October 8, 2007

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino celebrated sustainable transportation and energy initiatives September 28-29 at the Altwheels Alternative Transportation and Energy Festival. The festival is now in its fifth year.

“The problems of global climate change and air pollution impose a high cost on resident, businesses here in Boston and around the world,” Menino said. “This festival annually celebrates the creative efforts of many individuals, businesses and governments to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, and provide alternatives to fossil fuels, efforts that reduce the risks from future climate change and ensure a healthy environment,” he added.

The U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, 57, was mayor of Lincoln (NE) from 1991 to 1998, and an active presence at many U.S. Conference of Mayors events. Johanns resigned as Agricultural Secretary September 20 and, returning to Lincoln, is expected to announce a Senate campaign in 2008, seeking the seat held by retiring Senate Republican Chuck Hagel. The GOP must defend 22 of 34 Senate seats on the ballot next year.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums on October 1 endorsed Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, as reported in the Washington Times. Dellums, a former Congressman from California, said it was a “thank you” for incorporating his and the U.S. Conference of Mayors urban agenda, the 2007 10-Point Plan, “Strong Cities...Strong Families...for a Strong America.” Dellums will head the urban policy committee advising Clinton on issues regarding the nation's cities.

Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski joined Portland Mayor Tom Potter in Salem October 3 to announce that the final preparations were underway for Oregon to be part of the nation’s anti-terrorism exercise in the nation’s history. The Event is scheduled for later this month.

A fictional “dirty bomb” will go off in downtown Portland, crippling transportation and sending a radioactive cloud over the city, tas part of the five-day Top Officials exercise, dubbed TOPOFF. “This is a unique opportunity for Portland to prepare for any emergency,” Potter said.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa’s bid to control the city’s public school system got a shot-in-the-arm. A LA real estate developer and his wife announced Sept. 27 they would donate $50 million, $5 million over ten years, to the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, a non-profit organization started by Villaraigosa to oversee two high schools and the middle and elementary schools that feed into them starting as soon as July 2008.

Hispanic Business magazine, in its October edition, profiles the 100 most influential Hispanics. Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavéz and Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez are two of eleven Hispanics whose photographs are on the front page. The inside caption for Chavéz answers the “why” as to how he was selected. “Mayors from 1993 to 1997, Mr. Chavéz returned to the office in 2001. Since then, the city has seen crime reports cut 17 percent and water use down by a third, while Albuquerque itself has received national prominence and publicity from publications that include Forbes and USA Today. Mr. Chavéz is currently mentioned as a gubernatorial candidate in 2010.”

As for Perez, the magazine profile notes that he is the city’s first Hispanic mayor, and, after changing the city’s charter five years ago, it’s first CEO. “He arrived in Hartford in 1969 at age 12, and rose through the city as a VISTA volunteer and ending, just before becoming mayor, as president and executive director of the Southside Institutions Neighborhood Alliance, which created national models for comprehensive community revitalization.”