What Your Mayor Can Do for Peace

 Ask your Mayor to co-sponsor a bold new resolution, Calling for U.S. Leadership in Global Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and Redirection of Military Spending to Domestic Needs”!

 The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM), the nonpartisan association of U.S. cities with populations over 30,000, will be considering this resolution at its June 21 – 22 annual meeting in Las Vegas. The resolution’s lead sponsor is Mayor Donald Plusquellic of Akron, Ohio, a past President of the USCM. Mayor Plusquellic is also a Vice-President of Mayors for Peace, an international association lead by the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with over 5,600 members in 156 countries - 197 in the U.S. As of June 4, there are six additional co-sponsors.

 The USCM has regularly adopted resolutions since 2004 calling for the commencement of comprehensive nuclear disarmament negotiations to be concluded and implemented by 2020, as proposed by Mayors for Peace. For the past three years, the USCM has also called for deep cuts in nuclear weapons spending and redirection of those funds to meet the needs of cities, and in 2011 adopted an additional resolution, “Calling on Congress to Redirect Military Spending to Domestic Needs.”

 This year’s resolution breaks new ground by combining all of these elements in a comprehensive package. The resolution is a fact-filled educational resource that can be used at the local level as an excellent organizing tool! Read the resolution here.

 Help us get as many co-sponsoring mayors as possible! Your mayor does not have to be a member of Mayors for Peace to be a sponsor, but this is a great opportunity to ask her/him to join.

 Ask your mayor to endorse the resolution! You can download a terrific “Dear Colleague” letter from Mayor Plusquellic here.  Please have your mayor send an e-mail message stating her/his desire endorse to both Akron Deputy Mayor Rick Merolla at RMerolla@akronohio.gov AND to me at jackie@2020visioncampaign.org by COB June 20.

 To find out if your mayor is a member of Mayors for Peace and see what year the city joined, click here.

 If your mayor is not a member of Mayors for Peace, ask her/him to join! It’s easy. For instructions, click here.

 For more information about Mayors for Peace, see www.mayorsforpeace.org and www.2020visioncampaign.org. For more information about the USCM see www.usmayors.org

 Still have questions? Need help? Contact me! - Jackie Cabasso, Mayors for Peace North American Coordinator; Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation;Convener, UFPJ Nuclear Disarmament/Redefining Security Working Group

jackie@2020visioncampaign.org; (510) 839-5877