For Immediate Release: June 22, 2018

Contact: Donald Gatlin, dgatlin@rabengroup.com, 202-587-2871

          Ryan Daniels, rdaniels@rabengroup.com, 919-414-7621

 African American Mayors Association Expresses Deep Concern Over President Trump’s Executive Order On Family Separation

(WASHINGTON, DC) — The African American Mayors Association (AAMA) condemns the Administration’s continued “zero-tolerance” policy, which prohibits both attempted illegal entry and illegal entry into the United States. This policy has caused the inhumane separation between thousands of immigrant children and their parents in the last couple of months alone. According to the Department of Homeland Security, more than 2,300 immigrant children were separated from their parents between April and May of this year.

“Our actions, laws, policies, and regulations should all reflect our common values. Americans value family. Americans value humanity,” said Mayor Gilbert.  “We desire and promote these values not only for ourselves but for all people everywhere.”

“While the new executive order may halt some of these proceedings, thousands of families and children have already endured enough trauma and anguish for a lifetime.  I stand with mayors across the country in calling for an immediate plan for reunification of the over 2,000 children already separated from their families, and immediate action from Congress to ensure such abhorrent treatment of children never happens again.”

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For Immediate Release: June 15, 2018

 Contact: Donald Gatlin, dgatlin@rabengroup.com, 202-587-2871

               Ryan Daniels, rdaniels@rabengroup.com, 919-414-7621  

African American Mayors Association Applauds San Francisco

Mayor-Elect London Breed 

(WASHINGTON, DC) — On behalf of the 500 African American mayors across the country, Oliver Gilbert, Mayor of Miami Gardens, FL and President of the African American Mayors Association (AAMA), released the following statement following the election of London Breed as mayor-elect of San Francisco, CA:

“The  African American Mayors Association applauds London Breed on her victory, becoming the first African American woman to be elected mayor of San Francisco, CA. When she is sworn in on July 11, 2018, she will be one of five women mayors of the twenty largest U.S. cities. In addition, Breed will join twelve other black women mayors in leading cities with populations over 100,000. We commend London Breed on this historical win and look forward to her leadership as mayor.”

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For Immediate Release: June 14, 2018

Contact: Donald Gatlin, dgatlin@rabengroup.com, 202-587-2871

          Ryan Daniels, rdaniels@rabengroup.com, 919-414-7621

Flint Mayor Rejects Superfluous State Water Demands, African American Mayors Association Supports Mayor Weaver

(WASHINGTON, DC) — The African American Mayors Association (AAMA) expresses its support for Mayor Dr. Karen W. Weaver of Flint, Michigan, in her rejection of superfluous state oversight of the city’s water system. It is an undisputed fact that Flint’s lead-contaminated water crisis began while the city was under state control. In a letter to officials, including The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), Mayor Weaver declined to enter into a legal agreement with the state, citing that  “This man-made crisis occurred because the state, over the stringent objections of the city and its people, imposed its misguided policies on the people of the city of Flint.”

Mayor Weaver remains committed to remediating this crisis by working collaboratively with state and federal agencies. “However, this proposed [order] does nothing to substantively further the city’s recovery and instead appears to be retaliatory and punitive” Mayor Weaver wrote.

“MDEQ’s proposed enforcement actions are unnecessary and unwarranted. MDEQ has been informed of the City’s action plans and implementation timeframes, and has agreed to those timeframes and plans. The need for this proposed ACO is thus suspect at best,” said Flint Mayor Dr. Karen W. Weaver. “I am also troubled by the timing of this proposed enforcement action, in the wake of the cessation of State funding for bottled water in Flint. During two years of collaborative remediation efforts, an ACO has not been necessary. Now, after the State and MDEQ have been publicly castigated for their abrupt and unilateral termination of bottled water funding, MDEQ proposes an ACO that raises no issues not previously agreed upon. I thus see this ACO as a deliberate and willful misuse of the DEQs’ authority for political purposes and not as a good faith effort to address the issues faced by the City of Flint.”

AAMA President Mayor Gilbert said, “We stand in solidarity with Mayor Dr. Weaver and her efforts to seek justice for her constituents. Her work exemplifies the power of local offices to advocate for the needs of all residents in our communities, especially the most vulnerable.”

