By Ed Somers
September 12, 2005

"As we have seen in recent disasters both in the United States and around the world, there are no more charitable and caring people than those in our cities and in our nation. It is our job to help lead in this effort by doing all we can to direct their energy to what is needed most." This was the message delivered by Conference President Long Beach Mayor Beverly O'Neill to her colleagues in the first hours after Hurricane Katrina hit, as mayors across the nation rushed to respond to the devastation.

Mayors have been working to address the needs of the cities hit hard by the hurricane, and to help take care of the hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and families. The Conference of Mayors has dispatched a staff team to Baton Rouge to work directly with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, and to help coordinate assistance for the many impacted cities in the region.

As O'Neill said in a recent letter to her colleagues, "Your work is making a major difference, and we will not rest until our cities are rebuilt and our fellow citizens are able to return to the communities they so love."

O'Neill hosted a conference call on September 1 with the leadership of the Conference to discuss relief efforts. O'Neill was able to bring Mobile Mayor Michael Dow into that call, during which he encouraged mayors to continue to help raise funds. He also said that while Mobile sustained damage, he was most concerned about his neighboring communities in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.

In the first days of the recovery effort, O'Neill urged mayors to focus on helping raise cash donations, and to coordinate their offers of recovery assistance through the state departments of emergency management as requested by President Bush and the federal government.

Links to charities designated by the federal government and impact states to receive hurricane donations can be found on the Conference of Mayors website usmayors.org.

Many cities have already dispatched Urban Search and Rescue Teams and other first responders, as well as response equipment and desperately needed supplies, to the impacted area. Examples of mayoral/city responses can be read here.

On Thursday, September 1, Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Alphonso Jackson called Conference Executive Director Tom Cochran to request help in identifying housing for displaced persons. The Conference immediately put a survey in the field, which has garnered responses from over 100 cities with thousands and thousands of possible housing units identified.

All this information has been transmitted to HUD and the White House. And the Conference is working with HUD to understand how the process for longer-term relocation will work, as well as the process for federal reimbursement.

In addition to the work with HUD on housing, the Conference has been working closely with the White House, Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, and other federal agencies to help respond to the disaster. For example, DHS encouraged mayors to push their governors to seek Presidential emergency declarations so that relief assistance is eligible for 100 percent reimbursement.

A list of states that have received Presidential declarations at the time of printing is available at right.

On Wednesday, September 7, Executive Director Tom Cochran dispatched a Conference of Mayors staff team to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to help coordinate mayoral relief efforts and for the purpose of establishing a direct liaison with New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and his cabinet. As Cochran said in his memo to the nation's mayors, "It is most important that we have a direct line of communication to Mayor Nagin, and in view of the devastated communication infrastructure, having people on the ground is the only way to do this. Further, our team will establish a direct liaison with Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden for the purpose of determining how we can assist him with the challenges he faces."

"By having personnel on the ground, we will be better able to interact with New Orleans Mayor Nagin and the other Mayors in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and make sure that we are conveying their needs directly to you," Cochran told the mayors.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has reached out to the National Conference of Black Mayors (NCBM) to make sure that relief efforts are well coordinated. NCBM has many impacted smaller-city members hit hard by the hurricane.

As Tom Cochran said in a memo to mayors, "we will be coordinating with the National Conference of Black Mayors to secure additional information that will help us match up more cities to assist in the impacted region." Cochran and Conference staff traveled to Atlanta to begin these discussions.

O'Neill also invited the President of NCBM, Mayor Roosevelt Dorn of Inglewood (CA), and Executive Director Vanessa Williams to join the leadership conference call with the White House and Department of Homeland Security.

The Conference is in contact with National Urban League President Marc H. Morial, former Mayor of New Orleans and Past President of The U.S. Conference of Mayors. The Conference and the NUL will be working on a plan to help coordinate the resources available through local chapters with the resources that mayors have through city government and charitable and business organizations.