To The Mayor From the Executive Director

Washington, DC

J. Thomas Cochran, Executive Director

Congratulations Mayor Griffin

        Thank you Mayor Jeff Griffin, First Lady Marna Griffin, The Reno-Griffin team, the volunteers of Reno, the government and the people of Reno for making the 66th Annual Meeting the national event for 1998. Reno was a record attendance for mayors. It was one we'll never forget. Reno, "The Biggest Little City in The World", has the heart, the generosity, the volunteer spirit as big as the biggest city in the world. We left our black ties and pantyhose behind. We went West. We captured the Western Spirit and it will always be with us, thanks to you Mayor Griffin. We lift and we tip our cowboy hats to you Mayor Griffin and we encourage you to keep the Reno spirit alive within our great organization as we go forward from Reno to Salt Lake City in September for our next leadership meeting hosted by our new President, Mayor Deedee Corradini.

Thank You Mayor Helmke

        Thanks also to Mayor Paul Helmke. What a year! Mayor Helmke's legacy will be and is the many new initiatives he started over the past year. The San Francisco to Reno video showed what the mayors have done this year and it was our Past President, Mayor Helmke who pushed us along and dared us to come forth and create the Mayors Business Council, the Center for Best Practices, the Joint Center for Sustainable Communities, The African Trade initiative and the brownfields initiative -- to name a few. The Helmke legacy is there and we will build on it as we go forward with our new officers Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini, Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, Boise Mayor Brent Coles -- all Western mayors. All governing cities west of the Mississippi -- all very much involved in the political core of the new Conference of Mayors which has reinvented itself in many ways over the past five years.

Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini--56th President

        Mayor Corradini is the third woman in our 66 year history to serve as President. Other women Presidents were Lincoln Mayor Helen Boosalis 1981 to 1982 and Houston Mayor Kathryn J. Whitmire 1989 to 1990. As Mayor Corradini took the gavel last week in Reno to be our 56th President, she announced that her year will be centered on "the progress we make on improving the lives of our youths in our cities. Youth in Our Cities -- that is my theme for the coming year."

        Following her installation, we met for three hours over lunch to map out her initial plans to be finalized at our September Leadership Meeting in Salt Lake City. She is very concerned about violence in our schools and she is calling for a "Mayors Summit on School Violence and Kids from 2:00 to 8:00." First, mayors and police chiefs will be invited to Salt Lake City September 24, on the front end of our Leadership Meeting. They will be asked to bring/share their successful initiatives that are working in their cities to prevent violence and provide opportunities for their youths during the hours of 2-8 p.m. each day. This will be our first step in beginning to draft a national agenda that will be presented as a working paper for Mayor Corradini's national summit later this fall. We have already discussed our plans with the White House and leaders in Congress and are receiving encouragement to go forward.

        Mayor Corradini is most fortunate to have at her side, Salt Lake City Police Chief Ruben Ortega. Chief Ortega is now the Chair of the Major Cities Chiefs. He was a key player with me, Conference staff and the mayors as we developed our anti-violence action agenda we presented to President Clinton in 1993. This report served as a primary catalyst for the crime bill adopted the year Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson served as our President.

        The studies show, experts have warned, Congressional leaders and President Clinton has told the American people that kids get into trouble during the hours between 2:00 to 8:00 p.m. Teenage pregnancies, violence and crime unfortunately occur during this time of the day. Mayors, police chiefs, parks and recreation directors cannot do it alone. We need to find out what is working. That is the reason Mayor Corradini is taking us down this path. She has been active with us since she was elected in 1991. She has seen what this organization can do. She was a part of history and an active contribution to two major initiatives -- the national campaign against unfunded mandates and the national crime bill and COPs program. She commands the respect and loyalty of every mayor in this nation and she has already shown us she can lead as the Chair of our Advisory Board and as our Vice President.

        She has faced some tough challenges in her city but as outgoing Conference President Mayor Paul Helmke said to the press recently, "She is a survivor. She can take a punch. She was a great Vice President. She'll be a great president."

