Under the leadership of Conference President Deedee Corradini of Salt Lake City, the nation’s mayors rededicated themselves to priority issues related to youth over the last year.

Following a series of tragic shootings across the nation, the Conference sponsored on September 24, 1998 an historic National Summit on School Violence and Kids from 2:00 to 8:00 pm in Salt Lake City, at which a National Action Plan was developed in partnership with Attorney General Janet Reno, police chiefs, educators, students, health experts, arts, parks and recreation officials, and representatives from the news media and entertainment industries.

The National Action Plan focuses on four key areas: 1) School Violence, 2) Kids from 2:00 to 8:00 PM, 3) Youth Violence and the News Media, and 4) Youth Violence and the Entertainment Industry.

The action plan was presented to President Clinton during an October 1998 White House Conference, and has been requested by thousands of parents and educators across the nation.

In addition, the plan has been sent to Congress several times, with a call for a stronger partnership effort on this priority.

As Mayor Corradini said during a plenary discussion on June 12, "while the tragic events at Columbine High School in Colorado shocked the nation, they also reconfirmed the need for a comprehensive strategy on school violence and youth opportunities."

Mayor Corradini pointed to progress which has been made on the plan including:

• President Clinton has called for tripling the funding for after-school programs to $600 million;
• Bi-partisan leaders on the Hill and in the Administration are now calling for increased funding for local parks;
• The Senate has passed several key provisions on gun safety including closing the gun show loophole; and
• The Administration has created a new $300 million Safe Schools/Healthy Kids program which can fund after-school opportunities.

Mayor Corradini also expressed particular appreciation for the work of Sen. Paul Wellstone (MN) who offered a Senate amendment for 100,000 new school counselors, a key provision in the National Action Plan.

While the Wellstone Amendment garnered 38 voted, Corradini pledged continued support for this priority.

Mayor Corradini also thanked the many mayors who have been leaders on this effort, especially Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton, Chair of the School Violence and Kids from 2:00 to 8:00 pm Task Force.

Mayors, Deputy A.G. Holder Decry Senate Elimination of COPS Program

On the eve of the Annual Meeting, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to eliminate funding for the COPS program, and to shut down the COPS Office at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Continued support for the COPS program is a major recommendation of the National Action Plan, and is strongly supported by Conference policy.

Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder joined the mayors for the discussion of youth violence, and expressed his shock that the Senate would seek to eliminate the COPS program which has been so helpful to mayors in reducing crime across the nation.

Holder said that there is broad-based community consensus that "the COPS program and community policing has improved the quality of policing across the country," and urged the full Senate to restore funding for this program to fund more officers, technology, officer retention, and community prosecutions.

Holder also called on Congress, and especially the House, to pass strong gun safety legislation as proposed by President Clinton and supported by the Conference including closing the gun show loophole, banning the importation of large capacity ammunition clips, requiring child safety locks, and raising the age for a person to own a handgun to 21.

Holder urged mayors to continue to make clear, "as you have on other issues, to Members of Congress in no uncertain terms that they should be welcoming the gun proposals of the President, not watering them down."

The nation’s mayors sent a strong letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert (IL) urging action on this issue during the New Orleans meeting (see story on page.....)

Violence in the Media

"Violence is a learned behavior," Mr. Holder stressed in discussing the problem of violence in the media. That is why President Clinton has directed the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to conduct a study on the impact of media violence on youth. "How it is marketed, for what purpose, and ultimately to what effect" will be the focus of the study according to Mr. Holder.

Also participating in the conversation was Larry Gershman, Founder, Chairman and CEO of the World International Network, the first international network of twenty-two leading broadcasters in 137 major markets. Mr. Gershman was previously President of the MGM/United Artists Television group.

Mr. Gershman surmised that while there has been a rapid acceleration of information made available over the past several decades, "youth don’t have all of the mature adjustments" needed to deal with the information.

Mr. Gershman did not believe that violence in the media can be blamed for the recent rash of tragic shootings, pointing out that while Canada has access to almost all the same media as the United States, its violent crime rate is a fraction compared to ours, a fact he attributed to the availability of guns.

And while Mr. Gershman argued that less and less truly violent programming is being aired, he did challenge programmers to "be a part of the formula of success."

Gershman added that, "broadcast stations belong to the public: the license holders are only stewards of that license," as established by law. He told the mayors that local stations will be responsive to a "serious, meaningful, mounted campaign" calling for responsible programming, and urged the mayors to help lead this effort within their respective communities.

While there was much discussion and debate regarding the responsibility of the media for the growth in youth violence, Arlington Heights Mayor Arlene Mulder read a poignant letter sent to her by a number of high school students who said that they believe that student ostracism and lack of understanding by parents and teachers leads to serious youth violence, which they attribute to the murderous actions at Columbine High School.

The letter stated, "myself and my constituents believe that the root cause of Dylan and Eric’s motives was simple persecution from peers; none of the things that our very way of life is comprised of, like music and video games."