Ethnic Tensions Could Get Violent, Mayors Warned

Simmering ethnic tensions and the rising AIDS infection rate topped the agenda at the opening of the annual U. S. Conference of Mayors this weekend in San Diego.

The mayors of more than 200 U. S. cities, meeting here through Wednesday, were warned that tensions that led to recent Latino riots in Washington could erupt into violence in other cities.

“Those riots . . . are an indication of the kind of situation now that we face in other cities,” Latino civil rights leader Raul Yzaguirre said in an opening-day session Friday.

Mayor Wilson Goode of Philadelphia endorsed the view, saying the riots were triggered by Latinos’ frustration that they were being locked out of power by that city’s predominantly black leadership.

“We have the same situation in Philadelphia,” Goode said. Mayors bear responsibility for bringing other minority groups into their power structure, he said.

“It’s very difficult to open the doors overnight, to make everyone feel they’re around the table,” Goode said. “All of us need to do some soul-searching about how we use our offices for inclusion.”

The warnings about racial tensions between minority groups were delivered at a panel discussion on “the politics of inclusion,” where San Diego officials described their program aimed at assuring diversity in city hiring.

Besides the Washington riots, in which no one was killed, Yzaguirre pointed to riots by African-Americans and Puerto Ricans in Miami. He said the riots reflected frustration with the city’s Cuban-dominated leadership.

But Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza, based in Washington, said in a later interview that he regarded San Diego as an example of how Latinos are politically frozen out in many cities. With the large Latino community in the border city, he said, “It’s incredible that in San Diego we don’t have a county supervisor” who is Latino.

In another session, conference officials reported that a study of 26 cities shows the AIDS infection rate is rising among drug addicts and women and none of the cities have adequate funds to fight the disease.

“The impact of AIDS on our cities this year is worse than last, and next year will be even worse,” said Thomas Cochran, executive director of the conference.

Boston Mayor Raymond Flynn and New York Mayor David Dinkins, both Democrat, were leading a push to put the mayors on record asking Congress for a big new federal spending program directed at urban America, including $5 billion for public works and transportation projects.

“If Congress and the president can approve billions of dollars this year for the financial institutions and billions of dollars to protect Western Europe, there is no reason why they can’t find $10 to $15 billion to create jobs and boost competitiveness here at home,” Flynn said.

But the first signs of a split between Democratic and Republican mayors emerged at an opening news conference. Mayor Robert M. Isaac of Colorado Springs, Colo., a Republican and president of the conference, said he didn’t believe the group should request a major new expansion in federal aid, though he added that he hadn’t taken a position on the specifics of Flynn’s idea.

“We do not always speak with one voice,” Isaac said.

The mayors’ meeting is notable for who won’t be here: presidential candidates.

Mayors’ conferences in the odd-numbered year before a presidential election usually are a forum for White House contenders. But Bush, Vice President Dan Quayle and nearly all the potential Democratic candidates turned down the mayors’ invitation this year, or in the case of Jesse Jackson, backed out of a commitment to come.

Only Paul Tsongas--so far the only announced candidate--has agreed to speak to the mayors. He addresses them Monday.