In his final Presidential address before the nation’s Mayors, Denver Mayor and outgoing Conference President Wellington E. Webb called on the nation’s Mayors to build upon the current success and prosperity of cities, to broker new relationships with the federal government, business, and international interests. Webb also urged the Mayors to use their heightened influence to bring prosperity to all Americans.

A special video chronicling Webb’s year as President of the Conference, The Webb Presidency: Launching the Century of Cities, shown immediately preceding Webb’s speech, and moved the audience to a minute-long standing ovation. (The full 20-minute video can be viewed on the Conference’s web site at usmayors.org)

The video underscored a year in which the Mayors have gained voice as international economic and political brokers. Throughout the meeting many Mayors, including Boise Mayor and incoming President H. Brent Coles, lauded Mayor Webb’s platform as President, from his launch of the ‘Cities 2000’ initiative to his leadership in developing the ‘New Agenda for America’s Cities,’ for the catalytic role it played in this transformation. (See related story on Mayor Coles on Page 3, this issue.)

"Everything I’ve done this year has been underscored by my strong belief that the 21st century will be the ‘Century of Cities,’" Webb said. "We are facing a new era where the forces of commerce, culture, and technology are coming together to create unprecedented opportunity for all of our citizens. And our cities are the heart and soul of this historic global transformation."

A number of Webb’s initiatives as President were highlighted in the video, including:

One of Mayor Webb’s most exciting new projects his launch of a series of international exchanges taking place as part of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ "Cities 2000" initiative. Throughout his Presidency Mayor Webb’s "Cities 2000" initiative promote the role of cities in the international economic and political arena, and facilitated the exchange of metropolitan best practices and strategies across continents.

The inaugural event of the Cities 2000" initiative occurred in May 1999, when Mayor Webb led a mission of American Mayors to cities in the African nations of Ghana and Senegal. Other events included meetings in the cities of Kitakyushu and Tokyo, Japan; Florence, Italy; Lyon, France (with both French and German Mayors); Buenos Aires, Argentina; and Jerusalem, Israel. "Cities 2000" culminated during the Annual Conference in Seattle with the adoption by the Mayors of a resolution directing the Executive Director of the Conference to begin to explore the formation of an International Conference of Mayors. (See resolutions adopted by the Mayors in this issue.)

• Gun Safety Day/Wall of Gun Deaths/Million Mom March Support

In September a bipartisan group of more than 80 Mayors and police chiefs from around the nation joined Wellington E. Webb, President of The U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington to urge Congress to pass sensible gun safety reform measures. The group met with President Clinton in the White House, and held a rally on the Capitol, standing with a bipartisan group of leaders from both the House and Senate.

Mayor Webb also spearheaded the creation of the Wall of Gun Deaths, a 54-foot long and 12.5-foot high memorial listing the names of 4,001 victims of gun violence in the year following the Columbine high school shootings, to dramatize the Mayors’ efforts to push for sorely needed legislation to stem gun violence in the nation’s cities.

The Wall is a graphic depiction of results released in a 100-city survey today by the Conference. Among the findings, the survey shows that 1,471 of the victims were aged 21 to 30. According to the report, the youngest victim is two years old and the oldest ninety-seven. Mayor Webb first unveiled the Wall during the Winter Meeting of the conference this past January; in April, the nation got its first glimpse of when the Wall Today Show host Katie Couric interviewed Mayor Webb, standing in front of a studio replica of the Wall.

On Mother’s Day, the Wall was displayed on the Nation Mall in Washington as part of the Million Mom March. Early on, when the March was first announced, the Conference pledged its strong support for the March – one of the first Washington organizations to do so. In addition to a presence in Washington, Mayors around the country organized Mother’s Day Marches for gun safety in their own cities.

• Metro Economies/The New Agenda for America’s Cities

In January Mayor Webb traveled with Boise Mayor H. Brent Coles, New Orleans Mayor Marc H. Morial, and leaders from the National Association of Counties (NACo) to Wall Street to unveil the 10-point "New Agenda for America’s Cities." The "New Agenda," among other priorities, includes a call for the next Administration to create a cabinet level domestic policy advisor. He also announced a national campaign to enhance the nation’s metro regions. (The full text of the "New Agenda for America’s Cities" is available on the Conference’s website, at usmayors.org.)

Using data from Standard & Poor’s DRI report, Webb and other local leaders demonstrated how the economic boom has been propelled by the nation’s largest urban counties and cities –– America’s economic engines. The report, U.S. Metro Economies: The Engines of America’s Growth, documents the Gross Metropolitan Product (GMP) of more than 300 metro areas across the nation, and shows improved economic vitality for the nation’s metro regions. (GMP is a concept similar to Gross Domestic Product, the commonly accepted measure nations use to calculate the total annual value of goods and services they have produced.)

The report also ranks U. S. metro areas relative to states and national economies around the world. Among the findings: forty seven of the world’s top 100 economies are U. S. metro areas. (An updated version of the ‘Metro Economies’ report was released in Chicago this May, and is also available on the Conference’s website,

While visiting Wall Street Mayor Webb and other local leaders spoke before the Association for a Better New York (ABNY), a group of the city’s most influential citizens and businessmen; met with the editorial boards of the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal and BusinessWeek; met with the Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange and rang the closing bell; and met with the CEOs of Citigroup and other influential business interests to promote The "New Agenda."

"Like cities throughout the globe, we as Mayors continue to face challenges," Mayor Webb said in concluding his address. "But I believe that our great cities will continue to prosper, particularly in the century, as custodians of the past and as the economic, political and cultural engines for our future."

Following are excerpts from Mayor Webb’s speech:

"There’s a new vitality and confidence in our cities; it’s reflected in the bricks and mortar of exciting new projects and in stories about improved governance, strong public/private partnerships, economic growth and declining crime.

Historically, it’s been the federal government that has taken on the role as the principal intersection between different nations and peoples.

But the New Economy and the new technology have changed that dramatically. In the increasingly diverse and decentralized economic and cultural ties across national borders, our cities and regions play a vital role.

In the United States both major political parties are coming to recognize the growing importance of cities and metropolitan regions and the federal government is slowly giving more authority to local governments on such issues as transportation and economic development. Sometimes it is done reluctantly, and on a small scale, but it’s trend that has enormous popular appeal in our country.

Like the Wall Street Journal said in its article that profiled my friend Don Plusquellic from Akron, "The Oval Office is out; City Hall is where the political action is."

That’s why, as we approach the critical 2000 presidential elections, Mayors must continue to promote our New Agenda for America’s Cities within both campaigns, and must be highly involved in the presidential transition process regardless of who wins.

Washington must support policies that will help continue to fuel the metro economies so that the economic boom can continue.

This means building better transportation systems, making our cities even safer, improving housing supplies, improving public schools and better training our workers, and recycling America’s land by redeveloping brownfields.

At the same time, Washington must be a partner in helping people and places being left behind. Together we must create incentives for the private sector to make investments in our "untapped domestic markets."

Given our current prosperous times, there will never be a better time for America to develop these markets. And if we do not, our nation’s blighted neighborhoods will ultimately inhibit our overall ability to expand economically.

We must invest in working families everywhere to ensure that they can compete in the modern economy, and are able to raise and educate their children in a safe and secure environment.

I also want to stress again the importance of Mayors - Democrats, Republicans, independents - being closely involved in the transition process, both policy and personnel, of the next Administration...regardless of who becomes our next President, Mayors must be closely involved in developing the policies which will take our cities and nation into the future, and I want to urge every mayor to help us work towards this goal.  

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