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NEWS SECTIONS: World news | Election news | News from Europe | News from North America | News from Latin America | News from Asia and Australia | News from Africa | Urban events | NEWS SPECIALS: The 2010 Love Parade tragedy | Latest news story |Portland mayor proposes new
measures to curb illegal guns
Portland, 2 September 2010: Despite strong opposition from America’s influential Nation Rifle Association (NRA), Portland Mayor Sam Adams is going ahead with plans to strengthen existing gun laws. A spokesman for the mayor said, the move was in response to an increase in gang-related shootings. “Last week there were 10 gang-related shootings in the Portland Metro area, and over the weekend there was an additional deadly shooting which was not gang-related," he said.
The mayor has proposed the following changes and/or additions to current regulations:
• A curfew for juveniles convicted of gun-law violations.
• A new city crime of failure to control kids’ access to guns.
• A new city crime of failure to report loss or theft of guns.
• Increase penalties for illegal possession of loaded firearms.
• Excluding gun-law violators from neighborhoods with high rates of illegal firearm use.
Mayor Adams issued a statement saying that the illegal use of firearms was a long-standing community problem in the City of Portland. « Changes to federal and state gun laws are needed. That is why I am a founding member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. At the state level, Ceasefire Oregon is advocating for common-sense gun safety laws. The Brady Campaign is working on gun education and lobbying on the national level. But the enactment of state and federal gun safety laws is a slow and uncertain process. In the meantime, due to lax gun safety laws, cities like Portland get caught in the crossfire: literally and tragically," the mayor said.
While, according to straw polls, the majority of people support the mayor, critics say the mayor was overstepping his authority.
Mayor defends proposed
mosque near Ground Zero
New York City, 25 August 2010: Amid the controversy over the proposed mosque near Ground Zero, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made a passionate plea for religious tolerance. At the annual Ramadan dinner at New York’s City Hall the mayor said there was nowhere in the five boroughs of the city that was off limits to any religion. "In recent weeks, a debate has arisen that I believe cuts to the core of who we are as a city and a country. The proposal to build a mosque and community center in Lower Manhattan has created a national conversation on religion in America, and since Ramadan offers a time for reflection, I wanted to take a few minutes to reflect on that very subject,” he said.
The mayor asked people of good will on both sides of the debate to carry on a dialogue in a civil and respectful way. “I think most people now agree on two fundamental issues: First, that Muslims have a constitutional right to build a mosque in Lower Manhattan and second, that the site of the World Trade Center is hallowed ground. And the only question we face is: how do we honor that hallowed ground?” he asked.
Bloomberg told his audience that he understood the impulse to find another location for the mosque and community center. “I understand the pain of those who are motivated by loss too terrible to contemplate. And there are people of every faith who are hoping that a compromise will end the debate. But it won't. The question will then become, how big should the 'no-mosque zone' be around the World Trade Center site? There is already a mosque four blocks away. Should it be moved? This is a test of our commitment to American values. We have to have the courage of our convictions. We must do what is right, not what is easy. And we must put our faith in the freedoms that have sustained our great country for more than 200 years,” the mayor forcefully declared.
Former mayors join
Ontario government
Ottawa, 24 August 2010: Two former Canadian mayors have been appointed cabinet ministers by Ontario State Premier Dalton McGuinty. Former Winnipeg Mayor Glen Murray became minister of research and innovation, while former Ottawa mayor Bob Chiarelli was made minister of infrastructure. The cabinet re-shuffle is seen as an attempt by the Premier to add experience to his cabinet ahead of the next year’s elections.
Chiarelli was mayor of Ottawa between 2000 and 2009. In 2004 he was shortlisted for the World Mayor Prize. Glen Murray, who was the first openly gay of a major North American city, was elected mayor of Winnipeg in 1998, with 50.5 per cent of the vote and re-elected in 2002. Murray claimed that his sexual orientation was not an issue in the mayoral elections.
Newark in trouble after
mayor loses crucial vote
Newark, 9 August 2010: Only three months after sweeping to a re-election victory, Newark Mayor Cory Booker faces the most difficult time in his political career over his plans to eliminate the city’s water department and establish a municipal water authority. Newark is well known for its antiquated supply system. In fact, some 30 per cent of processed water, carried by old cast iron pipes, leaks into the ground. In addition, the city has failed to install a modern metering system, meaning that Newark loses money on water sold to neighbouring towns.