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For Immediate Release: June 14, 2018

Contact: Donald Gatlin,dgatlin@rabengroup.com, 202-587-2871

Ryan Daniels,rdaniels@rabengroup.com, 919-414-7621

African American Mayors Association Commends Unanimous Vote for Public Pension Changes

The U.S. Conference of Mayors agree to support increased recruitment of diverse asset managers

(Washington, DC) This week, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) voted unanimously to support an initiative aimed at ensuring diverse-owned asset management firms have a greater opportunity to manage public funds. The measure follows a similar resolution adopted by the African American Mayors Association (AAMA) last year.

Diverse-owned firms exhibit strong returns, but are dramatically underrepresented in the asset management industry. Studies that have analyzed the utilization and performance of diverse-owned asset management firms reveal that their performance is on par with, or even better than, their non-diverse counterparts. Despite their high performance, a recent study commissioned by the Knight Foundation found that diverse-owned firms manage just 1.1 percent of $71 trillion in assets under management in the U.S.

Last year, then AAMA president, Mayor Toni Harp of New Haven, CT called for a nationwide change in inadequate asset manager hiring practices, after she successfully implemented an effort to dramatically increase the use of diverse-owned asset management firms who service New Haven. Under Mayor Harp’s leadership, the New Haven City Council passed a measure that guides city investors to consider “emerging managers” among the firms they hire to manage the city’s pension fund.

She challenged all of her fellow mayors in the AAMA to introduce similar language into their pension investment policies, calling upon trustees to consider allocating assets to diverse-owned firms, as well as firms that have less than $3 billion in assets under management, or shorter track records.

“As mayors, we are committed to ensuring that municipal policies reflect the diversity of thought and experiences that make U.S. cities dynamic places to live and work,” said Mayor Oliver Gilbert, President for the African American Mayors Association. “It is our responsibility to continue to advocate for practices that level the playing field for diverse entrepreneurs, asset managers and businesses.”

The USCM and AAMA resolutions support the efforts of the Diverse Asset Managers Initiative (DAMI), a partnership of financial services professionals; institutional investors; corporations; labor unions; university and philanthropic endowments; investment consulting firms and investment industry organizations; committed to raising awareness about the benefits and opportunities of investing funds with diverse-owned asset management firms.

“Central in all that we do as mayors is to secure and promote the hopes and dreams of the people who built the foundation we stand on today. One of the ways we do this is by protecting their wealth and the wealth of their children’s children” said Mayor Steve Benjamin, President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

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Contact: Donald Gatlin, dgatlin@rabengroup.com, 202-587-2871
Evan Martinez, emartinez@rabengroup.com, 202-223-2610

(Washington, DC) – On behalf of the 500 African American mayors across the country, Toni Harp, Mayor of New Haven, CT and President of the African American Mayors Association (AAMA), released the following statement in response to President Trump’s infrastructure plan:

“My colleagues and I are disappointed that President Trump failed to honor his promise to invest one trillion dollars in the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. His most recent plan is inadequate in the overall infrastructure funding it commits to provide, and especially inadequate in its lack of attention to the urgent infrastructure crisis facing American cities.

“The President’s plan purports to leverage state and local tax dollars, and private investment, to catapult a $200 billion federal government investment to a total of $1.5 trillion. But, the details of the plan do not support the viability of that goal for the vast majority of cities across the country. In reality, the plan only injects $200 billion of federal money for infrastructure improvements across the country, not the $1.5 trillion touted by the President.

“A key tenet of the President’s plan requires cities and states to demonstrate that they can match new federal dollars flowing their way. However, it is mathematically impractical, and fiscally irresponsible for midsize and small cities to generate the tax revenue and private investment they would need to be able to match the federal money. These cities do not have the populations, budgets, and corporate stakeholders their big city peers can leverage. Their circumstances make it far more difficult for them to raise enough tax and private money to meet the President’s requirements.

“Additionally, the plan does not cede enough control to city leaders to prioritize and allocate the meager funding the plan provides. Every day, mayors navigate the consequences of decades of federal underinvestment in cities. Mayors of the AAMA are on the ground and know best how to bring their cities into the 21st century. Yet, they are forced to navigate a patchwork of state laws that limit their authority to take action.

