Mayors Sign Civility Accord at Start of Winter Meeting, Signaling Restoration of Civility
By Laura DeKoven Waxman
January 31, 2011
Nearly 150 mayors signed The U.S. Conference of Mayors Civility Accord, pledging their commitment to six principles of civility and to exhibiting and encouraging personal qualities emblematic of civility, during the course of the Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting, held January 19-21 in Washington (DC). The Accord was proposed by Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup, drafted by Walkup and Conference of Mayors leaders over the weekend before the meeting, and signed by them at the start of Wednesday's opening plenary session.
The Accord's six principles of civility are:
- Respect the right of all Americans to hold different opinions;
- Avoid rhetoric intended to humiliate, de-legitimatize, or question the patriotism of those whose opinions are different from ours;
- Strive to understand differing perspectives;
- Choose words carefully;
- Speak truthfully without accusation, and avoid distortion;
- Speak out against violence, prejudice, and incivility in all of their forms, whenever and wherever they occur.
Mayors who have not yet signed the Accord are being invited to do so online at http://usmayors.org/civilityaccord.
Read the full text of the accord (Page 21) and see the list of mayors who signed it.
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