April 7, 2008

Oakland (CA) Mayor Ron Dellums, now in office 15 months, was the subject of a March 31 Associated Press story featuring his work in fighting crime in the city of 400,000 across the bay from San Francisco.

A Democrat, Dellums, 72, spent nearly three decades on Capitol Hill, including chairmanship of The House Armed Services Committee. The story said he was ready to retire when residents and local politicians recruited him to run for mayor. He succeeded former California Governor Jerry Brown, now the state’s Attorney General.

Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson is the longest serving mayor in the city’s history. In 1985, he first claimed the city’s top office. In 2003, Louisville merged with surrounding Jefferson County and his new domain is six times bigger and contains twice as many people.

In a March 6 feature in The Economist, the article notes that Abramson has streamlined public services and accelerated the redevelopment of downtown Louisville and his city has gained distinction as a model for other recovering cities.

In noting that many mayors are forging regional alliances, the article mentioned as “regional power brokers,” Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper.

The same article profiles Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup and his role in working with Pima County in coping with regional problems. The city and county now, says the article, work closely to attract new business and write transportation policy. Walkup is now focused on downtown Tucson.

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino is actively involved in helping residents cope with the escalating mortgage foreclosure crisis. The New York Times March 30 featured his role in helping Bostonians by holding a March 29 workshop to help homeowners avoid foreclosure. The event drew representatives from five mortgage companies to try to restructure loans. It added classes on homeownership, credit ratings and other financial topics, in addition to providing residents with access to foreclosure prevention prevention counselors.

The day-long seminar was organized by the Department of Neighborhood Development.

Newark (CA) Mayor David Smith formally celebrates his 30th anniversary March 14 as mayor of Newark. Smith, 62, began his tenure March 14, 1978, after serving as a city councilman for two years.

Through the decades, he has seen good times, such as the dot-com boom and growth, including the construction of NewPark Mall, the now-vacant “Gateway” office park near the Don Edwards refuge and Ohlone College’s Newark campus.

He also has overseen several budget downturns, from the revenue drop he dealt with at the start of his reign caused by a state property tax law change to the national recession of the early 1990s to today’s economic woes, which officials say will result in staff layoffs.

The native of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula moved to the area in the late 1960s to oversee plastics production in Fremont. “I really wanted to live in Fremont, truthfully, but there weren’t a lot of houses on the market, so I bought in Newark,” he said. He now lives in The Lake neighborhood with his wife, Marsha. They have two children and two stepchildren.

The mayor, now executive director of the Ohlone College Foundation, also plays trombone in the city staff-filled Yowza band.