Across the U.S., women mayors rely on networking, collaboration and sisterhood to solve problems plaguing modern cities—from reproductive rights, to gun violence, to climate change.
Many mayors like Jones are focusing on issues with large gender gaps, for which women report a higher level of concern and different voting preferences than men. Poll after poll shows significant gender gaps on issues related to equality, “I never wanted to be a politician,” Jones said. “My dad was a politician. He was the comptroller for the city of St. Louis when I was growing up, along with being an alderman and a committeeman. His career started when I was about 3 years old, and I watched him as a little girl. I just never thought that this was my path.”“Maybe there are some things that are inherent within your DNA. I also feel like this is my calling. I love this work,” Jones said.
“I was elected just a few months before COVID was declared a pandemic and had to make quick decisions based on information from public health experts,” Romero toldAs the crisis unfolded, women mayors joined together from the three largest cities in Arizona: Phoenix, Tucson and Flagstaff.
Romero calls herself an “innate environmentalist” who grew up in Somerton, Arizona. She grew up saving electricity, water and recycling constantly. The climate plan was created with more than 5,000 Tucsonans over 14 months through public meetings, listening sessions and surveys.
Throughout the 1930s, mayors came together to call on the federal government for continued help, a practice that continued throughout the decades. “The Leadership Alliance has evolved, and I am following in the footsteps of other great chairs,” Sheehan said. Women are severely underrepresented in the policing and public safety sector with only 12 percent of sworn officers and 3 percent of police leadership in the United States being female.