Free Republic

Mayors from across the country are in Madison this week for the Mayors Innovation Project summer conference. They'll be sharing ideas about how to run progressive communities in tight economic times. But they will, as well, be wondering whether they are going to have a partner in the federal government. That's something cities have lacked for the past eight years.This week in an interview with MayorTV, an initiative of the Drum Major Institute think tank to focus on urban leaders and issues, Santa Fe Mayor David Coss argues that the Bush/Cheney administration's response has been characterized by "ignorance" as opposed...

HOLLAND - The mayor of this small community 15 miles south of Temple said Tuesday the commission of which she is president is ready to take by the horns the Texas Department of Transportation and its controversial proposal, the Trans-Texas Corridor. Armed with an 80-page manual, “How to Fight the TTC,” and backed by two non-profits who say they protect private property rights, Holland mayor Mae Smith said rural Bell County is ready for a fight. “Bell County sits here like a stepchild and they’re cramming this corridor down our throats,” Ms. Smith said, regarding the commission’s relationship with TxDOT....

Melissa mayor mailing resolutions to fellow mayors to stop state from using gas tax funds for non-road projects BY DANNY GALLAGHER, McKinney Courier-Gazette Melissa Mayor David Dorman said he sits in his office everyday and watches as cars zoom down State Highway 121, a road that will soon start collecting tolls from drivers who use it to get to Dallas, McKinney, Frisco or the Dallas North Tollway and back again. Dorman said before that happens, he wants to know the roads his citizens and drivers are paying the state to use will be maintained and built with those funds. “I...

Using the Greenpeace-friendly term ‘dirty oil’ in reference to crude drawn from the sand, the leaders of some American cities took lines that sounded right out of Treehugging For Dummies, stopping just short of equating Alberta’s oil industry with the Final Event of Revelations.....

The US Conference of Mayors on Monday passed a resolution calling for a phasing out of bottled water by municipalities and promoting the importance of public water supplies. (snip) The mayors, meeting in Miami, approved a resolution proposed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom along with 17 other large-city mayors to redirect taxpayer dollars from bottled water to other city services.

U.S. mayors are adding their voices to those raising concerns about energy produced from Alberta's vast oilsands. The U.S. Conference of Mayors, meeting in Miami this week, has approved a resolution calling on its members to ban the use of energy from unconventional sources because of its impact on the environment. "We don't want to spend taxpayer dollars on fuels that make global warming worse," said Eugene, Ore., Mayor Kitty Piercy, who submitted the resolution.

MIAMI — Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, here to tell U.S. mayors that he wants to make cities the backbone of regional economic growth and innovation, ended up igniting a war of words with Republican John McCain's campaign over flooding in Iowa. During remarks to the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting today, Obama noted that McCain had recently visited flood-devastated Iowa. "I'm sure they appreciated the sentiment, but they probably would have appreciated it more if Sen. McCain hadn't voted against funding for levees and flood control programs, which he seems to consider pork," Obama told the mayors.An Obama...

'100 Mayors For Hillary' Rally Turnout Under 20 Percent POSTED: 2:23 pm EDT April 15, 2008 UPDATED: 2:31 pm EDT April 15, 2008 HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Turnout at the "100 Mayors for Hillary" rally was a little under 20 percent. Only 19 mayors of Pennsylvania cities showed up for Tuesday's rally in the Rotunda of the Pennsylvania Capitol. Other mayors' names were listed on placards supporting Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York for the Democratic presidential nomination. Harrisburg Mayor Stephen Reed spoke for the group against the backdrop of a banner touting the 100 mayors. He criticized Clinton's rival,...

LUFKIN — Mae Smith, the 64-year-old mayor of the teeny Central Texas town of Holland, seized the civic center lectern like a dragon-slayer ascending the throne. In a fiery red pantsuit and a voice that echoed without the help of a malfunctioning microphone, she and her cohorts revealed to a crowd of about 50 souls clad in denim and plaid a little-known weapon against the foe of all in the room: Gov. Rick Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor. The weapon, Smith said, doesn't involve marching on the Texas Capitol, like more than 1,000 did last year, some on tractors and horses. It...

