Newly Elected Mayors Praise Seminars on Governing Tips

Wrapping up five days and 40 hours of crash courses on city government, 18 newly elected mayors from across the country praised the program sponsored by the Institute of Politics, and said they felt more confident about returning as mayors to their respective cities.

"This conference made me realize that I am a mayor and will be going back to my city to be a mayor," Arnold I. Rue, mayor-elect of Stockton, Calif. said at the press conference held yesterday at the Institute of Politics.

Charles Royer, mayor-elect of Seattle, Wash. said yesterday the seminar provided an opportunity to evaluate decision-making tools and to meet Washington contacts who could aid city governments in the future.

Reporters from national news services and city newspapers circulated around the sessions held over the weekend and late last week, cornering the newly elected mayors for interviews after the off-the-record seminars.

Ira Jackson, assistant dean of the Kennedy School of Government and coordinator of the program, said yesterday the presence of so many reporters had inconvenienced the procedures of the seminars. He added however, he believed the seminar achieved its educational goals.