Washington, DC
May 21, 2004

Over the past month there have been activities in the international arena which relate directly to a number of initiatives previously officially established by Conference of Mayors leadership.

Paris May 2-5 Merger Meeting of European-based Organizations

Two European-based organizations, the International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) and the United Town Organization (UTO) merged into one organization and in Paris this month founded a new organization named "United Cities and Local Governments" Its- new home will be Barcelona.

Historically, The United States Conference of Mayors attempted to be aligned and active in IULA. The challenges with IULA was it was just too large and lacked a time focus that fits the bipartisan political culture of The United States Conference of Mayors.

I attended two of their world meetings, one in Oslo in 1991 and another in Perth, Australia later. The meetings were immense and our members instead chose to relate with individual mayoral organizations within a number of nations. Our International Affairs Standing Committee has supported The United States Conference of Mayors international initiatives and we can be proud of our accomplishments and successful true relationships we have established over the past 20 years.

Inside of IULA, there is bright hope in "Metropolis", an organization of larger cities of the world. The leader of Metropolis is Barcelona Mayor Joan Clos. He is a visionary.

Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic and I met with Clos in Barcelona in 2002 to discuss a more active role of the Conference within Metropolis. We invited Clos to come to Denver to our Annual Meeting, June 2003, and he in turn asked us to participate in the Istanbul Metropolis meeting, September 2003. Clos was well received in Denver and Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill and I made a presentation centered on transportation in Istanbul at the Metropolis Board Meeting.

As the two larger organizations merged in Paris, we expressed strong hope that Metropolis will live and flourish within the new organization and I am pleased to report that it will continue. We will continue to work with Metropolis to assist Clos as he continues with his vision, which is the same as ours, to give the USA mayors a respectful and proper place to in some way learn and share our best practices.

Also in Paris, The United States Conference of Mayors supported our friends within the African Alliance of Mayors along with AMICAAll, our UN organization partner, to push for a workshop, "Local Governments Fighting AIDS and Promoting Healthy Cities". The United States Conference of Mayors will continue to advocate a place for discussion of the HIV/AIDS pandemic as we are committed to do so in the accords Conference President James A. Garner signed in Namibia with the Alliance of African Mayors and AMICAALL last September. We are grateful to the European organizations for allowing this HIV/AIDS workshop to take place as they formed their new organization. In the Paris workshop we joined with our African Mayors to request a special working group within the new organization to focus on HIV/AIDS. We have not yet received a decision on this request.

In Paris we also joined our friends Sister Cities and The National League of Cities. The NLC has been active with IULA and were most pleased that South Bay (FL) Mayor Clarence Anthony was elected Treasurer of the new organization, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).

It is not clear to me at this time as to how we participate officially within the new organization "United Cities and Local Governments." I hope to have a clearer understanding of the governance structure to report to our leadership at our Annual Meeting in Boston next month. In the meantime, we will do what we can to strengthen and support USA mayoral representation in international meetings and organizations. We believe we have reached the point in history to provide a value-added component to any international discussion because of the international initiatives we have developed within The United States Conference of Mayors.

Also in Paris, Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson gave a brilliant best practice presentation of water management. His bridging the question of public/private resources was well received. We applaud what he has done in Indianapolis working with our Conference major partner and friend, "Veolia Water," known to many of us from its old name, U.S. Filter.

Rome Third Annual Glocalization Conference May 16-17

Conference President Hempstead (NY) Mayor James A. Garner and I attended and participated in the 3rd Annual Glocalization Conference in Rome. Also in attendance were Washington (DC) Mayor Anthony Williams and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley. Other USA mayors are active in the Glocalization Conferences. Past President Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino attended the first one. While this year's meeting focused on the youth of the world suffering in conflict areas highlighted by the Quincy Jones "We Are The Future" worldwide concert telecast, we had the opportunity to participate and engage in special sessions chaired by World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn and sessions in the city hall of Rome chaired by Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni. A series of sessions covered e-governance and learning, youth empowerment, city diplomacy, arts, sports and tourism provoked serious dialogue. Garner raised the issue of HIV/AIDS in Africa and the world in the World Bank luncheon. We are appreciative to the Glocalization officers and staff for the way they have accepted our United States Conference of Mayors into their organization. We especially thank Mr. Tom Hoog, Chairman of the Global Forum U.S. Board and Ms. Holly Muldoon, Executive Director Global Forum, U.S. We have invited the Glocalization Conference to join us in Boston for our June Annual Meeting and they will be there.

Vatican City - May 18-19

Conference President Hepmstead (NY) Mayor James Garner was received by His Eminence Cardinal Francis Arinze on May 18. Garner also attended the Papal General Audience and as President of the United States Conference of Mayors he was received by The Holy Father on May 19 at St. Peter's Cathedral.

Our official visit to Vatican City was prompted by our four (4) nation visit to Africa last September to South Africa, Namibia, Uganda and Swaziland.

Garner announced in Namibia that he was most impressed with the work of the Catholic Charities with the orphans totaling millions in Africa. At the African Alliance/United States Conference of Mayors meeting it was announced that we would be meeting with The Holy Father, and we did for the purpose of expressing our appreciation and support for the resources given to the children left alone by the devastation and deaths of their parents by HIV/AIDS. Mayor Garner was well received by all officials of The Holy See and we are appreciative to all who worked with us on this Conference mission to The Vatican.

We also had a special meeting with our Vatican Ambassador Jim Nicholson. It is most interesting to hear him discuss the worldwide issues he is involved in.

While in Rome also, Ed Somers, Conference Chief of Staff and Assistant Executive Director for Criminal and Social Justice, met with the Serco company at the site of a major public/private pilot program on crime prevention through the use of technology. This company is most interested in partnering with the Conference on homeland security issues and is interested in participating in our Conference sponsored international forums and meetings.