In the midst of inflation, funding difficulties and halted expansion projects, a budget error on the part of the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) may have exacerbated their challenges. "TxDOT does some mysterious accounting," said Rep. Chuck Hopson (D-Jacksonville). "They had close to $1 billion counted in their budget twice." "That was a serious error on our part and we have made changes to try to prevent that type of error from occurring again," said TxDOT Spokesman Chris Lippincott, adding that the amount added twice in their financial statement was unrelated to the $1.2 billion in federal rescissions, which are...

WHAT: Mayors attending the 76th Winter Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors will hold a Press Conference regarding the immediate need for Congress to secure our nation's borders and implement a practical and effective immigration policy. WHO: Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and Sugar Land (TX) Mayor David Wallace, Co-Chairs of the Homeland Security Task Force on the US Conference of Mayors. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Chandler (AZ) Mayor Boyd Dunn and Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup WHY: Members of Congress are advising the Mayors that they will wait for the next congress and the next president to address these...

Gavin Newsom, the divorced San Francisco mayor who provoked a constitutional crisis in 2004 by granting marriage licenses to 4,000 same-sex couples, has chosen the historic Mission Dolores Basilica for a family Mass on the occasion of his inauguration to a second term. Newsom and his family are scheduled to attend Mass at Mission Dolores tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan. 8, in what his press office is calling a “low-key” second inauguration. Following the Mass, his father, William Newsom, a retired state appellate judge, will administer the oath of office during a swearing-in ceremony at San Francisco City Hall. Given his record,...

Gavin Newsom's political strategist Eric Jaye jokes that he already knows what the analysis of today's mayoral election will be. "However many votes we get," Jaye says, "we know the Bay Guardian will say it wasn't enough." He's got a point. In most elections, pundits try to pick the winner. That's already been handled in this one. Newsom will certainly win a second term as mayor in a cakewalk over a group of offbeat candidates. That's not in doubt. But it does lead to a second question, best expressed by local political consultant Mark Mosher, who asks, "What kind of...

Former Atlantic City Mayor Pleads Guilty To Lying To Get BenefitsThe former mayor of Atlantic City pleaded guilty Thursday to lying to enhance his veterans benefits, a crime that played a role in his bizarre three-week disappearance earlier this fall. Making his first public appearance since leaving office Oct. 10, Robert Levy admitted to falsely claiming to have been awarded two military medals and embellishing his military record in order to receive more money in disability benefits from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Levy admitted fabricating stories that as a soldier in Vietnam, he had been left in the...

Oakland residents are fed up with random crime - from assaults to burglaries to armed robberies - that is being carried out with seeming impunity on the city's streets. Whether the answer is more cops, a restructured department or something else, businesses and residents across the city want improvements in public safety - and sooner rather than later. In recent months, as I've repeatedly beaten the drum for Mayor Ron Dellums to step up the fight on crime, hundreds of residents have sent me e-mailed notes with their tales of horror. Many of the writers have been victims of crime,...

Sharpe James The defense team of former Newark Mayor Sharpe James is bracing for testimony about marital infidelity to become part of his high-profile corruption case, according to court papers. Confronting an issue that was only hinted at in a federal indictment this summer, James' lawyers are attempting to filter out potential jurors who may be prejudiced by evidence of philandering on his part.

Mexican Consul Enrique Hubbard Urrea has issued an unusual warning to immigrants from his country: Avoid the city of Irving. Deportations in this city have skyrocketed in the last several months – from 262 in all of 2006 to 1,338 through mid-September. "In this city, one has to be extra careful," he told Al Día . "And if possible, avoid going through there, because we suspect, and with good reason, that people are being detained simply because of their appearance." At least 1,600 people have been turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement since June 2006 as part of the...

