top issues. this is about 35 minutes. gr■'ll

>> ready? i'm getting us a pwe are so hapg here in kansas city. and yesterday i became a father. this is a nonpartisan institution finding solutions for cities. we are led by the mayor of reno who willmayor? >>mayor lucas and i learned last night what a

[inaudible] congratulations on the new future mayor. i like■v it. thank you so much. your city is absolutely fabulous. it is impressive. and the food is to diefabulous. anyway, thank you, everyone for being with us today. s conference for the united states conference of mayor and honestly i am reflecting as i get tpa■%ss the baton and i am reflecting on thv> it has been exhilarating but also very we have done several liens with state representatives on mental health, homelessness. mayor bassler did an impressive

job bringing■a 45 mayors. it was so we are moving the needle on some of america's biggest■5 issues. i will say very heavy heart whenever i have to reflect on think about the past presidents of the conference of mayors and thinking about once again and as you guys know getting thinking about gun violence in our country and i was thinking about the past president and thinking about mayor nan whaley, mayor suare, mayor coutts, all with mass shootings. sjeimayor barnett, five days ag, five days ago, mass■.

mayor lucas, not too long ago at your parade. think about t■i have not had ons shooting in my state, in nevada. it reminds me57 that it is not a matter of if, but a matter of . and it is chilling. and it is absolutely unacceptable. as mayors we have some of the loudest voices in ourto make the commitment that we will absolutely not barnett from rochester to come and say a few words because the last few days have been really difficult for your community. >> you. it is hard.

iav president of this organization and i have watched my colleagues go through situations likthinking foolishld happen to me and five days ago we did. by statistics, t safest city in michigan seven years inot on. i got the call sodread, but thee shooter new city. i raced to theway i thought aboi needed to d■rong stance i would take and leadership i would provide and the minute i arrived at the splash pad, i broke down. w because it was designed to be a place for kids óto play, you do not have to visited my city to know who was at a splashs mostly under 10.

a gunman came up and fired shots. most of them kids. to the kids are still in critical condition. the first thought i have when i wake up is that there is an eight-year-oldthe hospital and my city shot in the face and his mother shield him from the seven other shots. i find myself were many before me have found themselves, the intersection of mental health and gun violence. it is not a matter of if, but a matter of when. as it has happened in my community and colleagues coen in yours. the gunmen took his life. guns. and assault rifle loaded on the table. .nhe was probably stopped only y

excellent police action. my job is to now try to heal the community. obviously the shooter had mental now mental hei)alth i n■ñbeit has been ther president under her leadership and it is so needed across the country if some are wondering why i am here so quickly, five days later, it is for my mental hea my friends have been so inibrtive and the hours that followed the shooting. the president, the governor, many70 of the i stand with today called or texted me in the two days tt followed the shooting. they know what it is like. so and of course there are concerns about gun violence and mental health and what we as mayors musdo a support and

applaud our president for her leadership on mental health. it is something must not ever rest on in my community now that list of cities struck byn violence. we wno be defined by the issue, we will be defined by the ?response. thank you, mayor. pp>> i was just thinking about r last meeting, our leadership meeting, mayor cap. anyway, i want to thank oyouyon mental health. 70 of you have come to me and msaid -- so many of you have coe to me and said you are talking about it. th is still an issue that has a hugetigma so i want to

commend brian and all of the mayor's behind me who are also addressing their ownen gensler because he wants us t continue on with our national mental health initiatives. he has been on the hill lobbying like crazy. so manykers have been so receptive and know that something needs to c number one decisiveyou look at statistics s 18■5 to 24, half of them report suicide and depression and anxiety.y is facing when it coms to mental health? it is staggering. so mayors have made the commitntst make sure we make change in the country when it comes to access to mental and erasing the stigma that goes with it so i

justan to thank my colleagues for being so incredibly gracious d genuine about the struggl for mental health across the country. with that, mayor andy guenther, please come up. [applause] >> thank you so much for leader. we are so grateful to as president of this conference over the past year and i know i speak for the entire membe when i say how grateful we are for your steady leadership, fr counsel, your incredible ability to have all

from■, feel welcome in this conference. it is an honor to be with you here today with my fellow mayors. last year i was able to host at i think the mayor lucas is going to hit it out of the park with an incredible conference our annual meeting is a time when america's mayors come together to learn from one another, collaborate on behalf of our cities and peopleprogresg methose of you who know me here this often for me but i will say it again because i think it is foundational to what we do here at our annual meeting and also back at home. s we represent cities all walks of life, our backgrounds are varied, our

