Redmond Mayor John Marchione announced Monday that he joined mayors across the country in signing The U.S. Conference of Mayors Civility Accord, pledging his commitment to six principles of civility and exhibiting and encouraging personal qualities emblematic of civility.

The Accord was proposed by Tucson, Arizona Mayor Bob Walkup following the tragic shooting in his city and then presented to the nation’s mayors by the conference’s leadership at the start of the Mayors’ Winter Meeting, held January 19-21 in Washington, D.C.

During the three-day session, nearly 150 mayors signed the Accord, while 50 more have signed the Accord in the days following the meeting.

The Accord’s six principles of civility are:

• Respect the right of all Americans to hold different opinions;

• Avoid rhetoric intended to humiliate, de-legitimatize, or question the patriotism of those whose opinions are different from ours;

• Strive to understand differing perspectives;

• Choose words carefully;

• Speak truthfully without accusation, and avoid distortion; and

• Speak out against violence, prejudice, and incivility in all of their forms, whenever and wherever they occur

“Civil discourse is an elementary ingredient to a healthy democracy,” Marchione said. “Now is the time to stand up, without accusation, and reassert the need for broad community debate without the need to fear for our safety.”

The full text of the Accord and the list of mayors who have signed it can be viewed at www.usmayors.org.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are 1,139 such cities in the country today. Each city is represented in the conference by its chief elected official, the mayor.