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England’s elected mayors
to be given control of police
London, 19 July 2008: England's elected mayors will be given control of policing towns and cities under sweeping reforms announced by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. The proposals will see elected mayors given direct control of policing while other areas will see directly elected police boards introduced as a means to both give communities more say over fighting crime and encourage more local councils to opt for having an elected mayor. The proposals follow an earlier white paper to make it easier for councils to adopt elected mayors, but local government leaders dismissed the government's plans as incoherent and dangerous.

The From the Neighbourhood to the National green paper responds to public and police concerns over bureaucracy and the imposing of a targets culture in policing over the last decade. As well as the proposals for giving more power to elected mayors and creating new elected police boards, the proposals include allowing for greater public accountability by the police in the form of crime maps and regular local discussions. However, local government leaders, including three Labour elected mayors, dismissed the plans to roll out elected police boards as detrimental to local government and as having the potential to see extremists elected. The Association of Police Authorities warned of the dangers of introducing party politics into policing, while the Conservative Party claimed the government had stolen its ideas as it had long advocated the introduction of elected commissioners for each police force.

If enacted ahead of the likely general election in 2010 the proposals would see London mayor Boris Johnson given effective control of policing in the capital. The mayor has already signalled his intent to chair the Metropolitan Police Authority from later this year, when recent legislative changes come into effect permitting him to do so. The government and opposition are both said to be impressed with the strong record of Middlesbrough's elected mayor and former police chief Ray Mallon in reducing crime in his town through creative use of his mayoral powers.

The proposals follow last week's Communities in control white paper by Local Government Secretary Hazel Blears, which includes a new legal duty on councils to promote democracy and some lifting of legal burdens on the introduction of elected mayors. However, pro-mayoral campaigners were generally disappointed and dismissive of the limited range of proposals on offer by the government.

Disputed report claims former
London mayor wasted millions
London, 16 July 2008: An inquiry set up by London mayor Boris Johnson to examine the spending regime of his predecessor has failed to find any evidence of corruption or wrong-doing on the part of former mayor Ken Livingstone or any of his advisers. The final report of the forensic audit panel established to examine the finances of the London Development Agency (LDA) did however claim that "tens of millions" had been wasted during Livingstone's two terms, a charge the former mayor refutes.

"In many ways the LDA was there to serve as the mayor's chequebook," said Patience Wheatcroft, the former newspaper editor who led the panel. She also called for the LDA to be "significantly slimmed down" and restructured to focus on commissioning rather than delivering projects, and to lose its responsibilities relating to the 2012 Olympics. Ms Wheatcroft also argued that the LDA's problems stemmed from "ineptitude rather than corruption".

The mayor's opponents, including London Assembly members, criticised the cost of the report, which at £50,000 ignored Greater London Authority (GLA) rules on tendering for contracts as only one firm was allowed to undertake the accounting work to examine the body's accounts. The forensic audit panel process also came under fire for not only failing to be independent due to its mostly Conservative Party members, but also failing to apportion any actual blame after its costly inquiries.

London mayor Boris Johnson welcomed the report, saying that "There clearly needs to be less duplication, more accountability and real improvements made to management within the GLA and LDA." The report also recommends potential efficiency savings within the GLA of £7.7 million or approximately 10 to 15 per cent of the overall budget.

New London mayor to be
probed over appointments
London, 10 July 2008: Three months into his reign as London mayor, Boris Johnson is to face a formal investigation by the London Assembly into his mayoral appointments following several recent embarrassing resignations. The probe, which will be handled by the assembly's business management and administration committee, will examine if proper procedures were observed by the mayor and the advice he received by officials.

The inquiry, chaired by Green Party member Darren Johnson, will concentrate on the mayor's post-election appointments and will seek to identify how the Greater London Authority can learn from the scandals, which saw political adviser James McGrath resign over accusations of racism and deputy mayor Ray Lewis quit after revelations about his past.

The mayor sought to draw a line under recent embarrassing episodes this week by announcing his intention to uphold and extend the London Living Wage, which goes beyond the national minimum wage.  Johnson pledged to extend the new rate to those organisations funded by the London Development Agency and in hotels by the time the Olympic Games comes to London in 2012.