Mayor Booker thought an independent water authority would be able to manage the system more efficiently and replace old pipes faster. To finance his vision, he proposed to allow the authority to borrow money. So far, so good, but then Booker tried to be too clever by half. He suggested that the city siphoned off $70 million of the borrowed money to cover the city’s operating costs over the next two years.
Many of the city councillors, who were elected on Booker ticket, voted against the mayor’s proposals, however without offering any alternatives on how to balance the city’s budget. The mayor has already said that taxes and charges had to increase by more than 10 per cent and that redundancies among City Hall staff, the police and fire department were inevitable.
Critics of the mayor say that during his first term in office he failed to shrink Newark’s workforce. They point out that Newark employed some 4,000 people, while Jersey City, a town of similar size, manages with less than 2.500.
Californian candidates
oppose sanctuary cities
San Francisco, 5 August 2010: The two frontrunners hoping to replace California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger have said they would oppose sanctuary cities if elected in November’s gubernatorial elections. Sanctuary cities offer illegal immigrants limited public services as long as they don’t commit any offenses. There are currently some 31 sanctuary cities in the US, including San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego.
Democrat Jerry Brown, California’s Attorney General and governor from 1975 to 1983, believes sanctuary cities violated federal and state law, while his Republican opponent, former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, said she would eliminate sanctuary cities. She also proposed to withhold state funding from cities, which did not vigorously implemented immigration laws.
Jerry Brown told representatives of California’s Latinos, who make up more than 20 per cent of the electorate, that, as governor, he would not penalise sanctuary cities but would lobby for an overhaul of federal immigration laws that would make local refuge policies unnecessary.
Meg Whitman told supporters that, while she wouldn’t punish children of illegal immigrants, she favoured the policies of former Republican governor Pete Wilson, who sponsored Proposition 187, which denied all public services to illegal immigrants and required teachers and social workers to notify federal authorities about anyone they suspected was in the country illegally.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, said he still backed his city’s sanctuary law. Republicans have accused the mayor of harbouring illegal immigrant criminals.
Sacramento mayor to fight for
plan for home for the homeless
Sacramento, 3 August 2010: Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson will “vigorously” pursue his plans to establish a permanent safe home for the city’s homeless people despite political reluctance at City Hall and opposition in neighbourhoods that don't want such a camp ground in their backyards. The mayor admitted that the issue, which he first proposed last year, had become one of the most frustrating subjects he had to deal with since he assumed office in December 2008.
The mayor has now asked his staff to identify city-owned properties that may be suitable as a safe ground for the homeless. Part of the mayor's idea was to have the homeless community act as the sales people of the safe ground with whatever neighbourhood was chosen as a potential site. John Kraintz, a homeless advocate, said the mayor had to make an effort to convince people that in some ways, this could be an asset to their neighbourhood instead of a liability. “For example, a safe ground facility could act as a neighbourhood watch for a community,” he explained.
Kevin Maurice Johnson is Sacramento's first African American mayor. Prior to entering politics Johnson was a basketball player in the NBA. In the November 2008 election, he defeated the incumbent mayor Heather Fargo by 57 to 42 per cent of the vote.
HIV reaches epidemic levels
among America’s urban poor
Vienna, 21 July 2010: Delegates at an international AIDS conference in Vienna were told that HIV infections in poor urban areas in the US reached epidemic levels. Research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that poverty was the single most important factor linked to HIV infection among inner-city heterosexuals. “Some 2.1 per cent of heterosexuals in poor urban areas are infected with the AIDS virus,” US scientists said.
CDC’s Kevin Fenton reported to the conference that in the US HIV hit the economically disadvantaged particularly hard. “There is a widespread HIV epidemic in America’s inner cities,” he explained. According to the CDC there are more than 1.1 million people in the US infected with the HIV virus, which causes AIDS and there are around 56,000 new infections there every year.
