In Washington, January 28 - 30

(1/27/98) Highlights -- 1998 Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors

More than 225 mayors of the nation's larger cities will attend this year's Winter Meeting of The U.S. Conference of Mayors, January 28-30 at the Capital Hilton Hotel. Presiding will be Paul Helmke, Mayor of Fort Wayne and President of the Conference. During this year's meeting, Helmke will be announcing the creation of a Conference of Mayors Best Practices Center and a Mayors Business Council and will be releasing the results of a just-completed national survey on the problems and the economic potential of contaminated brownfields properties in more than 160 cities.

Press conferences will be held in the New York Room of the Hotel on January 28 at 12:00 noon (Mayors' Summit on Africa); January 29 at 9:30 a.m. (Opening of Winter Meeting); Janaury 29 at 12:30 p.m. (National Study of Brownfields in Cities); and January 30 at 12:30 p.m. (Meeting Wrap-up, Comments on FY99 Federal Budget).

The first day of this year's meeting is designated the Mayors' Summit on Africa, an event bringing the mayors together with four ambassadors of Sub-Saharan African nations, top Administration officials responsible for international relations, leaders of U.S. organizations working with Africa, and members of Congress sponsoring legislation to promote African growth and opportunity. Chaired by Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, Chair of the Conference's Task Force on Sub-Saharan Africa, the participants -- to include National Security Advisor Samuel Berger, Commerce Secretary William Daley, Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater and Special Envoy to Africa Rev. Jesse Jackson -- will examine how U.S. cities and African nations benefit through trade, investment and cultural exchange, and how relationships between U.S. cities and these nations can be strengthened.

Following the Summit at 4:00 p.m., concurrent sessions of the Conference's standing committees will begin. On Friday morning at 8:30, concurrent committee sessions will continue. Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman and Secretary of Education Richard Riley will participate in the Jobs, Education and Workforce session.

The opening plenary session at 10:00 a.m. includes presentations on diversity and race relations by the President's Initiative on Race Board Member Suzan D. Cook Johnson and African Development Foundation Chair Ernest Green, and presentations by Secretaries Andrew Cuomo of HUD, William Cohen of Defense, and William Daley of Commerce.

Thursday's luncheon session will include Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater; General Barry McCaffrey, Director of National Drug Control Policy; veteran journalist Bill Moyers, who will be hosting a five-part PBS series on addiction beginning late-March; and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, Co-chair of the Conference's Task Force on Public Schools.

The first Mayors Arts Gala, a black-tie event for the mayors attending the Winter Meeting, will be held at 7:30 that evening at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. This event celebrates the establishment of a joint Conference of Mayors-Americans for the Arts national awards program to recognize successful local arts initiatives involving inner-city youth. That evening, Legends and Leaders in the Arts Awards will be presented to individuals from the entertainment industry, members of Congress and leaders of local and state government who have made significant contributions to the arts. Recording artist Stevie Wonder will receive the first Legends Award.

On Friday morning the mayors will assemble in the White House for a meeting with President Clinton. At 11:00 they will return to the hotel for a session covering infrastructure and transportation, public school reform, welfare-to-work and early childhood development. The luncheon session which follows will be addressed by General Colin Powell, Chair of America's Promise -- The Alliance for Youth. The luncheon program also will cover youth violence, urban water issues, and mayors and the business community.

Highlights of each day of the Winter Meeting will be available to news organizations via satellite. At 3:00 p.m. (Eastern) on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, 30-minute satellite feeds will be available on Galaxy 6, Transponder 11, DL 3920. With few exceptions, Winter Meeting sessions are open to the press. A press room (Pan American Room on the mezzanine level of the Capital Hilton) will operate throughout the three days of the meeting. Reporters wishing to cover any of the sessions must obtain credentials in this press room or in advance from the Office of Public Affairs. Name, title, affiliation, address, phone and fax numbers may be faxed to (202) 293-2352. During the meeting, the direct phone line into the press room is (202) 639-5418. The fax line is (202) 639-5424.

A detailed program for the Mayors' Summit on Africa and the balance of the Winter Meeting and a list of mayors pre-registered for the meeting are available from the Office of Public Affairs, (202) 861-6715. Questions on the Winter Meeting should be directed to Mike Brown, (202) 861-6708. (1/26/98)

The United States Conference of Mayors

J. Thomas Cochran, Executive Director
1620 Eye Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006
Telephone (202) 293-7330, FAX (202) 293-2352

Copyright © 1996, US Conference of Mayors, All rights reserved.