London mayor is forced to
accept deputy’s resignation
London, 6 July 2008: London Mayor Boris Johnson has been forced to accept the resignation of deputy mayor Ray Lewis after a series of damaging revelations emerged about his past conduct. Lewis, who shot to prominence as the head of a social programme in the capital to turn around the lives of black teenagers, was initially backed by the mayor, who established an inquiry into the allegations made by Lewis' former employer, the Church of England. However, in what is viewed as yet another embarrassing episode for London's new administration, Lewis lost the mayor's confidence when it emerged that he had misled the mayor and his advisers over his status as a magistrate.

Following a hastily convened press conference last week, where the mayor and his now former deputy attempted to confront the allegations head on, media scrutiny of Lewis' past not only allowed the allegations to resurface substantiated but also led to a swift denial of Johnson's defence that as a magistrate Lewis would have received extensive background checks before being appointed. The mayor promised that an independent inquiry would be established to clear Lewis' name. The Ministry of Justice later confirmed that Lewis had never been appointed as a magistrate, which led to his being forced to resign under duress, lashing out at his detractors as "hair-splitters". The Greater London Authority confirmed this weekend that the independent inquiry had been "stood down", as while it hoped Lewis could clear his name and return to the post, it "would not be appropriate" for it to finance such an inquiry.

The revelations stem from Lewis' time serving as a vicar in the Church of England, which stripped him of his licence to minister following allegations of sexual impropriety and financial misconduct. Coming just a fortnight after the resignation of mayoral aide James McGrath following allegations of racism, the row is likely to cast a long shadow over Johnson's mayoralty for some time to come. Johnson's opponents have leaped on the row to underscore their charges made during the campaign that his inexperience and trademark tomfoolery would damage the capital's governance. The former London Mayor Ken Livingstone argued that the episode "shows vividly the incompetence of Boris Johnson and his administration".

The row has now spread to the national Conservative Party, as Lewis originally emerged as a Tory supporter through his association with party leader David Cameron following his election in 2005. Some Conservative commentators believe that as with McGrath the mayor has been forced into dismissing an aide at the behest of a media witch-hunt, with one columnist charging that Labour supporters are victimising ethnic minority Conservatives for not conforming to stereotypes. Johnson's chief of staff Nicholas Boles admitted that he suggested Lewis' appointment to the mayor in "a bit of a rush" following the election and would be "happy to take my share of the flak". The row is also likely to reignite criticisms of the New York-style deputy mayor system for the mayor's policy advisers, with much confusion stemming from their role vis-a-vis that of the statutory Deputy Mayor Richard Barnes and the new 'First Deputy Mayor' and chief executive Tim Parker. The mayor's office confirmed that following Lewis' departure his responsibilities would be shared between the mayor and the deputy mayor for policing Kit Malthouse.

Mayor Johnson's approval rating of below 4 out of 10 in the newly introduced Mayor Monitor is disappointing for a mayor in his honeymoon period.

London mayor Johnson
deserts Mayors for Peace
London, 1 July 2008: London mayor Boris Johnson has committed his administration to pulling out from the Mayors for Peace initiative spearheaded by Hiroshima mayor Tadatoshi Akiba.  The move was announced by the UN-registered NGO itself after correspondence from the mayor's office indicated that London no longer intended to support the initiative.  The decision was slammed by Green assembly member and former chair of the group's London chapter Jenny Jones, who remarked "we can't expect anything better from someone who voted [in Parliament] for the war in Iraq."

A spokesman for the mayor defended the decision however: "Whilst there may be debate about the proliferation of nuclear weapons, membership of Mayors for Peace is not a priority for the new administration," adding that the mayor instead intends to focus on "value for money for London taxpayers" and "the important day-to-day issues that need to be addressed," In addition to this reversal of the Livingstone era policy on opposition to nuclear weapons, the mayor remains under steady criticism for his plans to remove the anti-racist message from the capital's annual 'Rise' community festival.

Berlin pays tribute to
homosexual victims
Berlin, 29 June 2008: This year's Berlin Gay Pride parade was dedicated to highlighting the continuing violence directed against gays and lesbians and began with a memorial tribute to the many victims of Nazi persecution of homosexuals between 1933 and 1945. Elsewhere in Europe, hundreds of thousands of people participated in Gay Pride events on 28 June. While in Berlin and Paris, the cities’ mayors Klaus Wowereit and Bertrand Delanoë joined events celebrating the 30th annual St Christopher Street Day, in some cities in eastern Europe, the gathering of gays and lesbians to protest against discrimination ended in violence and arrests.

