Last summer The Economist ran an article about the role that U.S. mayors play in solving the big issues of the day. The point of the article is that mayors are getting national and international experience as they run their cities and are taking stands and making progress in ways that contradict their traditional roles. For example, only three presidents were ever mayors. Calvin Coolidge was the last mayor to become president and that is not a strong endorsement. However today we are seeing mayors take on the big issues--albeit from a local perspective often times. For example, mayors are addressing global warming and climate change in a significant way. A few years ago Seattle's mayor. Greg Nickels, called on cities to reduce their emissions by 7 percent based on the Kyoto recommendation. As of June, more than 500 mayors have signed the "cool mayors" agreement. Michael Bloomberg of New York City has spearheaded a gun control alliance among mayors. In a mid-size city, Roanoke, Mayor Nelson Harris, has organized a citizen-led process to create a new ways to prepare children to compete in the new economy. This political season we have a well known former mayor in the presidential race.
What all this says to me is that we should think carefully as we select mayors for cities of all sizes. Yes there is red tape and bureaucracies to deal with locally but at the end of the day leadership still matters at city hall. We need people that anticipate problems as well as solve them. We need people with a long view that carries short-term strategies. And we need people with moral courage to tell us the truth about our situation and what it will take to fix it. I think that this is why mayors are getting so much attention. Neither political party has a lock on this kind of leadership. There are great examples on both sides of the political aisle. Our task is to elect and support more people in this office that can help set a path for solutions at home. How is your mayor doing? Call him or her today and be sure they know about the above alliances.
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