By Ed Somers

Wellington E. Webb, President of The U.S. Conference of Mayors, was inaugurated for his third term as Mayor of Denver on July 19 and used the occasion to highlight the past successes of his administration and his vision for Denver’s future.

Mayor Webb took pride in the progress which has been made on priorities including increasing public safety, reducing homelessness, supporting improvements in public schools, making Denver International Airport a success, leading the rebirth of downtown, and promoting the redevelopment of the former Lowry Air Force Base.

Third-term agenda priorities for Mayor Webb include the "Best Babies" initiative which promotes prenatal care and early childhood development, support for efforts to fight school truancy, parks and recreation facilities improvements, increased support for job training and placement, and increased home ownership among low- and moderate-income families.

Webb will also organize a summit to encourage "smart growth" in metro Denver.

Mayor Webb spoke passionately on the need for stronger laws regarding gun safety. "During the last session of the State Legislature, there was a very serious attempt to undermine the City of Denver’s ability to enforce our laws that help to protect our citizens from the destruction guns cause. We, as a City, have seen first-hand the death and destruction of guns. I, as a Mayor, witnessed the untimely death of a relative standing no more than two feet from me when he was struck with a stray bullet and instantly died," Webb said.

Webb added, "Whether it is caused by youth violence, or a domestic dispute, racism, or even an accidental death — common sense tells us a couple of things. Guns kill and the more guns that are available the more death and tragedy our society will experience."

Calling for specific state action, Webb said, "either by legislative enactment or the initiative process, we need to do the following: 1) require a background check by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation and photo I.D. for anybody buying a gun, period; 2) expand the current restrictions on possession and sale of guns to minors to include all firearms and ammunition; 3) raise the age limit for possessing a handgun to 21; 4) establish a training requirement that is appropriate for the type of gun being purchased; 5) establish standards for safe storage of firearms; and 6) require a 5-day waiting period as both a cooling off time and to allow completion of a thorough background check.

Webb added that, "we need to do a better job enforcing existing federal gun laws."

DenveDakar Accord

On the morning of his inauguration, Mayor Webb and Mayor Mamadou Diop of Dakar, Senegal signed a memorandum of understanding between the cities of Denver and Dakar to promote trade and investment, and cultural and education exchanges.

Mayor Webb recently led The U.S. Conference of Mayors/Cities 2000 delegation trip to Africa which included meetings with Mayor Mamadou Diop in Dakar.