8 NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
December 5, 2011
NCSL Past President Art Hamilton Speaks to NBC-LEO
by Mary Gordon
Among its activities at the Congress of
Cities in Phoenix, NLC’s National Black
Caucus of Local Elected Officials (NBC-
LEO) heard from keynote speaker Art
Hamilton on leadership for the African
American community and its local lead-
ers during the Annual Membership
Luncheon.
NBC-LEO Immediate Past President Michael Johnson with luncheon keynote speaker Art Hamilton./
Photo by Steve Schneider
Legislatures. NCSL represents all 50 state
legislatures, 4,400 state legislators and
30,000 legislative staff members in their
dealings with the federal government.
NBC-LEO also honored two local
heroes from Phoenix at the Congress
of Cities this year for their outstanding
community service: Rev. Oscar Tillman,
president, Maricopa County NAACP
Branch, and Dr. C. T. Wright, foundation chairman, Light of Hope Institute
and Christians Teaching Wisdom.
NBC-LEO President Michael
Johnson, councilmember, Phoenix, said,
“It is truly an honor to have the NBC-
LEO family in my hometown to rec-
ognize the achievements of these two
individuals whom I admire for their
dedication and service to our residents.”
During the conference, President
Johnson also hosted a mobile tour for
NBC-LEO members and NLC col-
leagues to acquaint conference delegates
with the historic heritage of the Phoenix
African American community.
see page 10, column 1
APAMO Recognizes Phoenix Asian Leaders
by Mary Gordon
Asian Pacific American Municipal
Officials (APAMO) President Gilbert
Wong, mayor, Cupertino, Calif., presid-
ed over the honors ceremony at a special
Joint Constituency Group Reception
held during the Congress of Cities in
Phoenix. It was cosponsored with the
Hispanic Elected Local Officials and
Women in Municipal Government.
life use the data to advocate for causes,
rescue disaster victims, prevent diseases,
research markets, locate pools of skilled
workers and more.
An accurate count of residents can
help a community with planning infrastructure, more services and — most
importantly — help determine how
much federal funding a state or municipality can receive.
APAMO also honored outgoing
Board Members Otto Lee, councilmember, Sunnyvale, Calif., who served as
immediate past president of APAMO,
and Josie Rosales, councilmember,
Kodiak, Alaska. Lee will be leaving elected office in early December. Rosales will
be leaving office next year.
“It has been a privilege for us as members of APAMO to work with these two
outstanding individuals who have been
dedicated to strengthening our constituency group and helping to make us more
visible to the larger NLC community.
We will miss them greatly and have an
open door for them to come back and
see us anytime that they can,” President
Wong said.
APAMO’s officers are: Gilbert Wong,
mayor, Cupertino, Calif. (president);
Evan Low, mayor, Campbell, Calif.
(vice president); Steven K. Sham, mayor,
Alhambra, Calif. (secretary); Helen
Kawagoe, city clerk, Carson, Calif. (
treasurer) and Jean Quan, mayor, Oakland,
Calif. (immediate past president).
At-Large members are: Tzeitel Paras
Caracci, mayor, Duarte, Calif.; Ling-Ling Chang, councilmember, Diamond
Bar, Calif.; Conrad Lee, councilmember, Bellevue, Wash.; Otto Lee, councilmember, Sunnyvale, Calif.; Polly Low,
councilmember, Rosemead, Calif.; Doris
McConnell, councilmember, Shoreline,
Wash.; Josie Rosales, councilmember,
Kodiak, Alaska; and Anthony Spitaleri,
mayor, Sunnyvale, Calif.
Details: For more information about
APAMO and sponsorship/membership
opportunities, contact NLC staff at
(202) 626-3169 or visit www.nlc.org/
apamo.
