Mayors Warn More Cities Could Fall in Bankruptcy

The nation’s mayors warned Sunday that more cities could follow Bridgeport, Conn., into bankruptcy without an infusion of $12 billion in new federal aid to address urban problems.

The aid request from big-city Democratic mayors cleared a key procedural hurdle at the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ annual meeting despite warnings from Republicans and some other mayors that Congress and the Bush Administration were in no mood for an urban bailout.

“Many of us will be in the same boat as Bridgeport,” said Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, referring to the Connecticut city that has filed for bankruptcy because of soaring costs and a shrinking tax base.

The mayors conference’s resolutions committee easily approved the call for a big injection of new federal aid for cities even though another panel, dominated by Republicans, had recommended its rejection.

Critics said the proposal would be lost on Washington and reinforce the mayors’ image as constantly seeking a federal handout rather than dealing with problems themselves.

The action came as the mayors met on the second day of the five-day conference, which concludes Wednesday.

Only one of the potential Democratic presidential contenders, Paul Tsongas, attended the conference, and some mayors charged that President Bush was symbolically avoiding urban problems by staying away, even though he was spending the weekend nearby in California and had been invited.

“He chose not to come here,” said Mayor Douglas Palmer of Trenton, N.J., a Democrat. “These problems we’re dealing with are America’s problems.”

The proposal for more urban aid calls for $5 billion for public works and transportation projects and a $4.6-billion fiscal assistance program targeted to the neediest cities for replacing the now-dead federal revenue-sharing program.

Other elements include $300 million for summer youth jobs and a one-year exemption from the federal limits on tax-exempt bonds for housing and economic development projects.