INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

RESOLUTION ON CITIES 2000

WHEREAS, in January of 1999, the U.S. Conference of Mayors at its 67th Winter Meeting announced the Cities 2000 U.S. Conference of Mayors initiative to promote the role of cities and mayors in the international and economic and political arena and to facilitate the exchange of metropolitan best practices and strategies across continents; and

WHEREAS, in May of 1999, Wellington Webb, Mayor of Denver was appointed to lead the first U.S. Conference of Mayors mission to Africa and thus launch the Cities 2000 initiative with study tours in Senegal and Ghana culminating in the participation in the 5th Annual African/American African Summit; and

WHEREAS, under the Cities 2000, after the historical African Summit, the United States Conference of Mayors has over the past year under the Presidency of Mayor Wellington Webb sponsored missions to Italy, Argentina, Japan, England, Germany and Israel; and

WHEREAS, in April of 2000 the first Trans-Atlantic Summit of Mayors was held in Lyon, France with German, French and U.S. mayors and said participants agreed on a second meeting in Berlin in 2001 with a steering committee meeting in Denver, Colorado in the Fall of 2000; and

WHEREAS future missions are planned in China, Chile, Canada, Spain and Ireland,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the United States Conference of Mayors instructs and charges its executive director to proceed with the formulation and signing of an international formal alliance between Associations of Mayors of other nations and the United States Conference of Mayors for the purpose of forming the International Conference of Mayors.