While many national studies have shown that blacks, gay and bisexual men and Hispanics are most affected by HIV, the CDC research found that heterosexuals in the poorest urban neighbourhoods are also hit hard. The researchers found no differences in HIV prevalence by race or ethnicity in heterosexuals in poor areas. The study says that HIV rates are especially high among the poorest people. Those living below the poverty line are at greater risk for HIV than those living above it - with rates of 2.4 per cent versus 1.2 per cent - and prevalence for both groups was far higher than the national average of 0.45 per cent.
The CDC analysis looked only at heterosexuals and did not include gay and bisexual men, sex workers, or injecting drugs users, who are often the highest risk groups. (Report by CDC)
Honolulu mayor resigns
to run for state governor
Honolulu, 21 July 2010: Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann resigned yesterday to run for Hawaii Governor. He will face Congressman Neil Abercrombie in a Democratic primary on 18 September before, if successful, going on to battle against the current Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona, a Republican.
In an emotional goodbye to City Hall staff Hannemann said that he was looking forward to be the governor of the state of Hawaii. "On the other hand, I've left behind a wonderful group of men and women who have helped me put this city in a better place than it was five years ago," he added.
Until Honolulu’s city charter Managing Director Kirk Caldwell will serve as acting mayor until a special election can be held to fill the remaining two years of Hannemann's term. The election will either coincide with the Democrat primary in September or take place on 2 November, the day the US will hold its general mid-term elections.
Mufi Hannemann was Honolulu’s first mayor of Samoan descent, as well as the second Mormon to hold the office. He is unusual in having worked for all US presidents from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush.
Portland to restrict use
of plastic shopping bags
Portland, 18 July 2010: Portland Mayor Sam Adams has announced that the city would ban plastic supermarket bags by January 2012. The draft regulations put before the city council mention the ban of single-use plastic bags and a five-cent charge for paper bags. The mayor told reporters that the goal of the ordinance was to get shoppers to change their habits. "The new rules will apply as from 1 January 2010, so people and shops have plenty of warning to get prepared," the mayor added.
While environmental groups have applauded the mayor’s action, there has been criticism from retailers. A spokesman for the grocery chain Fred Meyer said, as written now, the draft ordinance applied only to stores with gross annual sales of $2 million or large retailers over 10,000 sqft that have pharmacy. “Why are electronic and clothing stores not included. All of those stores are going to be able to offer their customers plastic bags or paper bags without a fee and we’re not going to be able to," the spokesman said.
The Oregon Grocery Association said that while it agreed with the ban, it felt all retailers should be included to reduce consumer confusion.
Chicago mayor to be
sued by gun owners
Chicago, 9 July 2010: Opponents of greater gun control in Illinois are planning to sue the Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and the city itself. They claim that Chicago’s new gun ordinance, introduced after the US Supreme Court ruled against the city’s previous order, violated their constitutional rights. The plaintiffs, among them the Illinois Association of Firearms Retailers, said that it was their right to carry handguns wherever they please.
Chicago’s new Responsible Gun Ownership Ordinance restricts gun purchases to one a month, bans gun shops in city limits and prohibits gun owners from stepping outside their homes, even onto their porches or garages, with a handgun. The ordinance has been voted through by the city council and will come into force by 19 July.
Mayor Daley said he would do everything he could to limit the number of guns on Chicago's streets. "As a city we must continue to stand up and fight for a ban on assault weapons as well as a crackdown on gun shops," Daley explained.
On 5 July following the holiday weekend, the Chicago Tribune carried this article:
“Chicago police dealing with what is typically the city's most violent month spent Monday investigating three separate shooting deaths in a six-hour span of the holiday weekend. At least a dozen people were shot and sent to hospitals overnight Sunday, including one man who initially thought he had been hit with a firecracker. Police described the overnight hours following Independence Day as "busy" and "hot." Three men in their 30s died in another round of gun violence. About 10:25 p.m. Sunday, police found 34-year-old Jerry Seals with a gunshot wound in his head in the 6200 block of South Laflin Street in the Englewood neighborhood.”
US city council
‘abolishes’ itself
Los Angeles, 6 July 2010: The city council of Maywood, Los Angeles, has become the first US city government to ‘abolish’ itself and place its services in the hands of a neighbouring municipality. City councillors claimed they had no alternative but to vote for the measure to lay off staff, disband the police department and hand over services to the neighbouring city of Bell to undertake. The council faces a deficit in the city treasury of $450,000 and is uninsurable on account of past lawsuit payouts, many of which stem from its police department.
