March 17, 2003

Conference President Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino signed an Executive Order that will ban pyrotechnic displays in the city's 210 licensed nightclubs and called for a task force to examine the city's related safety regulations.

"The recent fire tragedy in Rhode Island reminds us how important it is to be vigilant and committed to maintaining the highest standard of safety in our nightclubs," said Mayor Menino. "That's why I'm creating a special task force to examine the city's policies for nightclub safety, and make sure that Boston is using the toughest standards possible. I'm also taking steps to ban pyrotechnics in Boston nightclubs. We need the industry club owners to continue to work with us to keep their patrons safe."

Greensboro (NC) Mayor Keith Holliday is the new chairman of the 21'member mayors comprising the North Carolina Metropolitan Coalition. The immediate past chair was Charlotte Mayor Patrick McCrory, who served as chairman for three years. The organization was founded in 2000 by the mayors of North Carolina's larger cities to espouse policies directed at helping the state's urban centers.

To celebrate the 111th birthday of Niagara Falls, on Monday evening March 17, Mayor Irene J. Elia will watch as the city celebrates St. Patrick's Day by observing Niagara Falls illuminated in green lights.

Elizabeth (NJ) Mayor J. Christian Bollwage on March 7 was present with former New Jersey Acting Governor Donald T. DiFrancesco at a special homeland security conference hosted by Kean University. The mayor had asked the university to host the event titled "Bridging the Communications Gap." More than 400 New Jersey mayors, police officers, EMTs, doctors and academics attended the event. The program was designed to bring together — and better coordinate — the many individuals and organizations charged with keeping New Jersey safe and secure.

And, in North Providence (RI) Mayor A. Ralph Mollis formed a Citizens Emergency Response Team (CERT) with North Providence Fire Chief and acting Emergency Management Director Steven Catanzaro.

Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy's leadership in redeveloping brownfield sites was highlighted in a March 6 New York Times article. Mayor Murphy said he is working to transform "a city really defined as one of the most environmentally degraded in America to a city that really could be defined as an environmental success story." There are as many as one million brownfield sites across the country. The Conference has made brownfields redevelopment a priority issue since 1993 and has been pushing for tools at the local level to redevelop these sites from eyesores into productive properties.

Newark (CA) Mayor David Smith, a Conference of Mayors Trustee, was honored this week in his City Council on the 25th anniversary of his mayoralty. Smith's tenure ranks among the longest in the country for a sitting mayor. "It's been fun to help build a city from the ground up," Smith said of his tenure. Smith took office March 14, 1978 — just a few months before Proposition 13 took nearly a quarter of Newark's $4 million general fund. "Newark has thrived under him," raved City Manager Al Huezo who cited several successes, including the opening of NewPark Mall in 1980 and the Hilton Hotel in 1984, the establishment of the city's lucrative auto dealerships in the early 1990s, the wooing of tech giant Sun Microsystems in the mid'1990s and the opening of the Silliman Center in 2000.

Rochester (NY) Mayor William A. Johnson Jr. was named a Distinguished Alumnus by Howard University during the University's Charter Day Gala March 8 in Washington. Johnson, a U.S. Conference of Mayors Trustee, was honored for his professional achievements in public service during his three terms in city hall and his more than two decades as president and CEO of the Urban League of Rochester. In bestowing the honor, the University cited the mayor's ambitious, innovative programs to reduce housing blight, increase opportunities for educational and economic empowerment, and foster ethnic diversity and understanding. Johnson currently chairs the Conference's Regionalism and Smart Growth Task Force.

Philadelphia Mayor John Street, middle, joins actor Andre Braugher, who plays Philly cop Marcellus Washington in the CBS series "Hack," which filmed in Philadelphia recently. Mayor Street will appear in an upcoming episode of the show.

Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle Re-Elected

On March 4 Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle was elected to his seventh term as mayor of Burlington (VT). Clavelle, who was endorsed for the first time by both the Progressive and democratic parties, won 64 percent of the votes cast. Clavelle is an Advisory Board Member of the Conference of Mayors.

"I'm grateful to the people of Burlington for giving me the honor and the opportunity to continue serving as their mayor," commented Clavelle. "Together we can make this wonderful city even better."

Under the city's recently modified Charter, the re-elected mayor will serve a three-year term, which begins April 7. Terms of office in Burlington had traditionally be two years.

Already one of only two Burlington mayors to serve a total of 12 years in office, Clavelle will start his new term as the longest serving mayor in Burlington's history.