DC. .– The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the world’s largest association of law enforcement executives, today called on Congress and the Administration, as well as state and local governments, to support strong and effective gun violence prevention policies, and to provide law enforcement with the resources necessary to reverse a two-year rise in violent crime. The IACP unveiled a set of nearly 40 recommendations for policymakers, police, and community and philanthropic leaders which are the result of the “Great Lakes Summit on Gun Violence.” The summit, held in Chicago earlier this year, was a groundbreaking collaboration of...

- - 38 leaders of cities meet in Trenton TRENTON -- Just two days after an AK-47 assault rifle and several other weapons were confiscated from a city teenager and a Miami-Dade County police officer was shot and killed in Florida, mayors gathered in the capital city for the U.S. Conference of Mayors leadership meeting called attention to the country's growing problem with gun violence.

Ga. mayor's outreach to Venezuelan leader upsets some residents Associated Press - August 12, 2007 MACON, Ga. (AP) - Some Macon residents have called for demonstrations and boycotts after the mayor of the middle Georgia city formally reached out to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez with a declaration of solidarity. Mayor Jack Ellis said the declaration -- sent about two weeks ago by courier -- was a message that local leaders can stand together despite disagreements at the highest reaches of government. Some local leaders have blasted the mayor's decision to support Chavez -- who is a vocal ally of Iran...

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa agreed Thursday to pay a $5,200 fine for violating multiple campaign finance laws stemming from his 2003 race for the City Council. --snip-- In all, Villaraigosa violated 30 aspects of city campaign finance laws, according to a proposed agreement that he signed Thursday. --snip-- Villaraigosa's campaign lawyer, Stephen Kaufman, downplayed the significance of the violations, calling them common mistakes that other campaigns have made. "These are administrative errors, but nonetheless they should not have happened," Kaufman said. "The mayor has taken steps to make sure this does not happen again." --snip-- Villaraigosa could have faced...

CWA Calls on Local Law Enforcement to Crack-Down on Illegal and Widespread Public Health Problem – Launches YouTube Support Video Washington, D.C. – Fort Lauderdale, Florida Mayor Jim Naugle has been under rapid fire assault from homosexual activists and liberal media for asking people simply to obey the law and to be responsible and respectful to families and children. Recently, Mayor Naugle exposed a popular “gay” community website that serves as an online directory which both encourages and facilitates illegal, public and anonymous “gay” sex. The Mayor was particularly upset that this activity is taking place at two children’s parks...

"Atheists and Criminal Lobbying Union" regarding the meaning of the acronym ACLU. New Times, October 26, 2000 "I don't use the word 'gay.' I use the word 'homosexual.'  Most of them aren't gay. They're unhappy."Sun-Sentinel, July 4, 2007  "I'm supposed to subsidize some schlock sitting on the sofa and drinking a beer, who won't work more than 40 hours a week?" Sun-Sentinel, May 20, 2006  Regarding a proposal to reduce greenhouse gases, calling it "hate-America stuff" concocted by "a bunch of scientists meeting in Paris who've had too much wine.� Sun-Sentinel May 9, 2007  "We're trying to provide a family environment where people...

Just about every proposal Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums has pitched since he took office seven months ago has sailed past the City Council. His first, a plan to hire qualified ex-felons for city jobs, was praised for its utility and humanity. And when he asked the council to significantly increase the budget for the mayor's office, not one member of the council questioned it. But now it seems that Dellums' honeymoon with the council and the public is coming to an end. Many residents are weary from the 3-week-old garbage lockout and are looking to Oakland City Hall -- including...

Say you write for or edit the metro section of a major metropolitan newspaper and you have a juicy story of a local ex-mayor who was arrested for running a brothel. It's right on the heels of the Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) prostitution scandal and the politician in the local story in question was once a sheriff's deputy, clearly no stranger to anti-prostitution laws. Party affiliation is just one more tidbit of information that couldn't hurt your readers, right? Not for the Washington Post. Seventy-two year old former Dumfries Mayor Melvin Bray was "charged with running a brothel out of...

