Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken and the leaders of the city's tourism bureau flew to New York Tuesday to meet with Urban League President Hugh B. Price over the group's 2003 convention.

        Although members of the high-level delegation said the trip was routine, it's the first trip Mr. Luken has made in support of a convention since the boycott by some civil rights groups was announced last year.

        “This was a relationship-building trip, and as the spokesperson for the city I just wanted to express the city's open doors and our willingness to work with them in planning their event,” Mr. Luken said in a statement.

        The Urban League, like many mainstream civil rights groups, has not joined the 11-month-old boycott by newer groups like the Black United Front and the Coalition for a Just Cincinnati. Those groups are protesting the city's treatment of African-Americans since the police shooting of an unarmed black man last year.

        In April, Mr. Price said the league “remains committed” to holding its convention in Cincinnati, but “will continue to watch the situation closely” and consult with the local chapter on the city's efforts to implement police reforms.

        The Urban League's position has remained unchanged since then, said spokeswoman Leslie A. Dunbar.

        She said a final decision on the convention, which will bring about 4,000 people to Cincinnati in August 2003, is expected in the next week.

        Sheila Adams, president of the Urban League's Cincinnati affiliate, was also in New York. The 2003 national convention — planned since 1999 — is seen as the crowning achievement in her Urban League career.

        Mr. Luken was joined by Eric Kearney, the chairman of the Greater Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Lisa Haller, the bureau's president.

        Last month, Mr. Kearney accompanied Vice Mayor Alicia Reece to the National Coalition of Black Meeting Planners in Kansas City, Mo.

        “This is not unusual, to get together with the convention group in advance and work out any issues. In other cities, mayors are an active part of the convention team,” said Julie Harrison Calvert, a spokeswoman for the convention bureau.

        “It's something that hasn't been done before in Cincinnati, but only because we never really engaged the mayor or vice mayor in doing it until now,” she said.

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