UMD News Releases

Former Minneapolis Mayor, Sharon Sayles Belton, will present "Looking Back, Moving Forward" at the UMD Kirby Student Center Ballroom, Wednesday, October 9, 2002 at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. It part of the UMD Spectrum Lecture Series.

Sharon Sayles Belton served as mayor of Minneapolis from 1994-2001 and has achieved national recognition as an expert on public/private partnerships to address public safety, neighborhood viability, economic development and solutions to urban concerns. Under her leadership, Minneapolis became a safer city and dramatically improved the tax base. As Mayor, Sharon Sayles Belton brought the police department to its highest authorized strength, implemented community policing and created the Gang Strike Force to help eliminate gang activity from the city. In 1998, the Minneapolis Police Department implemented CODEFOR, a strategy to police smarter. Since its implementation, serious crime declined to a 34 year low. Ms. Belton also led the development of public/private partnerships that have been recognized nationally for their innovativeness and effectiveness. Since 1995, almost 12,500 jobs were created citywide.

Ms. Belton has served as chair of the National League of Cities Council on Youth, Education, and Families, and was co-chair of the United States Conference of Mayors Task Force on Public Education from 1996-2001. She also served on the Advisory Committee to the President's Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection in 1997.

Sharon Sayles Belton has won a number of awards, including the Harvey Milk Award in 1998, the National Bar Association's Gertrude E. Rush Distinguished Service Award in 1998, the American Association for Affirmative Action Rosa Parks Award in 1997, and she was a National Honoree of the National Political Caucus of Black Women in 1999.

Currently, Sharon Sayles Belton is a Senior Fellow at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs on the Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota.