March 15, 2004

Colorado Springs Mayor Lionel Rivera is the subject of a favorable profile in the March issue of Hispanic magazine.

He is the first Hispanic mayor elected in the town, located 60 miles south of Denver, with a 12 percent Hispanic population. He has been a Republican as the article notes, for almost 30 years. Rivera got his MBA while serving in the army and, after discharge in 1987, became a consultant with Merrill Lynch in the city he now heads as mayor. The article notes that Rivera is one of an estimated 230 Hispanics holding mayoral office in the country.

Flint (MI) Mayor Don Williamson has renewed a campaign pledge to play the city's deficit of $14 million of his own money. Since 2002, a financial manager appointed by the Governor has overseen Flint's finances. A news item in the March 1 Washington Times says Flint, with a population of 125,000 residents, is the largest city in Michigan to face a state takeover. Williamson was elected in November and is believed to have made hundreds of millions in the auto parts industry.

St. Paul and Minnesota are home to thousands of Hmongs, originally from Laos, who fought alongside Americans during the Vietnam War.

Last December, the U.S. government agreed to settle 15,000 Hmong refugees who have been illegally living in Thailand. Many of them will join well-established Hmong communities in Minnesota. Anticipating their arrival, St Paul Mayor Randy C. Kelly went to Thailand to meet the Hmongs, learn about their culture and needs so he can better prepare the city for their arrival. Kelly's trip was the topic of a March 5 news item on National Public Radio.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman is a former defense attorney turned mayor. His office and mayoral style was featured in "Workspace" a feature of the Wall Street Journal on March 10.

Goodman, 64, was re-elected last year with 86 percent of the vote. Goodman holds "Martinis with the Mayor" for his constituents and has received $100,000 for endorsing Bombay Sapphire gin and donated all of the proceeds with half going to a city fund for the homeless. Notes Goodman: "Being Mayor of Las Vegas is like being a king."

The Conference of Mayors 72nd Annual meeting is scheduled for Boston from June 25th to 29th. A month after that event Boston and Mayor Thomas M. Menino, immediate past President of the Conference of Mayors, will be host to the Democratic National Convention July 26th to 29th. Massive preparations are underway in the city for both events.

Menino wrote an article in the March 8 Roll Call, a Capitol Hill publication, describing the city's amenities as it gears up for an estimated 15,000 media people and 20,000 delegates and guests attending the convention.

The city, Menino notes, has signed up 7,000 volunteers for the convention and Boston will have an opportunity to show the world and visitors it's unique cultural diversity and such Menino-originated programs in public schools, community-oriented policing and neighborhood revitalization efforts. Menino has been mayor for 10 years.