Washington, D.C.
June 24, 2005

Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill took the gavel as our 63rd President of The United States Conference of Mayors becoming our 4th woman President — following other woman Presidents — Lincoln Mayor Helen Bossalis (1981-82), Houston Mayor Kathy Whitmire (1989-90) and Salt Lake City Mayor Deedee Corradini (1998-99).

I recall in being in a most important meeting not too many years ago where the "founder" of the USCM Womens Group, then Mayor of San Francisco, now California Senator Dianne Feinstein, rallied a very small group of women mayors together at a Winter Meeting at the L'Enfant Plaza Hotel to establish the necessity that women mayors must be afforded the right to ascend as members of our Advisory Board and Executive Committee. This was after a number of years when black and white male mayors were reluctant to move women mayors up and into our leadership. That was the mission of The Women's Group, to move women mayors up into our leadership. And because of the first women that came into our ranks and the recognition of their leadership and contributions, we have had and now with Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill four women Presidents. And we have fourteen women serving as Trustees and Advisory Board members out of forty — approximately 32 percent. Furthermore, we have within our total membership over 20 percent of our member mayors who are women. All members salute our 4th woman President and we appreciate the contributions made by women mayors and look forward to an even fuller participation from the vast array of women mayors in the USA that now exists within our ranks as members. We must recruit and invite to participate the 108 women mayors that are eligible and are not members. We need more women member mayors. That recruitment will be one of the goals of O'Neill as she directs the Chair of our Membership Committee, Elizabeth Kautz, Mayor of Burnsville (MN) to come forth with an overall strategic plan to increase our membership during the coming year.

Now let's look at our new President, Mayor Beverly O'Neill and consider what she has already contributed to the Conference of Mayors as a leader within our organization as the Mayor of her city — Long Beach, California.

O'Neill's work on the work-force/education issues developing sustainable policy as our Standing Committee Chair is an example of a mayor dedicated in her public service to work within our organization from the bottom up to the highest pinnacle — and along the way leave with us strong policy and guidance. Her exemplary service to the organization, in more ways than one will stand for us to appreciate and use as we continue to face the work-force, skills gap and public schools gap in cities with economic growth as well as cities who face these challenges today and in our future.

So she has already lifted us up but as President Reagan used to say "You ain't seen nothing yet."

Her well focused, vibrant, energetic and vigorous career as the Mayor of Long Beach facing a large naval base loss, and converting that loss into an opportunity for bold leadership and thus creating Long Beach to the destination city we have today has been noted and cited by city observers, politicians and urban experts. O'Neill's leadership and mayoral action is an example in the "best practices" book of what a mayor must do if he or she is a leader. She has proven that in Long Beach — for all of us in our nation and the world — to behold.

She brings also to our Presidency, as the Mayor of the Long Beach, which, is the home of the second busiest port in the Western Hemisphere a vast knowledge of global business and political acumen in dealing with business and government in the vast opportunities for us in the Pacific Rim. Her travels and contacts and experience in this most important global region, as well as her vast knowledge of the world through her travels and experiences in living and teaching and learning in her academic career gives her the personal insight of the globe and that insight and action will lift us to new heights as USA mayors continue to lead USA metro- economies that are driving our national economy and increasingly strengthening their role as major players on the international business and governmental stage.

She wakes up each day knowing that Long Beach looks across the Pacific for business and trade. She also stresses the need for all mayors, The White House, Congress, the business community and the general public to accept the fact, as she stated in her Chicago inauguration address, that mayors and the metro economies represent more than 80 percent of employment income and production of products and services in the United States. She has, from day one, when we created our USA Metro-Economies Initiative just a few years ago, continued to champion and challenge all of us to be more bravado about the powerful economic and business we possess. We will continue to hear from her as she signaled to us in her maiden speech in Chicago stating that out of the top 100 largest international economies in the world, 47 are U.S.A. metro economies with New York, Los Angeles — Long Beach and Chicago in the top 20. She said, "It is a story we must continue to tell." And she will tell the story. That is quite clear.