Councillors voted for the plan, which will see the council hire the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to provide basic law enforcement cover for the city, while the neighbouring city of Bell will be contracted to provide city administration and parks and leisure services. Maywood’s population stood at 30,000 as of January 2010 according to state estimates, though it is assumed to be closer to 45,000 once paper-less migrants are included.
In an effort to reassure residents, Mayor Ana Rosa Rizo said in a press statement that the community would continue to receive quality services. “Maywood’s streets will continue to be swept, our summer park programs will continue to operate, and our waste will be collected and hauled as scheduled. Further, the community will be protected and patrolled by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,” the mayor explained.
Chicago to re-write gun
control after court ruling
Chicago, 30 June 2010: Chicago Mayor Richard Daley promised to push for a new ordinance regulating handguns in the city after the US Supreme Court ruled that the right to gun ownership applied nationwide. The High Court's decision is a response to a challenge of gun ban in Chicago and one of its suburbs and comes two years after the justices struck down a law in Washington DC banning possession of handguns. The five-to-four decision resulted from a case against the city of Chicago and its suburb of Oak Park. Both have laws that effectively ban handgun possession by almost all private citizens.
The lead plaintiff in the Chicago case, Otis McDonald, challenged the law after he said criminals broke into his home and made repeated threats. "At least the playing fields will be levelled," he said. "I don't have to be concerned about the young dealers and gang-bangers coming in my house, because I believe now that they think twice."
In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defence, striking down a Washington DC law that banned the possession of handguns in the home. The latest ruling said that right applies also to state and local gun control laws.
Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, said he expects criminals convicted of gun charges to use Monday's ruling to challenge their convictions.
Mayor Daley said guns in the home - even for self-defence - killed innocent people. "I don't think America should be known for 'we could kill more people than any other nation.' We love to kill, we can kill overseas, we export more guns than anybody else and we buy more guns than anybody else and ammunition," Daley said.
In issuing its ruling, the Supreme Court sent the case back to Chicago for a lower court to issue the final decision, so the gun ban remains temporarily in effect. Mayor Daley says the city will rewrite its gun ordinance to comply with Second Amendment rights, but he offered no explanation of how that might be achieved. (Report by VoA News)
Convicted US mayor
delays resignation
Hartford, 23 June 2010: Convicted Hartford (Connecticut) mayor Eddie Perez delayed his resignation from office until Friday, a week after he was convicted of extortion and corruption. According to an aide of the mayor, Perez postponed his stepping down to allow for a smooth transition. In a prepared press statement the mayor said he was truly sorry for his mistakes. “I have harmed the city I love,” he added. Perez faces up to 60 years in prison and unlimited fines.
Perez was arrested in early last year on charges of receiving the bribe from a contractor. During the trial prosecutors said the mayor had accepted home improvements in return for preferential treatment in connection with a million-dollar construction project. Perez was also accused of demanding $100,000 from a developer to be paid to a political friend.
The mayor’s attorney said an appeal would be lodged, as they still believed Perez had committed no crime. “Pushing the city to pay its bills is not a crime. Perez always planned to pay for the home renovations,” the lawyer explained.
After the trial, a senior Hartford city councillor told reporters that he expected Perez’s resignation to come into effect early next week. However, he added that the disgraced mayor could delay his resignation, thus forcing to city council to sack him.
Austin, Texas, named as
best US city of the future
Washington, 19 June 2010: Austin (Texas), Seattle (Washington State) and Washington DC have been chosen as the three best US cities for the next decade. Also among the top ten are Boulder (Colorado), Salt Lake City (Utah), Rochester (Minnesota) and Des Moines (Iowa). The selection was made by Kiplinger, Washington DC based print and web based publisher of personal finance advice and business management reports and titles.
Kiplinger editors evaluate cities across the country for their growth and growth potential. The chosen cities are described in the report as prosperous, innovative and generators of substantial numbers of jobs. The authors say that they focussed on what they term ‘out of the box’ thinking this year. Their selections are all places, they say, where there are high levels of innovation but also places where there is effective collaboration between government, universities and business.