“According to the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE), it will take $2 trillion to secure modern and viable infrastructure across the nation. Absent that level of investment, ASCE predicts $3.9 trillion in losses to the GDP, $7 trillion in lost business sales, and 2.5 million lost jobs over the next ten years. Accordingly, AAMA-members urge President Trump to act swiftly to avoid these severe economic consequences. The success of this plan will require that he acknowledge the central role cities play in the nation’s economic competitiveness, and honor his promise to dedicate enough federal money to sufficiently address urban infrastructure needs.”

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For Immediate Release: January 27, 2018

Contact: Donald Gatlin, dgatlin@rabengroup.com, 202-587-2871
Evan Martinez, emartinez@rabengroup.com, 202-223-2610

AFRICAN AMERICAN MAYORS VOW TO PROTECT IMMIGRANTS

WASHINGTON, DC – Mayor Toni Harp, President of the African American Mayors Association (AAMA) released the following statement on behalf of more than 500 black mayors across the country.

“This nation has always been a melting pot of people from different countries, different ethnicities and different races. Rather than celebrating this diversity, the current Administration continues to attack immigrants and people of color, many of whom have spent their entire lives in the U.S. and do not know another home. Nearly 44 million immigrants currently reside in the U.S. Over 20 million of them are naturalized citizens. Thirty six percent of U.S.-born children of immigrants are college graduates – five percent higher than the national average – and sixty four percent are homeowners, which is on-par with the national average. Immigrants are our neighbors, colleagues and friends and are productive members of our society.

“Mayors have an obligation to defend the cities they are elected to serve, and protect society’s most vulnerable citizens. The rhetoric coming out of the White House is disheartening and offensive to the hardworking immigrants living and working legally across the country. The cities we represent are not ridden with gangs, cartels and criminals as this Administration claims. In fact, a 2017 Cato Institute study found that the 2014 incarceration rate for 18 to 54 year-old immigrants—both authorized and unauthorized—was considerably lower than that of the U.S.-born population.

“It’s time this Administration holds itself to a higher standard. This is not a country of racists and bigots. We are a country that proudly houses a diverse population, each with a unique background and story. It is un-American to attack immigrants and the people seeking to protect them. We stand with the hundreds of mayors who want their cities to remain safe places for immigrants to call home. Our communities will continue to safeguard American values, and remain welcoming places for all, for the sake of our security and our national character.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 22, 2017African American Mayors Association Calls on Congress to Fix Current Tax Plan Black Mayors speak out against tax plan that will hurt cities

CONTACT: Donald Gatlin, dgatlin@rabengroup.com, 202-587-2871

      Evan Martinez, emartinez@rabengroup.com, 202-223-2610

WASHINGTON – On behalf of the 500 African American mayors across the country, Mayor Toni Harp of New Haven, CT, and President of the African American Mayors Association (AAMA), released the following statement as the U.S. Senate considers a new tax plan:

“AAMA strongly supports the concerns that Mayor Bowser, the National League of Cities and our other national partners have expressed about the current tax bill under consideration in Congress. Cities are at the forefront of delivering services to American citizens and the current bill undermines the local control conservatives herald with proposals of dubious merit. This bill helps the super wealthy and harms low-income Americans who will see their taxes increase under this plan. The congressional Joint Tax Committee predicts this plan will lead to a tax increase on people making less than $30,000 in 2021 and on all American making under $75,000 in 2027.  Also, in an effort to gut the Affordable Care Act, the bill  repeals the mandate for most Americans to buy health insurance.”

“The economic vitality, and future growth, of American cities is inextricably linked to measures such as state and local tax (SALT) deductions, and critical tax credits such as the New Markets Tax Credit, neither of which are in this proposal. These measures help to secure affordable housing for low-income citizens, provide critical funds for infrastructure projects, and ensure that citizens from a range of socio-economic backgrounds have access to the best possible educational opportunities. The elimination of these deductions and tax credits directly interferes with already stretched state and local infrastructure and school related funding and investments.”

“We would prefer a tax plan that rewards hard working Americans, invests in underserved communities and limits deficit spending. Instead, we have the reverse so we will work with Mayor Bowser, and mayors throughout the country, to advocate for changes that benefit millions of Americans who would suffer under this unfair tax plan that heavily favors the wealthy.”

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