        As the Olympic Mayor in 2002, Salt Lake City will be the largest city ever to host the Winter Olympic Games. She has had a long history with the international Olympic movement and because of this she feels very strongly that the Conference of Mayors should be involved with America's youth to bring our kids closer to the Olympics and at the same time help them with their fitness. She cites studies which show that almost half of kids 12-21 years of age and more than one third of all high school students are not involved in any type of physical activity on a regular basis. As President she has already announced two new Conference of Mayors initiatives: Mayors Olympic Fit Kids and Mayors Sport Challenge.

        The "Fit Kids" program is an opportunity for every mayor to be involved with his or her youths. It is targeted to 4-6th grade and its primary focus is on running and walking. Please see the tear out sheet about our new program on page 28-29. Mayor Corradini needs you to be involved with her on this national effort. It is a major accomplishment for us to have the seal of The United States Conference of Mayors and the Olympic Rings all on one page, alongside each other, working as a partner toward a common goal of helping our children become healthier, more productive, less violent and more responsible for themselves and others as they become adults in our society just a few short years after they are born.

        Her second initiative is the Mayors Sports Challenge, a partnership with the sporting goods giant, NIKE. Throughout the nation there are Niketown stores. Mayors and schools from the metropolitan regions where Niketown stores are located will adopt a middle school to prepare them for "Mayors Sports Challenge Training Day." At the end of the school year, Mayors will be involved in a track meet, hosted by Niketowns throughout the country. Materials will be mailed soon to those cities who have Niketowns in their metro area.

        The Conference has focused on our young people with our support for summer jobs, Gallery 37 in Chicago and the public schools emphasis in recent years. Mayor Corradini's initiatives with the Olympic movement and NIKE bring another dimension as we focus on our youth. We are thankful to her for her leadership and pledge our support to make it happen for our kids' sake. So contact us. Join up. Be a part of giving our children the opportunity to have more productive and more meaningful lives. Its worth the effort and you, as mayors, can make the difference. We know that. We have proved it on other occasions and we will do it again.

        Mayors Business Council: The first meeting of our Business Council in Reno was a huge success. We invite other mayors to help us build the business community partnerships we now have. Mayor Cianci of Providence Rhode Island received accolades from mayors assembled in Reno for how far he has come with activating his Mayors and Business Community Task Force. He has vision and he is thinking big about what mayors, CEOs and the business community should be doing in the future. The business community will be drawn closer and closer to us as we move to another plateau of involvement in the coming year. In all our committees and indeed in so many of our resolutions, economic development and trade is a central theme. Thank you Mayor Cianci for your leadership and congratulations to your election to our prestigious Advisory Board. You deserve it.

        New Trustees: Congratulations to Boston Mayor Tom Menino for being elected Trustee as well as Tulsa Mayor Susan Savage. Both Mayors Menino and Savage have been active on a number of fronts.

        Congratulations again to our new Advisory Board Members: Mayors Sara B. Bost of Irvington, NJ; Vincent A. Cianci, Jr. of Providence; William A. Johnson, Jr. of Rochester, NY; Sila Maria Calderon of San Juan, PR; and Patrick McCrory of Charlotte.

        Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins as Chair of the Nominating Committee as well as the Members were faced with the difficult challenge of choosing from so many qualified and active members. Hempstead Mayor James Garner presented the Nominating Committee report to Mayors assembled on the final day of our meeting and urged Mayor Corradini to seriously consider those mayors who were candidates for trustee and advisory board positions as she makes her appointments for the coming year. She has pledged to do so.

        So another year begins. On July 16, Mayor Corradini will meet with senior staff to collaborate on her new leadership team and develop a bipartisan road map for the year ahead of us.

        And, yes, it is New Orleans next June. Home from Reno just a few days, Carol Edwards and I will fly to New Orleans for a meeting with our 1999 Host Mayor Marc Morial to start now in getting ready to make New Orleans as we did Reno, the national event for U. S. Mayors next year.