Salt Lake City mayoral hopeful Keith Christensen's newly minted support for a downtown skywalk will not vault Mayor Rocky Anderson back into the race after all. "I'm out. I'm not running for re-election," Anderson said Friday, slamming shut the third-term door he had creaked open last month.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was greeted by a crowd of thousands Friday with something he doesn't usually hear - a booming chorus of boos. The icy reception came as Villaraigosa took part in a welcoming ceremony for the newest member of the Los Angeles Galaxy - soccer superstar David Beckham. But when the mayor was introduced, the crowd estimated at 5,000 turned on him with jeers and howls as if he was a member of an opposing team, while the moment was recorded by a vast array of international media. It might have been payback. At a 2005 match...

The NAACP wants Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory to apologize for remarks he made about African American youth after last week's arrests during Fourth of July festivities in uptown. Ken White, president of the Charlotte Branch of the NAACP, on Wednesday called the mayor's comments "insensitive" and said he's concerned they painted "African American youth with a broad swath that cuts deep in many of our communities." McCrory's comments came July 5 in a letter to the city manager congratulating police on their efforts the night before, when 169 people were arrested in uptown. McCrory also wrote that "too many of...

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty yesterday said he is close to a decision on whether city officials will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a federal court ruling that would repeal the District's 30-year-old handgun ban. "We're planning to make that announcement within the next week," Mr. Fenty said yesterday. "We're still exploring all of our options." The Supreme Court appeal must be filed within 90 days of May 8, the date a federal appeals panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit declined to reconsider its earlier ruling in the case. That gives Fenty administration officials...

This theory is by no means foolproof. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, remains popular despite an affair with his campaign manager's wife. Former Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.) was unseated in the mid-'90s amid groping allegations that would make Schwarzenegger blush. But it may well be that Republicans are better at using their opponents' sexual peccadilloes against them, summoning up the moral outrage among voters that can be deadly in a close race. It also doesn't help roving-eyed Democrats that women are a mainstay of the party, and women don't appreciate men who cheat. Villaraigosa, a Democrat who is...

Fresno Mayor Alan Autry resigned from a national organization of mayors Monday after the group voted to encourage the U.S. House of Representatives to pull American troops out of Iraq. The United States Conference of Mayors, which wrapped up its annual meeting in Los Angeles today, voted 51-47 to support the immediate pullout of troops. Autry voted against the resolution and immediately quit the group. After resigning, Autry said he opposed the resolution because it was proposed by Providence, R.I., Mayor Vincent Cianci at the last minute and the mayors were not given adequate time to consider it. “I have...

Leppert elected Dallas mayor Tom and Laura Leppert basked in the cheers of supporters Saturday night at Gilley's. Tom Leppert is Dallas' new mayor, his victory launched from a crime-fighting, business-minded platform and fueled by overwhelming support in the city's northernmost neighborhoods. Mr. Leppert, 53, had never before run for elected office. He's lived within Dallas' city limits for fewer than four years. He rarely visited City Hall. But the retired construction company executive's insistence that a political outsider with farsighted vision is best positioned to address Dallas' docket of needs resonated throughout the city – even in the southern...

(CNSNews.com) - More than one hundred of the nation's mayors are breathing new life into the gun control movement. The "Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition," a bipartisan group of 109 mayors in 44 states, is meeting Thursday in Chicago to "share strategies in the fight against illegal guns." According to the coalition's website, those strategies include "how to work with local law enforcement agencies and state representatives to maximize penalties for those who possess, use and traffic in illegal guns." The discussion also will focus on information sharing and "best practices on enforcement and legislative issues." Two more "working groups"...

Former President Bill Clinton and big-city mayors from around the globe have joined in an initiative to combat climate change and increase energy efficiency in everything from street lights to building materials. The partnership between Clinton and the Large Cities Climate Leadership Group - an alliance of Rome, London, Mexico City, Los Angeles and other big cities that have pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions- was to be formally announced Tuesday afternoon in Los Angeles. The alliance's aim is to slash the pollutants that contribute to global warming. "It no longer makes sense for us to debate whether or not...