The parades across Europe recalled the events of 28 June 1969, when New York gays stood up to arbitrary police intimidation, In Paris, more than half a million people took part in a Gay Pride parade under the motto "for a school without any discrimination, "dedicated to the fight against racism, sexism and xenophobia among young people. Among the prominent participants in the parade was Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe and former culture minister Jack Lang, both members of the Socialist Party. The conservative governing party UMP and the centrist MoDem were also represented.

In many eastern European countries, where Gay Pride parades were held for the first time, participants clashed with angry counter-demonstrators and police were forced to make several arrests. At least 20 people were injured when the Czech Republic's first-ever Gay Pride parade was attacked by rightwing extremists armed with tear gas even before the event was due to begin in the city of Brno.

Three people were arrested when counter-demonstrators threw fireworks at the gathering of lesbians and gays in which an estimated 500 were expected to participate. With calls in the Internet for resistance to the ‘queer parade’, more than 200 police were present during the planned event. Local news media reported the presence of 150 aggressive counter-demonstrators and hundreds of onlookers.

Among the supporters of the parade were Czech Minister of Human Rights and Minorities Dzamila Stehlikova and tennis legend Martina Navratilova. Czech same-sex unions have enjoyed official recognition since 2006.

In Bulgaria the country's first Gay Pride parade ended in more than 60 arrests. According to the Interior Ministry, Bulgarian police arrested some 60 extremists who had attempted to use force to disrupt the Gay Pride parade in the capital Sofia. A large police presence had been able to separate the several dozen parade participants from opponents from nationalist groups who threw firecrackers.

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church also protested the open demonstration of homosexuality and called the parade "a scandalous and wicked gathering." Bulgaria's Grand Mufti who speaks for the country's Muslim population issued a special statement denouncing homosexuality.

The country’s Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev said that he accepted people with different sexual orientation but did not quite approve of the demonstrations of such an orientation. (Report by Deutsche Welle and local reporters)

Spanish mayor resigns
after being refused bail
Madrid, 23 June 2008: Spanish police arrested 20 people, including a mayor and several local government officials after they were charged with corruption in housing projects in the southern Spanish city of Estepona. Among the arrested are Antonio Barrientos, the mayor of Estepona, a municipal architect and several officials of the city council. They are accused of being involved involved in irregular funding, bribery and money laundering in urban housing development projects in the southern coast city, a popular destination for tourists and British expatriates.

Antonio Barrientos, announced his resignation from the post on Saturday, 21 June, after a judge refused bail. The judge was following a request from the Málaga Anti-Corruption Prosecutors Office. The mayor is charged with bribery, influence peddling, misuse of public funds and money laundering.

Officers from the Spanish police searched the mayor's home and took with them several boxes of documents. Licenses and agreements are being examined in an investigation into several irregular housing projects. The investigation of bank accounts and properties is also being carried out in the Costa del Sol operation.

Several city mayors and officials have been arrested since Spain stepped up its fight against corruption in local government efforts in recent years mainly involving construction projects in Spain's housing market boom.

Aide to London mayor
resigns over race row
London, 23 June 2008: A row over supposedly 'racist' comments made by an aide to London Mayor Boris Johnson in an interview for a website has engulfed the mayor’s administration. The comments, that black voters opposed to Johnson's policies should "go home", were made by the mayor's deputy chief of staff James McGrath, who although insisting he'd been quoted out of context, later resigned from his City Hall post. Johnson accepted McGrath's resignation but praised his contribution to the administration and urged press restraint in covering the issue.

The row broke over the weekend following a post on citizen journalism website www.the-latest.com in which its editor, the veteran anti-racism campaigner Marc Wadsworth, interviewed McGrath during the mayoral election and pointed out potential hostility to the mayor from London's black community.  The Australian McGrath then said "Well, let them go if they don't like it here." The speed in which the resignation was forced led some to speculate that Conservative Party leader David Cameron had personally intervened to bring it about. Following the weekend resignation, Conservative activists and commentators were incensed by the move, with one prominent blogger accusing Johnson of cowardice in not supporting McGrath.

