Smith joins Mayors for Peace

WAUPACA – Mayor Brian Smith let the council know that he has added his name to a growing list of mayors worldwide that are calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The organization is called Mayors for Peace and was started in 1982 by mayors from Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan, the sites of the atomic bomb drops in World War II.
Since its inception the organization has grown to 8,538 member cities and 166 countries and regions worldwide.
Waupaca is a sister city to Mitoyo City in Japan. It is 70 miles from Hiroshima across the Seto Inland Sea.
According to the email Smith shared with the council from Kazumi Matsui, the president of the Mayors for Peace: “Mayors for Peace has expanded its membership and worked in solidarity with its member cities to call for the realization of a world free from nuclear weapons and lasting world peace.”

Of the over 8,500 mayors that have signed up worldwide, only 240 of them are from the United States, which has prompted a new effort to get more American mayors to pledge their name to the organization.
“I get emails on a regular basis requesting that we give presentations or accept things and this is one that caught my eye,” said Smith at the Dec. 2 meeting. “I really thought it was non-political and, in my mind, a no brainer.”
More information about the organization can be found on Facebook at Mayors4Peace and mayorsforpeace.org.