More than 200 mayors converged on Las Vegas for four days of policy discussion amidst a backdrop of taxpayer and corporate funded partying. The City of Las Vegas is spending $1.8 million entertaining the public officials, $1.3 million of that comes from corporate donations. The rest is from Las Vegas taxpayers. Former mob-lawyer, Mayor Oscar Goodman, defended the bash as essential to his ego trip. "I want everyone going home and saying Las Vegas is the greatest place in the world and saying Oscar Goodman is the coolest person who ever lived," Goodman said. Aside from discussions on legal ways...

Asserting that the federal government had failed to curb gun trafficking, mayors from 15 cities gathered yesterday at Gracie Mansion and agreed to intensify efforts to combat illegal firearms. Mayors Michael R. Bloomberg of New York and Thomas M. Menino of Boston, the organizers of the meeting, said the mayors needed to use every tool, from crackdowns on irresponsible gun dealers to new gun-tracing technologies, because federal authorities had abdicated their responsibility. "It is time for national leadership in the war on gun violence, and if the leadership won't come from Congress or come from the White House, then it...

In a victory for the Bloomberg administration, the state's highest court narrowly ruled yesterday that the mayor does not have to enforce city laws that he deems to be illegal. The ruling gives Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg a powerful weapon in that he does not have to enforce laws that the City Council passes through mayoral overrides, as it has often done in recent years. In a 4-to-3 ruling, the State Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling that the mayor had the authority to refuse to enforce a 2004 law on domestic partner benefits that he said violated...

The nation's Republican mayors, in a closed-door White House meeting last week, nearly unanimously supported the U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo decision permitting local governments to force property owners to sell or give way to private developers. The GOP mayors, in Washington for the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting, heard a report on the Kelo decision by Dearborn, Mich., Mayor Michael A. Guido. Chairman of the conference's advisory board, Guido opposed undermining the Supreme Court's ruling. Anaheim, Calif., Mayor Curt Pringle, a former speaker of the California Assembly, objected with arguments that reflected widespread Republican abhorrence of Kelo. Guido insisted...

Reid: Cities at Risk Under Bush Administration Friday, January 27, 2006 WASHINGTON — Cities are at risk because the Bush administration is too preoccupied with its political problems to properly prepare for another natural disaster or terrorist attack, Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid told mayors from around the country Friday. "Any one of your cities and towns could be the next New Orleans," Reid said at a meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. "The federal government owes it to you and your citizens to be prepared the next time disaster strikes." The Nevada lawmaker said efforts to find out...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called on the nation's local leaders to address the growing problem of poverty, saying Hurricane Katrina exposed the chasm between rich and poor. "Katrina exposed the deepening gulf in our political discourse," Villaraigosa told the U.S. Conference of Mayors at its winter meeting. He was referring to the Aug. 29 devastation of New Orleans, most of whose residents are poor and black. "It's about restoring our sense of community." Villaraigosa, who is chairing a mayor's task force on battling poverty, criticized current federal and local aid to the poor as inadequate. He...

The mayors and police chiefs of St. Paul and Minneapolis have come out staunchly against a plan announced by Gov. Tim Pawlenty to roll back "sanctuary laws" that restrict immigration enforcement by local police. St. Paul passed such an ordinance in May 2004, and Pawlenty suggested Tuesday that the state scrap such policies as part of an initiative to crack down on illegal immigration and immigrants. "This is redbaiting, except … it's 'brownbaiting' this time," said St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, who took office Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger implored California's mayors Thursday to support Proposition 76, a ballot measure intended to stabilize state finances and end deficit spending. He warned that if the measure fails to pass during the Nov. 8 special election, state lawmakers would likely raid local treasuries for funds to close the state's persistent budget gap. "I've already been informed in Sacramento that that's the very money they're going to go after next year if they don't have money," Schwarzenegger told several hundred officials at the annual conference of the League of California Cities. "Remember, they can. The...