The inclusion of Topeka – tenth place - astounded some of its residents who posted responses on web. Comments included ‘Topeka is plagued by the status quo and a lack of progressive leadership ‘and ‘Topeka’s city infrastructure is almost non-existent.’ Negative views outnumbered positive comment by two to one. In March Topeka was in the news because the city’s mayor William Bunten re-named the city for one month Google Kansas in a bid to win free Google broadband.
US mayors discuss oil leak
and Arizona immigration law
Oklahoma City, 17 June 2010: The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and Arizona’s controversial immigration law were two of the most hotly discussed topics at this year’s annual meeting of the US Conference of Mayors. Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon received a standing ovation from his peers when he outlined his city’s opposition to his home state’s legislation. A resolution by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, urging Arizona to repeal its immigration law, was also passed by the conference after Villaraigosa had called the legislation unconstitutional and un-American.
At a special session to discuss the oil spill in Gulf of Mexico the mayors from Baton Rouge (Louisiana) and Tallahassee (Florida) called for stepped up federal efforts to access, mitigate and recover from the environmental and economic damage of this disaster, and work closely with mayors and other local officials in all phases of the national response.
Attending his first US mayors annual conference, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu spoke about how critical it was to coordinate federal efforts with local officials. “The oil spill is a national tragedy that requires a national response, so I am proud to stand in solidarity with mayors from across the country, particularly Gulf Coast mayors, as we face this daunting challenge. The disaster threatens our coast and environment, our fisheries that feed the nation, and our unique culture that is the highlight of New Orleans' tourism industry. After Hurricane Katrina, we were grateful to have the support and assistance of cities across the country, and we'll need the same unity of purpose to meet these new challenges," the mayor said.
Conference delegates were also told that 148 of the America’s 363 metropolitan areas will still have unemployment rates above 10 per cent by the end of 2010, with 110 metro areas facing double-digit unemployment by the end of 2011.
The US Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are 1,204 such cities in the US today. The organisation’s 78th annual meeting was hosted by Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett who earlier this month was shortlisted for the 2010 World Mayor Prize.
Arizona mayor calls gay soldiers
‘lacy-drawered and limp-wristed’
Tuscon, 15 June 2010: Members of Yuma’s gay community have rejected an apology by the Arizona town’s mayor Al Krieger after he called gays and lesbians serving the US forces “lacy-drawered and limp-wristed”. The mayor, who made the remarks during a Memorial Day speech, said that he could not believe that a bunch of lacy-drawered, limp-wristed people could do what those men – he was referring to veterans - had done in the past. In a subsequent interview, aired on radio, Mayor Krieger told the reporter that he didn’t think he said anything different from what George Washington and Abraham Lincoln might have said.
After his remarks attracted national attention, the mayor issued a half-hearted apology, saying that as a mayor he had to respect the lifestyle choices of others, no matter how disagreeable they were with his personal beliefs or his personal moral standards. Gays and lesbians in Yuma described the mayor as an ignorant bigot. “Sexuality is not a lifestyle choice!”
In an interview with the Arizona newspaper The Sun, Yuma resident Michael Baughman urged the mayor to study US history. Baughman said George Washington invited the openly gay Prussian General Friedrich von Steuben to train American troops. “In 1778 von Steuben arrived in Valley Forge with a young French nobleman who was his assistant and lover. It is unlikely that General Washington, engaged in founding a nation, had the time or inclination to concern himself with who was sleeping with whom,” Baughman added.
Mayor Monitor rates the performance of mayors from across the world More
Portland mayor proposes new measures to curb illegal guns
Mayor defends proposed mosque near Ground Zero
Former mayors join Ontario government
Newark in trouble after mayor loses crucial vote
Californian candidates oppose sanctuary cities
Sacramento mayor to fight for plan for home for the homeless
HIV reaches epidemic levels among America’s urban poor
Honolulu mayor resigns to run for state governor
Portland to restrict use of plastic shopping bags
Chicago mayor to be sued by gun owners
US city council 'abolishes' itself
Chicago to re-write gun control after court ruling
Convicted US mayor delays resignation
Austin, Texas, named as best US city of the future
US mayors discuss oil leak and Arizona immigration law
Arizona mayor calls gay soldiers ‘lacy-drawered and limp-wristed’