issues wide-ranging. our citiesave politics. but aso not allow these differences to divide us. diversity as we work together to find common ground in building thriving cities across our nation. this organization has shown what is possible when we share our shared voice to drive progress. the last several years we have seen incredible successes for american cities, including at the federal levelities are in tt of a renaissance thanks t made bipaisan because of republican and independent mayors lifting their voices in supporting it.nd structure law. it new clean energy and sustainability projects are

powering our healthier future thanks to the inflation reduction act. and of particular importance to my new silicon valley's are rising thanks toct. it is important to note that each of these game changing initiatives were champions not ston party, but by republican, democratic, and independent mayors alike. finding th ground will continue to be critical as we tackle theefore us, challeng like responsible gun ownership, mental health crisis, immigration, clima change, and the national■t.: crisis of homelessness and lackrdable hous impacting every city across the nation, regardless of size,

geography, orics. as american mayors we will continue to collaborate be appld nationwide. we will continue to: federal partners to develop a coordinated national$5 response. as america's may w how important it is to make our voice heard and to speak as one. we will continue to do that this week and ineeks and months to come. we have a lot of work to do■ñ bt i cannot think of a more talented group in a better ■ctposition to get the jobas wed congress and state legislatures all the time, if you want something done in america, give it to a mayor, and we will get itone. thank you all. >> i love that.

we will get it done. next mayor david -- mayor david holt, come on up. >> tnki'm the mayor of oklahoma, america's 20%

heavy lift and great opportunity. i helped host as the mayor chief of staff in 2010 okc and have fond memories of the experience. there is no greater opportunity s about your city than to host a few hundred of theinfluential people in the country so thank you in advance for your hospitality and congratulations to you and your community for puttingog memorabe kansas city expericet will surely leave us with a lasting impression. i also want to think mayor hillary schieve before her last year of leadership especially on meal and■x homelessness. the portfolio of a modern city

is evolving and your priorities as president ofhis organization has aptly reflected that and i andy ginther for your upcoming presidency. sp■:this is amazing, we are all over, 'your upcoming presidencyo commence sunday. you are an ideal person to lead us through high-stakes national election. by gratitude to all the mayors who have joined this year. we see each other's work here and there in bits and pieces flying by on tv or social media we just heard aober reminder this wee watched with sadness the terrible act of gun violence. mayors lead and bring people

tothernd work across the spectrum to find■i com purpose and they are the mos now. mayors get things done. usually when we come to an annual meeting we are not necessarily speaking to a collection of national price like we -- press come up mostly al media. thisn cities around the country and so it is today. members of the kansas city medie mayor, a pretty■úoonetheless mat had a chance to app national pof mayors is not like the nonsense see on cable seat -- cable tv. we stand shoulder to shoulder. people. we can be funny but we doligatia game. we feel the burden on our

shoulders and give it the respect it deserves. we practice politics by compromising, moving we are out. we do not think ag tweet or press release is an accomplishment. there will be candidates who seek to divide us, who say that fellow americans are enemies. they will call them vermin. in my city we have a scholar in our downtown what happens when you take words of dehumanization to the logic', democrats, independents, will not stand for this election rhetoric.

our platform will have substance and it will stand for decency and respect pluralism, compromise, pragmatism. [applause] people who have been given an on to use them to preserve this unique betterment angels of our nature. we fl will do our part. so thank you to the local media for joining us today and thank you for allowing me to share with you who i think we are as america's mayors. you in the presence of a unique group ofdi's of americanl life, and i am deeply you. thank you. [applause] >> i love your sense of humor.

how far can you go in your city? >> six. [laughter] is important for theo always know which mayors are in attendance so i would like every mayor ivblet's try to see how collaborative mayors can be. [laughter] ou. go ahead. >> marcelino, california. ■3■[inaudible] >> [inaudible] ■p>> ach ok.

california. [laughter] >>■: [inaudible] ññth>> albuquerque, new mexico.

>> [inaudible] [applause] >> seattle, washington. >> [inaudible]

>> santa fe, new mexico. >> riverside, california. ■1>>■/>> white plans, new york,e birthplace of the state of new york. >> well. > rochester hills,>> santa m.

>> beach, florida. >> allentown, pennsylvania. tucson, arizona. > york, pennsylvania.

