By Kay Scrimger
November 21, 2005

Conference Past President Akron Mayor Donald Plusquellic participated in United Nations Day at U.N. headquarters in New York October 24, the 60th anniversary of the U.N.’s founding.

As Vice President of Mayors for Peace, Plusquellic represented Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayors for Peace President at the anniversary celebration, which included the unveiling of the U.N.’s 60th Anniversary Poster, followed by a luncheon at which he spoke.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, General Assembly President Jan Eliasson, Shashi Tharoor, Under Secretary General for Public Information, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY) also addressed the gathering.

Emphasizing the importance of achieving a world free of nuclear weapons, Plusquellic said, “Mayors must speak out about the importance of realizing the goal of disarmament,” and “we must engage in educating our citizens.”

He added, “For many years, the Conference of Mayors has strongly advocated a decrease in the number of nuclear weapons and the elimination of the threat of nuclear war, and we have passed strong resolutions to this effect at our Annual Conferences."

Plusquellic called for the elimination of nuclear weapons by the year 2020 or sooner so that people everywhere will no longer be haunted by the threat of nuclear war. “I welcome the growing cooperation of mayors and other governmental officials in the campaign for a world free of nuclear weapons,” he said.