Mayors From 30 US Cities Join De Blasio In Vow To Fight Income Inequality
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The U.S. Conference of Mayors has pledged to close the gap between the haves and the have-nots across the country.
More than 30 U.S. big city mayors vowed on Monday to fight growing income inequality in their hometowns as part of a task force called "Cities of Opportunity.''
Mayors From 30 US Cities Join De Blasio In Vow To Fight Income Inequality
Mayor Bill de Blasio hosted colleagues from other cities at Gracie Mansion as they promised to push for higher wages, expanded pre-kindergarten programs and increased Internet access for poor neighborhoods.
"The question of how you get there is a local question, but the aspiration and the belief that we have to do things like that is what unites us," de Blasio said.
The group released a report showing that the gap between the nation's richest and poorest had increased dramatically.
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson said unemployment numbers may have gone down during the economic recovery, however "The pay has been an average of 23 percent less than jobs we lost during the recession."
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said the bipartisan group hopes to set an example for Washington lawmakers, WCBS 880's Monica Miller reported.
"We hope that members of Congress see the work that we're doing and see the product of what we're producing and say listen, I want some of that too," he said.
Mayors Marty Walsh of Boston, Rahm Emanuel of Chicago and Michael Nutter of Philadelphia were also among those at Monday's gathering.
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