United States Conference of Mayors
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The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM) is a nonpartisan national organization founded in 1932.
At its ouset, 29 mayors met -- in Detroit at the call of Frank Murphy during the Great Depression -- to meet and confer with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.[1]
Its membership consists of cities in the United States with populations of 30,000 or more. In 2006, it counted 1,139 such cities. Each city is represented in the Conference by its mayor.
The current president is Douglas H. Palmer, mayor of Trenton, New Jersey. The current vice president is Manuel A. Diaz, mayor of Miami, Florida.
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[edit] Mission
According to the official web site, the mission of the Conference is to: [1]
- Promote the development of effective national urban/suburban policy.
- Strengthen federal-city relationships.
- Ensure that federal policy meets urban needs.
- Provide mayors with leadership and management tools.
- Create a forum in which mayors can share ideas and information.
As the organization itself has noted, from time to time, mayors have gone on to hold high federal office as members of presidential cabinet positions.[2]
[edit] Activities
The Conference holds an annual meeting in June in a different city each year, and a winter meeting in Washington, DC. At the annual meeting, members vote on policy resolutions. The results are distributed to the President of the United States and the United States Congress.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors also houses the Mayors Climate Protection Center, created in 2007 to provide support mayors in efforts to reduce global warming in American cities. In June 2007, the Center awarded its first annual "Mayors' Climate Protection Awards" to leading mayors. The "U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement", initiated by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, seeks the pledges of mayors from all 50 states to take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 7% from 1990 levels by the year 2012, in line with the Kyoto Protocol. To date, 740 mayors have signed the Agreement.
On January 11, 2007 the Conference leadership approved a platform called "Strong Cities, Strong Families for a Strong America", including positions on energy policy and homeland security, and support for Community development block grants (CDBG), government sponsored enterprises, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIPS), and the Workforce Investment Act.
[edit] Organization
[edit] Task forces
Temporary task forces are organized to study emerging issues and make recommendations to the body of the Conference. Recent task forces have addressed AIDS, hunger and homelessness, unfunded federal mandates, youth crime and violence, and brownfields. The "Poverty, Work and Opportunity Task Force," chaired by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, was formed in January of 2006.
[edit] Standing committees
Mayors may also serve on one or more of the Conference's standing committees:
- Children, Health and Human Services
- Community Development and Housing
- Criminal and Social Justice
- Energy
- Environment
- International Affairs
- Jobs, Education and the Workforce
- Membership
- Tourism, Arts, Parks, Entertainment and Sports
- Transportation and Communications
- Urban Economic Policy
[edit] History
The organization emerged from the efforts of depression-era mayors to lobby the federal government for aid. After the Emergency Relief and Construction Act of 1932 was signed into law by President Herbert Hoover, the Conference wrote its charter.
[edit] Past Presidents
[edit] Bibliography and further reading
- Holli, Melvin G. The American Mayor: The Best & The Worst Big-City Leaders. (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1999.) ISBN 978-0-271-01877-5; ISBN 0-271-01876-3.[4]
