During the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual meeting last week in Chicago, four mayors from the Garden State attacked the resolution while it was being discussed in the conference's international affairs committee, The Trentonian reports.
Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer told the newspaper the resolution was a "slap in the face to law enforcement."
The reason: A woman who killed a New Jersey trooper in 1973 escaped from prison and fled to Cuba, where she has been protected from extradition, according to the newspaper.
The mayors' committee eventually tabled Anderson's proposal, which says the U.S. economic embargo harms children and the elderly and that the policy has further isolated Cuba. It "urges the normalization of diplomatic and economic relations."
Back from Chicago, Anderson said Monday the committee formed a five-member task force to work on a new Cuba resolution for next year.
"It's not about being soft on Cuba," said Anderson, adding that he understands the strong feelings of the New Jersey contingent. "A country would not serve as a refuge for police killers . . . if we opened up diplomatic relations."
Anderson, who is a member of the conference's international affairs committee, successfully sponsored a resolution urging the U.S. government to respond "effectively and immediately" to the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan and another promoting renewable energy.
The two-term mayor, who has expressed interest in a career in human rights after he leaves office, explained his interest in those international issues by saying people have a "responsibility" to promote human rights.
Also in Chicago, Salt Lake City received an honorable mention in the 2005 City Livability Awards for its Bridging the Religious Divide project. The program started with open-mike forums and is now uniting people from various religious and cultural backgrounds in small groups to discuss divisions and ways to come together.
The project was lauded for being grass-roots instead of "top-down" and a news release said Anderson had "tapped into what has become a global problem."
