conference is working in partnership with the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA), led by Joseph Califano, on this initiative.

Domestic Terrorism Initiative

Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin, Waco Mayor Mike Morrison and El Paso Mayor Carlos Ramirez briefed the mayors on the Conference's continuing initiative on weapons of mass destruction preparedness. As all three mayors stressed, the emergency preparedness and management issues which surround a WMD event greatly differ from a more traditional natural emergency or terrorist bombing. The mayors urged their colleagues to engage in this issue and participate in upcoming sessions on the subject to be offered by the Conference of Mayors.

Youth Opportunity Grant Program

Mayors reacted strongly to news during the conference that the appropriations subcommittee on Labor-HHS had slashed funds to train and upgrade the skills of those living in cities. In a letter addressed to Rep. C.W. Young (FL), the Conference leadership called elimination of the Youth Opportunity Grant Program and a cut of $100 million in funding for Summer Jobs and year-round youth "no sense in light of the skills gap in our country. " The mayors previously had released a survey showing that 86 percent of cities suffer shortages of technology workers; 73 percent suffer shortages of health workers; 72 percent lack enough construction workers to fill available jobs; and 50 percent lack enough workers to fill retail and wholesale jobs.

Urban Water Council

Wilmington Mayor James Sills and Lynn Mayor Patrick McManus reviewed the work of the Urban Water Council and its upcoming Urban Water Summit, October 6-8 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. The mayors debated how competition had been used in a select number of cities to dramatically reduce operating costs in water and wastewater treatment facilities. The Council two years ago was successful in convincing the Department of Treasury to issue regulations that allow cities to enter into 20 year management contracts for such services. This provision has resulted in the private sector providing cities such as Atlanta, GA, Wilmington, DE, and Bridgeport, CT, significant savings in their operations of such facilities.

Community Development and Housing

Rockford Mayor Charles Box briefed the Conference of Mayors Leadership on the FY2000 VA/HUD Appropriations bills passed by the House and the Senate. He told the mayors that there are differences between the two bills, with the House bill being the most severe in cuts to community development and housing programs. The House bill, passed on September 9, cuts the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program by $250 million and the HOME Investment Partnership program by $20 million. Homeless funds and funding for lead hazard reduction are also cut. 

Several new Administration initiatives which are dedicated to economic revitalization were not funded by the House or the Senate. These include: the $37 million America's Private Investment Companies (APIC) that would leverage $1 billion in new capital investment; the $50 million Abandoned Buildings program that would help reduce dilapidated structures inhibiting the redevelopment of communities; the $125 million Community Empowerment Fund that would leverage $625 million in loans to city-suburb economic programs; and, the $50 million Regional Connections that would help develop and implement region-wide strategies for promoting economic growth and jobs creation.

Neither bill provides funding for new incremental housing vouchers. Both bills cuts HOPE VI, the distressed public housing program. The Senate bill also cut the Community Builder Initiative, the urban peace corps program created by HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo a little over a year ago.

Mayor Box told the mayors that the Conference was pleased with the Senate bill's funding of the CDBG program at $4.8 billion and HOME at $1.6 billion.

At the conclusion of his remarks, Mayor Box circulated a letter for mayoral signatures to be sent to Representative James T. Walsh, Chair of the House VA, HUD and Independent Agencies Subcommittee and Senator Christopher S. Bond, Chair of the Senate VA, HUD and Independent Agencies. The letter urged the House and Senate conferees to fund the CDBG and HOME programs at the Senate level, and to fund all other housing and community development programs, including the new economic revitalization initiatives, at the Administration's request.

Internet Tax

Dearborn Mayor Michael Guido told the Conference leadership that the Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce held its second meeting in New York September 14 and 15.  He said during the meeting that a few industry representatives claimed that state and local sales taxes were too complex and burdensome to apply to electronic commerce. However, the Conference, the National Association of Counties (NACo) and National League of Cities (NLC) pointed out that several companies have developed soft ware that is already being used to help companies collect different state and local sales taxes on electronic commerce. At the meeting, state and local government officials were successful in convincing the Commission to permit them to develop plans to show how sales taxes could be easily applied to electronic commerce without imposing excessive burdens on the e-merchants. These plans will be presented at the Commission's next meeting scheduled for December 14 and 15.

Mayor Guido said state and local governments could lose an estimated $11 billion in revenues by 2004 if sales taxes on electronic commerce continue to go uncollected. He explained that the Conference is working closely with NACo, NLC and other state and local groups to encourage the Commission to recommend legislative changes that will allow state and local governments to collect sales taxes on electronic commerce.  He urged all mayors to become more familiar with the issue so they can educate the public and the press about its impact. He also told mayors that Senator John McCain (AZ) had introduced legislation recently to impose a permanent moratorium on Internet taxes, which demonstrates that need to also educate members of Congress.

Mayors Addressed by White House

Mickey Ibarra, Special Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs addressed the mayors on several important budget priorities. He said that the White House was still hopeful that Congress would agree to many of the President's new budget initiatives in the fields of education and meeting the needs of distressed neighborhoods. He pledged to keep the Conference closely informed as budget negotiations unfolded with the Congress. 

In general, mayors called for more flexibility from Washington in the use of federal dollars. Several mayors stressed the need for the nation to evaluate seriously its mental health system, citing recent examples where untreated individuals had committed random acts of violence in the workplace and schools. Fort Worth Mayor Ken Barr described the recent tragedy in his city where church goers were indiscriminately gunned down during church activities.