For Immediate Release                                                                          Contact: Elena Temple

Monday, June 23, 2008                                                                          202-861-6719 (etemple@usmayors.org)

 

                                                                                               

 

THE U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS RELEASE REPORT ON

CITY SUPPORT FOR MILITARY PERSONNEL, FAMILIES, INSTALLATIONS

 

Mayors’ Task Force Compiles Wide Range of Initiatives in 26 Cities

 

Miami, FL – The U.S. Conference of Mayors Task Force on Community and Military Relations released a 26-city report about city efforts to support individuals, families, units, and military installations. The mayor’s task force was formed to share ideas about ways that cities can support military men and women and their families during the current period of frequent and lengthy troop deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

The report, City Support for America’s Troops and Military Installations, was released and discussed by members of the task force on Sunday, June 22nd during the 76th Annual Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Miami.  The Chairman of the Mayor’s Task Force on Community and Military Relations, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, invited fellow mayors to describe efforts they have undertaken to convey to military personnel and their families the gratitude felt by their cities for the sacrifices they have made in the service of the Nation. 

 

“The war on terrorism has placed enormous demands on U.S. forces around the globe,” said Mayor Begich.  “Cities today are dealing with service members and their families on a scale not experienced in decades.  We can learn a lot from each other about the issues surrounding returning service men and women, the impact of multiple tours of duty, the needs of single-parent military families, and much more.”

 

The report will be available to all mayors and others interested in community and military relations issues on the Conference of Mayors’ web site at www.usmayors.org.   Presentations of individual city initiatives were made in the Miami meeting by Mayors Martin Chavez of Albuquerque, Lionel Rivera of Colorado Springs, Roger Chase of Pocatello, and Kathryn Taylor of Tulsa.         

           

The initiatives described in the report range from comprehensive city-wide efforts to ease the transition of veterans from military to civilian life, to more narrowly-focused efforts to welcome service personnel home with events and services that simply say “thank you” to them and their families.  The report describes, for example, how cities such as Anchorage, Columbus (OH), Houston, and Tulsa have created staff positions to manage their military and veterans affairs; how Brick (NJ), Carmel (IN), Pocatello, and other cities continue to provide employees in military service with pay and benefits; how cities such as Beaumont, Concord (CA), San Marcos (TX), and Sumter (SC) conduct special military recognition days and events; and how California cities such as Laguna Niguel, La Habra, and Temecula support personnel on individual ships and units they have adopted. 

           

Also included are descriptions of how cities which are home to some of the Nation’s major military installations – Colorado Springs, Grand Forks, Meridian, and Yuma, among them – have maintained mutually-beneficial working relationships with them.

 

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The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more.  There are 1,139 such cities in the country today, each represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the Mayor.