Newly Elected Mayors Attend IOP Seminar on Transition

Twenty-two of the nation's newly elected mayors gathered at the Kennedy School's Institute of Politics (IOP) last sight to begin a five-day "crash course" preparing them to run cities.

This year's "Seminar on Transition and Leadership" marks the fifth time since 1975 that newly elected mayors have met at the K-School to "learn the fundamental tools for governing urban areas." said IOP Forum Director Charles Trueheart.

Co-sponsored by the IOP and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, this year's program will cover media relations. the organization of a transition staff. finance and budgeting, and the difficulty of translating campaign pledges into actual city policy.

"What we're trying to do is develop a practical road map for the pitfalls and opportunities of transition," Trucheart said.

The seminar will also focus on several policy issues of present concern, including urban transportation and long-term economic development. In a response to the recent urge in minority participation in mayor's elections, added Tom McClin. a director of the Conference of Mayor's Institute for Urban and Regional Economics Analysis, the seminar will place greater emphasis on neighborhood issues and citizen participation.

"We're trying to give mayors with limited experience a better understanding of what their job will equal." McClimon added.

The seminar faculty will include former mayors and federal officials, journalists. K-Schools faculty, and well-known practitioners in the fields of law enforcement, budget all finance, and labor relations. Massachuset's Gov. Michael S. Dukakis and Carol Bellamy president of the New York City Council, will lead discusiions on "Managing the Government" and "Political Transition."