The row is likely to further embarrass the London mayor only less than two months after his election, following a previous incident in which his staff re-branded the capital's anti-racist festival by removing its anti-racism message.  Prior to this, Johnson had angered the capital's African community by staging a community festival for them but failing to attend himself.  The administration is generally sensitive on questions of race and diversity owing to remarks made by Johnson in the past regarding foreigners on several continents, such as labelling black children "piccanninies".  

Stuttgart wants to make
cycling less of an effort
Stuttgart, 2 June 2008: Cycling is hard work in Stuttgart, the state capital of Baden-Württemberg in south-western Germany. The city’s residential suburbs are built on several hills, while the commercial centre lies deep in the Neckar valley. Cyclists often have to overcome altitude differences of some 300 metres. At the same time, because of the hills surrounding the city centre, Stuttgart suffers from some of the highest air pollution in Germany. Now the city’s mayor, Wolfgang Schuster, has come up with a plan to encourage people to give up their cars and start cycling, well electro-cycling.

The city has teamed up with the British company Ultra Motors that produces the Pedelec, an electric bicycle, which is fitted with an electro motor. While riders still have to pedal, the electric power makes climbing up hills considerably less of an effort.

Under a trial scheme, developed by Stuttgart and the British company, customers will pay a monthly subscription fee and receive the bike free of charge. It is a concept similar to those offered by mobile phone companies. The monthly charge will deliberately be kept low. Wolfgang Forderer, who co-ordinates the project, does not envisage a fee of more than 20 euros a month. “If one wanted to buy an electro bike one would have to pay some 1.800 euros,” he said.

As part of the trial, the city will set up stations across Stuttgart where the bike’s lithium batteries can be re-charged within 15 minutes at no cost to subscribers. Depending on the terrain, one charge should last for between 30 and 70 kilometres.

London alcohol ban starts
with an underground party
London, 1 June 2008: Arrests were made, six underground stations closed and trains withdrawn from service as thousands of mostly young Londoners celebrated or commiserated the start of Mayor Johnson’s ban on drinking alcohol on London’s underground rail network. The parties, which were organised via the Facebook internet network, started off good-naturedly with many revellers wearing fancy dress. But police had to be called when in some train carriages people became abusive and fighting started.

Newly elected London mayor, Boris Johnson, introduced the ban on alcohol shortly after taking office as a crime-reducing measure. "I'm determined to improve the safety and security of public transport in London and create a better environment for the millions of Londoners who rely on it," Johnson said at the time. However, the transport unions called the ban half-baked. "The ban has been poorly thought through, is being implemented in haste and could put our members in danger," a spokesman for the union said.

Rome’s new mayor plans
to honour war-time Fascist
Rome, 31 May 2008: Rome’s newly elected right-wing mayor Gianni Alemanno intends to honour a war-time Fascist by naming a street after him. Giorgio Almirante edited between 1938 and 1943 the magazine ‘Defence of the Race’, which celebrated the superiority of Italians over other people. After World War II, Almirante became leader of Italy’s neo-Fascists. The mayor’s move comes shortly after he confirmed to have a modern museum in the centre of the city torn down and re-located. Even some of Alemanno’s own supporters question his zest for symbolic but highly divisive actions.

When a Jewish member of the Italian parliament quoted Giorgio Almirante as havind said that “racisms has to be the food of all people otherwise we play into the hands of the Jews” even the right-wing parliamentary president Gianfranco Fini distanced himself. “I believe his (Almirante’s) views to be harmful even though at the time they were shared by many and not just on the right,” he said.

The Rome mayor defended his decision by saying that many Fascists only wanted the best for Italy. He also promised to consider naming streets after former Communist leaders such as Berlinguer.

New award to honour
greenest European city
Freiburg, 27 May 2008: A new annual award was announced by ICLEI, an association of cities promoting sustainability. The award will be given to a city that is leading the way with environmentally friendly urban living. Any European city with a population of more than 200,000 can apply. Starting in 2010, one European city will be selected as the European Green Capital of the year. The award will be given to a city that has a consistent record of achieving high environmental standards, is permanently committed to ambitious action, further environmental improvement and sustainable development, and can act as a role model to inspire other cities and promote best practices in all other European cities.

