At lunch today, my friend Ed, an astute observer of Massachusetts and national politics posed the following question: “Can you name a mayor of a major American city who is looked upon as a national political figure?” I confess I was stumped. I briefly thought of Michael Bloomberg, but his national prominence seems mostly due to his constant (and unsuccessful) self-promotion. And he’s now running for a third term because he has no national political options.
Compare Bloomberg to John Lindsey, who was clearly seen as a national figure for all his years as Mayor of New York. Or, in a very different way, Frank Rizzo of Philadelphia, the epitome of the “law and order” mayor. Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young, who occupied the mayor’s office in Atlanta for 20 years, were major national spokesmen for civil rights issues. Young also served in Congress and as ambassador to the U.N. And the list goes on.
Closer to Home, Kevin White was seriously considered for Vice President by George McGovern, who most unwisely picked Senator Tom Eagleton instead. Compare White to Tom Menino who in 15 years has not become a national figure and has no prospect of doing so. The most recent mayor in national prominence I can recall is Chicago’s Bill Daley, who became Secretary of Commerce in the second Clinton administration, and then went on to chair Al Gore’s presidential campaign. That will soon be a decade ago.
American cities are the epicenters of much of the current crisis. And American mayors seem more removed than at any time in the past from being near the levels of national power and policy influence. This is a most unhealthy situation and turning it around will not be quick or easy.
First of all, I’m sure that Mayor Rich Daley will be surprised to know that his brother once served as Mayor of Chicago, dad, yes, but not Bill.
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p>Mayors have a tough job, as the current Mayor of Boston often says, “you don’t call your congressman or governor when you have a problem”. Cities like Boston have 24 hour constituent hotlines, by contrast, try reaching the state or federal government after hours.
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p>Mayors have taken on new responsibilities in recent years, such as education, where a number of mayors have become responsible for the schools. Kevin White and the mayors of his era, by contrast, stayed a thousand miles away from the schools.
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p>The last two Boston mayors, both of whom I worked for, became President of the US Conference of Mayors and national spokespersons for urban America (Mayor White did not). Ray Flynn led a “Save Our Cities” march on Washington in 1992 that drew tens of thousands to the capitol and advanced a national stimulus program for an economy in crisis. Tom Menino traveled to DC and around the country speaking out for a renewed housing agenda, for mayoral responsibility for education, and for homeland security funds to get out of state bureaucracies and into local hands.
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p>Other mayors are ascending through the ranks — it used to be impossible for Democratic mayors to get elected statewide in most parts of this country, but Ed Rendell of Philadelphia and Martin O’Malley of Baltimore both succeeded and are impressive national political figures. Yesterday, the Mayor of Anchorage (a larger community than Wasilla) became the heir apparent to Senator Ted Stevens.
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p>In two years, when California picks a new governor, the Mayors of Los Angeles and San Francisco will be in the forefront as potential candidates. A former mayor, Senator Dianne Feinstein, is also mentioned as a candidate. Rudy Guiliani (remember him) is talking about running for Governor of New York.
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p>We even now have former pro basketball players following in Ray Flynn’s footsteps and running for mayor. Ex-Phoenix Suns guard Kevin Johnson was elected in Sacramento and Ex-Piston and Celtic Dave Bing is the favorite to succeed the discredited Kwame Kilpatrick.
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p>True, you don’t see mayors on the national news the way you did in the 1960’s, were they on tv for their accomplishments, or for the seething turmoil that wracked their cities back then.
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p>Cities are where the action is and continues to be. A number of mayors, including Daley and Menino, are now involved in regional coalitions with nearby commnuities with common concerns. And some mayors are focusing on urban agriculture, as a matter of encouraging healthy eating and food security, and this will inevitably bring them into partnership with rural interests.
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p>We also have the interesting situation of an incoming Democratic President who was elected without being supported in the primaries by most Democratic mayors, many of whom had worked in or with the Clinton Administration and saw Senator Clinton as their primary advocate on homeland security funding and other issues. It will be interesting to see if his early supporters among the mayors — Michael Coleman of Columbus, Ohio; RT Rybak of Minneapolis, etc are considered for senior Administration posts. Mayor Daley (Rich not Bill) seems to have little interest in DC.
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p>Cities will always change in their composition but they will also remain the same, centers of a regional economy, the starting point for those seeking opportunity, the shelter for those in need, and the playground and arts center for those of means.
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We had a mayor who was a presidential front-runer, Rudy.
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p>Gavin Newsom is pretty well-known.
Mark Begich
Phil Angelides, mayor of LA will be running for governor.
Rocky Anderson is a national figure who doesn’t make the news.
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p>Many powerful mayors don’t run for higher office, but they are important.
… in its electoral college and the Senate, inflates the value of rural votes. It is designed to make it easier to stop legislation than to pass it. Our country is largely populated by people who live in or near cities. You’d hardly know it to look at where money gets spent.