Those of us of a certain age remember the very popular "Dragnet" television show when Sgt Jack Webb would approach a rambling witness with a firm interruption of "Just the facts, m-am." Well — we got the facts. The economic numbers are there and President O'Neill will deliver the facts on this one in a way that has never been done before.

President O'Neill also emphasizes the word "change." She uses the word "change" to, indeed, define life itself. She points to the fact that the USA population is shifting and that more than half of all Americans now live in one of just 39 metropolitan areas. This shift, she states, has caused the context of life itself to be dramatically altered as "we move from a period of rapid change to radical change." The radical change we are all experiencing, according to President O'Neill, is primarily driven by democratic shifts, and emerging global economy, the continuing polarization of income and wealth and unprecedented advances and discoveries.

Listen to her as she talks about the change:

"We are changing because we must. But change is growth. Without change there can be no strengthening of concepts — no greater awareness — no evolution. Change is a necessary part of the human life. If you are not changing and growing, you are not alive. The same is true with cities. They are alive only if they are constantly changing."

These words evoke the spirit of a young President, John F. Kennedy, when we heard his summon for change for our country in his inaugural address when he stood before us on that cold and wintry day over four decades ago.

She, too, summons us forth. She is a child of Long Beach, having met her husband during their high school days and married there as a young woman and raised family. As a college President she gained skills and insights that did not go unnoticed by her citizenry. Her career as a professor and as a college President was unquestioned. She could have ended a stellar career at that moment in her life when the leaders and her people called her to serve as mayor. She faced change in her life and rose to the occasion with bold leadership decisions and actions that produced tangible results that will remain in Long Beach forever. Whatever Long Beach is, it is because of Mayor Beverly O'Neill.

When she faced the obstacles of term limits which would have stopped her from finishing the job and transformation she set out to do in Long Beach, she indeed changed the whole political game and turned the term limit obstacle upside down and led a write-in to elect her for unprecedented third term. Why did she do it? She was committed to finish the positive changes for Long Beach that were born within her governance of that great city.

Now the mantle of leadership has been passed to her as she leads an ever changing and dynamic organization, The United States Conference of Mayors. You, as mayors, leaders and I, along with my staff, are so honored to serve.

As she said in Chicago, "We have a more ethnically complex society today — a society of more distinct socioeconomic classes, a more competitive society, a more technical society, an older society, a more harried society. In a single generation, hundreds of lumber mills, auto and tire factories, steel plants, canneries, railroad yards, ship yards and other basic industries have closed their doors."

As mayors, working with The United States Conference of Mayors, we are most aware of what the words of Beverly O'Neill means to the cities and people of our American society.

We have been challenged before with the lack of civil rights for all, the lack of veteran's rights returning from our Wars, the lack of women rights and those social issues that has brought The United States Conference to the forefront for change and action. This role of our organization is sometimes overlooked but we were there, standing up at the crossroads when our nation might have stood still if it had not been for the mayors who went before us to help our nation accept and act on basic needed changes.

Today, as President O'Neill describes the radical change caused by national and economic forces far beyond your cities jurisdiction, we know that President O'Neill's vision will lift you up, lift your cities up and give us as mayors, and staff the energy and inspiration to meet the challenges in front of us. With her we will stand our ground and support her to change the game to defeat any voice of pessimism that would not accept the fact that strong cities are what makes a stronger America.

So many of you since Chicago have already expressed your enthusiasm to continue with even more vigor to be a part of the year ahead of us as we support our dynamic new President.

This week we go to Los Angeles where President O'Neill invites Vice President Dearborn Mayor Mike Guido, and Advisory Board Chair Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer in a top three officers' meeting to counsel with her on the year ahead.

Then the next day, July 1 the top three officers and your executive director will be the U.S. Conference of Mayors official delegation to participate and witness the swearing in of the new Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa.

O'Neill is reaching out to all cities to come and join with us as we march through this year toward our 74th Annual 2006 Meeting in Las Vegas and on to our Diamond Jubilee Meeting, our 75th Anniversary in Los Angeles in 2007.

Let us continue to work together for our cities and our people by supporting our new President as she issues the call to enlist in our cause to make our cities strong for a stronger America.