The European Green Capital Award has been conceived as an initiative to promote and reward these efforts. The award shows that a city wants to - and does! - solve environmental problems so as to improve the quality of life of its citizens and reduce the burden it imposes on the global environment as a whole. It provides an incentive for cities to inspire each other and share best practices, while at the same time engaging in friendly competition.

The award scheme is open to cities of the 27 EU Member States, candidate countries (Turkey, Macedonia and Croatia) and European Economic Area countries (Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein). All EU cities with more than 200,000 inhabitants can apply for the European Green Capital Award via an online application form. Entries will be assessed on the basis of ten environmental criteria including climate change, transport, air, waste and water. The deadline for applications for both the 2010 and 2011 titles is 1 October 2008, with jury selection leading to a decision later this year.

The jury is composed of representatives from the European Commission, the European Environment Agency, ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability, the European Federation for Transport and Environment (T&E), the Union of Capitals of the European Union and the Committee of the Regions.

UK ‘eco-towns’ will
create urban sprawl
London, 24 May 2008: The UK government’s plan to create new, so-called eco-towns has been criticised as promoting urban sprawl. A report by Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) says housing policy should return to well designed high density living in rural as well as urban areas. Its authors wrote that Britain’s current housing policy was causing settlements to spread out wider and people were now living further away from each other than at any point since the birth of modern cities. “The creation of ten new eco-towns, the centrepiece of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s housing plans, will only worsen this drift, and will weaken the social fabric of existing towns,” they warn.

The report ‘Why we are living too far apart’ suggests that proximity encourages community interaction, makes public transport, local services and environmental initiatives more viable and drives creativity – a key component of a successful economy.

Becky Willis, on of the report’s authors, urges that housing policy should focus on supporting existing communities. “Despite the advantages of proximity, Gordon Brown’s housing policy is causing greater dispersal, by promoting new ‘eco-towns’ outside existing settlements and refusing to provide incentives for development within existing towns and villages,” she explains.

Based on qualitative research with householders in four towns and villages, the report says that a new focus on proximity could bring both social and environmental rewards:
• living closer together encourages more community interaction, and reduces isolation for vulnerable social groups, such as young families;
• compact settlements require less transport, and reduce car use, with health and environmental benefits;
• higher density development is environmentally beneficial, resulting in lower carbon emissions;
• in rural areas, more compact villages could help to stem the decline in rural services such as shops, post offices and bus services.

Mayor of Düsseldorf dies
after fight against cancer
Düsseldorf, 23 May 2008: Joachim Erwin (58), Christian Democrat mayor of Düsseldorf, died on 20 May of cancer. Erwin was first elected mayor in 1999 and re-elected in 2004, when he was already diagnosed with colon cancer. While he made no secret of his illness, he did not seek any public sympathy. In Düsseldorf he will be best remembered as the mayor who solved the city’s debt problem by selling industrial assets and cutting expenditure. In 2007, Düsseldorf became the first debt-free large city in Germany.

During Erwin’s years in office, Düsseldorf, the state capital of North Rhine-Westphalia, became one of the country’s boom cities. The mayor was fond of comparing it with Toronto and Atlanta rather than with other German state capitals and promoted his city worldwide. However, he did not succeed in attracting two of the most prestigious international events to Düsseldorf. Leipzig was chosen as the German candidate city for the 2012 Olympics and Düsseldorf failed to be awarded any games during the 2006 Football World Cup, which was hosted by Germany.

In 2005 Joachim Erwin was one of the six German finalists for the World Mayor Award. At that time a sponsor wrote: “Joachim Erwin has played a fundamental role in ensuring that Düsseldorf remains Germany's economic powerhouse, being home to some of Germany's top firms and head office to a host of multinational companies. At the same time, Erwin has prioritized enhancing the city's attractiveness, inviting some of the world's finest architects (e.g. Frank Gehry and Sir Norman Foster) for this cause. The rejuvenation of the harbour area into a media and entertainment stronghold in particular is a fine example of the dynamism of the city - defining trends. No wonder the innovative harbour concept is being copied by several other German and international cities. Finally, despite the difficult economic environment in Germany, Erwin has managed to make the city of Düsseldorf debt free - the only city in Germany of its size and scope to be so. Düsseldorf has always been the epitome of Germany's economic miracle - Erwin has made sure it stays that way.”