As Ross Douthat observed on his blog, The American Scene, Katrina was the anti-9/11. On Sept. 11, Rudy Giuliani took control. The government response was quick and decisive. The rich and poor suffered alike. Americans had been hit, but felt united and strong. Public confidence in institutions surged. Last week in New Orleans, by contrast, nobody took control. Authority was diffuse and action was ineffective. The rich escaped while the poor were abandoned. Leaders spun while looters rampaged. Partisans squabbled while the nation was ashamed. The first rule of the social fabric - that in times of crisis you protect...

I see Americans helping Americans. I hear stories and see photos that inspire me! I thank God I live in America.Brett Coomer / Chronicle A paramedic carries a pair of girls away from an Army helicopter after they were airlifted from their flooded home in New Orleans on Tuesday. More Chronicle PHOTOSI just listened to the local D.C. radio news and they played a woman screaming about no showers in the Astrodome. No this, no that, no nothing (I hear different). Then they quoted Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich making snide remarks about the progress of relief efforts. Melissa Phillip...

Contact: Rhonda Spears, 202-861-6766 or rspears@usmayors.org; Elena Temple, 202-861-6719 or etemple@usmayors.org, both of the United States Conference of Mayors WASHINGTON, June 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a statement of the United States Conference of Mayors Executive Director Tom Cochran on Supreme Court ruling on City of New London Vs. Kelo case: "The United States Conference of Mayors policy states that the nation's mayors support the right of local governments to retain eminent domain to promote economic development in their individual cities. "City officials continue to act in a most judicious manner as they exercise fair and balanced judgment in...

These are the urban environmental accords that mayors from around the world signed Sunday in San Francisco: Energy Action 1: Adopt and implement a policy to increase the use of renewable energy to meet ten percent of the city's peak electric load within seven years. Action 2: Adopt and implement a policy to reduce the city's peak electric load by ten percent within seven years through energy efficiency, shifting the timing of energy demands, and conservation measures. Action 3: Adopt a citywide greenhouse gas reduction plan that reduces the jurisdictions emissions by twenty-five percent by 2030, and which includes a...

World marks green day; big city mayors sign pacts 1 hour, 29 minutes ago World Wildlife Fund (WWF) members put up a giant faucet in front of the 'Christ the Redeemer' statue, atop Corcovado mountain, in front of one of Rio de Janeiro's best-known tourist attractions, Sugar Loaf mountain, during celebrations of World Environment Day in Rio de Janeiro, June 5, 2005. (Reuters/Bruno Domingos) SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Big city mayors from around the world signed a series of pacts on Sunday to improve the conditions of urban centers, capping a five-day U.N. World Environment conference in San Francisco, the...

SAN FRANCISCO - Former Vice President Al Gore urged an assembly of international mayors on Saturday to take action to fight global warming, warning of catastrophic consequences for the planet if governments fail to act. Gore, who helped draft the landmark Kyoto treaty on global warming that the U.S. never ratified, said that climate change was already melting glaciers, raising temperatures and altering weather patterns worldwide. Without significant action, he warned, the planet would see a dramatic rise in violent storms, infectious disease, deadly heat waves and rising sea levels that will force the evacuation of low-lying cities such as...

San Francisco plays host this week to mayors from around the globe who will be attending a United Nations conference dedicated to adopting sound environmental practices for urban centers -- where the majority of the world's population lives. The U.N. conference -- an annual event in its third decade, but the first in the United States -- comes 60 years after the city served as the setting for the signing of the charter that created the international body. This time, the issues at hand are quite different. The theme of the conference is "green cities,'' and the mayors will hammer...

SEATTLE, May 13 - Unsettled by a series of dry winters in this normally wet city, Mayor Greg Nickels has begun a nationwide effort to do something the Bush administration will not: carry out the Kyoto Protocol on global warming. Mr. Nickels, a Democrat, says 131 other likeminded mayors have joined a bipartisan coalition to fight global warming on the local level, in an implicit rejection of the administration's policy. The mayors, from cities as liberal as Los Angeles and as conservative as Hurst, Tex., represent nearly 29 million citizens in 35 states, according to Mayor Nickels's office. They are...