HOUSTON ( TX) TO HOST 29TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF BLACK MAYORS

(PRWEB) April 4, 2003

For further information, contact:

Bunnie Jackson-Ransom:    

404-505-8188 (404-226-8000 – cell)

Houston Contact: Jackie Pope @ 713-247-2745                 

Michelle Kourouma:NCBM Exe.Director @404-765-6444

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

HOUSTON TO HOST 29TH ANNUAL MEETING OF

THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF BLACK MAYORS

Atlanta, Georgia. (March 28, 2003). More than 275 African American mayors will be in Houston during April 22nd through 26th for the 29th Annual Meeting of the National Conference of Black Mayors, Inc. (NCBM); and a virtual “who’s who” in American politics has been invited to address the mayors. The theme of this year’s annual event is “Black Mayors: Leadership That Makes A Difference.” The majority of convention events will take place at the InterContinental Hotel at the Galleria. The convention will highlight issues and topics that American cities are facing in this 21st Century.

“This prestigious conference will bring mayors, White House officials, members of Congress and other national dignitaries to Houston to discuss concerns that face the nation’s cities,” said Mayor Lee P. Brown, who is hosting the conference. “This type of gathering is important as it allows mayors to share ideas and strategies about how our cities are solving problems and how we are addressing issues ranging from the environment to technology and providing security as ‘first-responders.’ It also provides mayors the opportunity to discuss these issues with federal officials and other national dignitaries.”

NCBM President, Mayor Marilyn Murrell of Arcadia, Oklahoma, stated that “Our mayors are in the midst of many complex and serious problematic situations that face our cities – large and small: economic development; infrastructure needs; access to health care, energy and the environment; transportation policy as well as better housing and improved education. Our annual meetings and seminars give our member mayors the opportunity to work together seeking new solutions to problems for the good of our people.”

Mayor Brown, and the Texas Conference of Mayors, will welcome mayors from throughout the country including: Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin; Denver Mayor Wellington Webb; Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick; New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin; Philadelphia Mayor James Street; and Columbus (Ohio) Mayor Michael Coleman. Several hundred mayors representing small and medium-size American cities will also be in attendance at the conference including Mayor James Perkins, Jr. from Selma, Alabama and Mayor Harvey Johnson from Jackson (MS). Keynote speakers on the conference agenda include Reverend Floyd Flake for the Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast and Reverend Emanuel Cleaver, former Mayor of Kansas City (MO); will speak at the Plenary Session. Honorees include former Congressman Ron Dellums, who will receive the Fannie Lou Hamer Award and Dr. Mae Jemison, the first black woman astronaut, receiving the Tribute to a Black American Award.

One of the featured sessions on the convention agenda is the Presidential Candidates Issues Forum with participation from Democrats seeking the party’s nomination.

The National Conference of Black Mayors, Inc. (NCBM) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) service organization which provides management and technical assistance to over 500 black mayors and articulates the membership’s concerns on national policy issues. NCBM is governed by a voluntary Board of Directors, comprised of mayors, who set the organizational policy.

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