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Mayors Seek Coalition to Fight Crisis in Cities By Robert E. Baker concerned with the quality of "Ideas .are pretty perWashington Post staff Writer life in cities, whose pTesident, suasive," he s,aid. EiaM. big-dty mayors-led Stephen R. Currier, had invit- Bwt Detroi-t's Cavana gh by Repub1ican J ohn v. Lind- ed t~e mayors to yesterday's added tha1;, th~ ~oalition w~~ld say of New York and Demo- meeting. a1~~ haye polit1c,al muscle. . crat Jerome P. Cavanagh of itJhe mayor~ told reporte,r s O~v~ously, every mayor 1~ Detroit-yesterday called for after the sessrnn thait they.had a pol!trcal creature of sorts, a new coalition" to fight the talked about the problems of he said. crises in the cities. their cities and _how they have Cavanagh said the Urban attempted to handle them. America coalition effort . g h Th e gro up , mee trn ere on Th · t o wou ld diff er· m · 1·ts emp h as1s · ne,rt s· tep, th ey sa1'd , rs t e eve o f P res1.d e n t J oh nso n's ste b1' h r t f · T f th u s c f f State of the Union message, fe a his alit_1s o d ptnon iehs Mrom e d. . then erenti~e ol ,also defend ed present F ederal ·or_ t e coa ion an o re~c ay:rs an . . e a, ona programs and said it would be a_gieemenit on common obJec- Lea.,ue of C1ti~s. He heads "catastrophic" i£ they were tivTebs. t. d th t th bt ot_h gdroups,_twh1icbhbh e cU.harbaccut back. ey s' resse .a ey e-nze_ as ci Y . 0 ies. r an . . . . . were concerned with more Amenca, h e sa1d, w!ll ha ve a ,thThe coaht10 n env1s1011ed Id · t byf ,tihan Federal money · Currier broader base. and will be "an ~o nsis od said they would solici1t help articulate voice on the nationb e. mayors1 bwou usmess, a or u~1?ns . an from "many other iruterests in a l level." leaders of the c1v1l rights this country." Cavanagh, who previously movemeint . Cited as city problems were had called on P.resident JohnThe purpose is to develop a dwindling taxes, rising wel- son to r econsider any planned n ational consensus that will fare costs, housing deteriora- cuts in poverty, housing and make the solutions to urban tion , shorta,g es of operating education programs, yesterday proble ms a top national prior- reve nue and trapsortation took the occasion to sup port ity. snarls. the full $200-million funding The catalyst for forming tl~e Currier described the coali- of •the War on P overty's comcoalition is Urban America, tion effoz,t as an educational munity action programs. Inc., a non-profit organization one t hait would project ideas. New York's Lindsay put in 1 I a plug for "reasonable" funding of the Administration's demonstration cities program and said the Fede~al Gove_rnment should consider taking over ~l welfare programs. The action by the mayors yesterday was significant for two r easo ns. It fw:,ther voiced their supp-01,t of antipoverty · program s, r eiportedly now m · j eop~?~· which some of them had mrtially opposed. And the proposed coalition may provide new spirit and direction for the civil rights movement. M ayors ,a tten d'mg ..c·h,e u r b am Americ,a session, ;in addition to Cavanagh and were Theodore R. McKel Jr. of BaltimoTe' T. G. cu g.an of Denver;' Robert · Hi.Lgh of Miami; Henry Maier of Milwaukee; Jose M. Bairr of Pibtsburgh, Harold Tollefson of Taco Wash . Also attend'"" were r e sentatives of u ,.,Mayors Iv • A~en Jr. of Atlanta, John Collins of Bos,ton, Richard Daley of Chicago, Richard Lee of New Haven, James J. Tate of Philadelph ia, Te Schrunk of Portland o I f h II an d J o h n . F . "'· o e ey o Fra'llcisco. �