Cities are getting more ethnically diverse and their inhabitants are aging, demands that cit governments must answer, urban leaders said Sunday. ``We're seeing a demographic wave that will transform entire regions,'' said former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros at the 67th annual convention of the National League of Cities. He moderated a panel of mayors, city council members, county commissioners and borough presidents, who addressed the impact of these changes on electoral politics and the populace. More white women and members of minorities are winning election to top spots in cities and counties. At the same time, the white urban population is growing older while minority populations are the youngest and fastest growing in the nation, Cisneros said. In 10 years, 92 percent of Californians will live in a city with a population consisting of at least 30 percent Asian, Hispanic or black residents, he said. Similarly, only 15 percent of those entering the job market in 2000 will be white males; 85 percent will be women and minorities. ``These figures present dramatic implications about what we do for the planning of the future cities,'' Cisneros said. Panel members predicted difficulty in paying for bond issues for things as school improvements because the tax base in cities comprises older people on fixed incomes and the urban poor. Ruth Messinger, president of the New York City borough of Manhattan, said cities will need to address the need for day care and more education for families, including bilingual instruction, to keep residents working and paying taxes. St. Petersburg, Fla., Mayor Robert Ulrich offered a different perspective. He said the aging population should be regarded as an asset able to provide untapped resources in the form of public service. One example was offered by Mayor Maynard Jackson of Atlanta, where the city supports a program that brings together retired people with single-parent families to provide day care and employment at the same time. Michael Woo, a Los Angeles city councilman, suggested better programming for English instruction. ``I would like to see a common language,'' said Woo. ``I believe in ESL (English as a Second Language), but it would help if we did a better job. If high schools were able to produce not only English-proficient minority students, but also the blond and blue-eyed variety.'' Cleveland Mayor Michael White said cities must offer fairness to their constituents and enfranchisement to minorities. ``As long as this country commits $500 billion to bankrupt savings and loans; as long as this country spends $4 billion to $6 billion on Iraq and Kuwait; as long as this country continues to lock in black kids, brown kids and poor white kids into an economic system to which there is no end to the tunnel, then it will continue to get worse,'' White said.