■6>> [inaudible] [laughter] >> nou can see why these are america's mayors. with tha■r■í■et being ■/, we can take any questions the press may have. ■w■zwhoever askst question, you get a free trip to my city. [laughter] [inaudible]

>>ou very much. i think one of the most important are a lot of differens why people fall into homelessness. one of the path -- fastest growing sectors of the un-housed communities late 60's and 70's whohe service industry, no pension, no pricede housing market. the other things it is a myth that people on the street do not want to leave the street. g, they will. we are concerned about a couple we are moving into summer and it hot summer.to be in extremely■ we often provide shelter during the winter. ■pnow we have to think about providing us shelter during the summerthere is a supreme court decision that will come out any day called grantswe are very cod

potentially leado criminalization of homelessness as opposed to addressing the problem. we throughout the nation and we need to address it and i believe mayors are in the best position to do that. it is a bipartisan issue. we came together about 48 mayors in d.c. advocating for housing and i think have best practices and successes in many of our different cities. [applause] [inaudible] >> i will just start recognizing we have more discussn i on thisa chair of the criminal juic justr several years. this isomething that needs to be identified as a

problem facing every city. the largest citie some of our states, everything in between. we look forwd conversation on a few other issues later on this weekend. there will be dision ato the bump stocks issue. vegas inspired the trump admirawe think it is t publicans, democrats and independents act to find a way we c avoid■ tanother thing thise has talked about for years resources from our federal partners in connection with how we can address can violence, gun trafficking, and a number of the ■issues are problematic. in my city i get■x jones in st.e time. we have younger and younger victims, younger and younger assailants. i thinke can agree there should not be a 14-year-old

walking around with a semi automatic or a modified automatic weapon. those conversations are coming up and we look forward to having more to share. >> [inaudible] ■n■$>> first of all, i think wee

so far behind. this is long overdue. i have said we this is the number one crisis in america. we have services to children early and often. mayorside emergency services at every school. school in my city. we are getting ready to open up a 24/7 mental health initiative. we are treating mental health right now in our jails and er's. er's are4n fix broken bones, not broken brains. jails is absolutely unacceptable tomayors are looking at differet ways on what does that look like in our cities. inyz my city i'm opening up a 27 mental health initiative where any police officer can take somewhat there in can take someone there.

them no place, there is no place to take them. ■;the reality in this country. mayors quite honestly have been the only ones talking about the severe mental health crisis. it is no wonder we are seeing these tragedies across america because we have not treated our mental health to the capacity we need to, soide much more access. with the cares act money -- what did we call the first act money. i bought online therapy for access to mental healthn my services, these mayors are taking on this initiative to provide that in theirbut we hav- when children go to

crisis in this country we are still not talking about enough. colleagues behind me have taken on this initiative and doing many innovative approaches in their cities, but we will not stopv4 and we will continue to make sure we do everything we we have been doing a lot of good groundwork there. senator raskinmayors knocking od being inront of him, he will be bringing forward legislation. senator carper and cortez masto -- senator catherine cortez masto. how many representatives? every single one of them said this is important. i believe it is the work of the mayors and your dedication to mental health. >> [inaudible]

>> that is such a great question. i will start it. i won't belabor the point because i think we have a chance to discuss this issue r inviteu to those conversations. therarseveral different steps. everything mentioned is part of it. investment in mental health is a core part of much of what we are dealing with. mental health isn't just those who might be hospitalized for issues, it is the trauma in our communities every day. as chairman of the criminal justice able to do police right along -- police in the cities. whether it was st. louis■c■ plae a number of resources that alternatives to enforcement, officers have often said that. trying to believe that is important, but our state and federal partners.

you cannot just have a county or city jail as the only solution for your violent crime issues. broadly on shooting, i won't belabor points related to gun regulation other■■ than to note there are certain things that are unlawful. thethe supreme court last week e us a different interpretation that i think departed from what republican and democratic administrations have said previously. we will continue toe to make sure the most violent firearms like automatic weapons which have been banned since 19 34. guns on the streets. why are we allowing them tosortd more shootouts every day? that is o is collaborative sols around cities. the other thing i think is important about why we are here together, we are here toal ideas. no bones about it.

is a wonderful idea in los angeles or reno, you rest assured that city we will take it and try to make sure it is enacted community. that is much of what we are trying to do to address these foundational issues. gun buybacks, which in some places are legal. in my home state they areby sta. there arethere are ones we can n ones frankly all of us, whether you are living in the most bluet we are trying to make sure we solve. at is largely what we will be discussing. >> thank you. your question was how do we make our residents feel safe? i want residentso there are many times where there have

■been such incidences averted through good old-fashioned police work, monitoring chatter. we had one last yearíg in the cy of riverside where we averted a mass■s■ shooting by our police officers being able to monitor whatas on at one of her biggest events of the year. -- biggest events of the year. yes, it is a reality,( but we ae looking at it all the time. k every mayor can say that. thank y'all so much. [applause]