Executive Director's Column

March 19, 2010

Washington, DC

FCC - Local Decisions/Local Budgets

Last year, when ARRA, the stimulus package was passed, the legislation contained a provision calling for the Federal Communications Commission to come forth with a national broadband plan to speed up deployment, confront the digital divide, and provide high speed internet access to seven million homes that don’t have it now.

These are national goals supported through the years by the United States Conference of Mayors. The digital divide issue, making sure all citizens have access, was a big issue when President Clinton was in The White House. And it was our beloved late President, Dearborn Mayor Mike Guido who constantly kept this issue on our political radar screen.

The FCC national broadband plan was born in the national discussion to create jobs and strengthen our economy along with deployment and digital divide issues.

All these goals are well and good but over the past few months there were substantiated reports that the FCC national broadband plan, to be submitted to Congress this week, would limit local government rights-of-way authority. And further, information leaked out that the FCC would recommend imposing a less than fair market value as the standard for fair and market and reasonable rights-of way.

Through this period it has been difficult for us to understand the FCC process. It has lacked transparency that the Administration demanded of stimulus spending. And in light of the possible economic devastation limitations on our franchise fees, local government officials across the board, and staff have been hitting the FCC, The White House, and Congress hard on the economic consequences of imposing limitations on our local decisions. Surveys have shown millions of dollars would be lost for our local budgets. And our position has been that this is the wrong policy at the wrong time due to the worst national recession since the Great Depression. All this, again, comes from a so-called national plan written by someone, somewhere, who may or may not have an inkling as to the economic consequences to local budgets of so many governments faced with lay-offs and reductions of basic services.

We are pleased to report that the concern has been alleviated for the time being due to the fact that the FCC plan chose not to recommend this week detrimental changes affecting local government decisions to our local rights-of-ways which would have had a devastating effect on our already challenged budgets due to the possibility of huge losses of our franchise fees.

While we are pleased at this juncture this week, we must be even more vigilant as we monitor what Congress will do with this plan written by the FCC staff. Our issues seem to still be alive due to the fact that this FCC plan calls for the establishment of a task force of state, local, and tribal authorities to draft guidelines for rates terms and conditions for access to public rights-of-way. The establishment of such a task force is troubling in that as a membership organization representing a multitude of local governments that differ in so many ways, one thing is clear. It’s a local government’s right to establish their market rate on their property. It’s not a task force in Washington, DC or FCC staff that is responsible for running a city or country in these perilous economic times.

We are united in this effort with the National League of Cities and the National Association of Counties. Together, we will continue to monitor the FCC and Congress on this most serious matter as we go forward representing the interests of mayors and cities throughout the nation.

President Kautz/Large Urban Counties

Conference President Kautz joined with the Large Urban County Caucus of the National Association of Counties last week as she attended meetings and addressed LUCC seeking partnership and coalition on a number of issues. Primarily, President Kautz is emphasizing the need for the urban counties and mayors to create local-metro coalitions to persuade Congress to provide more balanced transportation legislation as we face the mammoth transportation bill in front of us. President Kautz continues to point out that the traffic in our metro areas is not getting any better anywhere. She raises the serious question of metro officials being cut out or not involved in the billions of dollars that continue to go to state highway departments.

President Kautz has had experience on metro partnerships in her own Twin Cities-Minnesota metro area and her voice comes with a high degree of credibility. She will continue to stress the need for Congress to move the transportation funding needle more toward metro areas of cities and urban counties.

Mayor Palmer/Jobs/Morial-National Urban League

Past President Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer appeared before the special hearing on jobs and the Miller, Local Jobs for America Act, legislation before members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The CBC has been very much in the news over the past week as they met with President Obama expressing concern about joblessness in America.

The Miller bill, endorsed by The U.S. Conference of Mayors weeks ago, is continuing to gain support. There were four panels on this special day on this issue March 17. Mayor Palmer’s panel included Marc Morial, President and CEO of National Urban League, Benjamin Jealous, President and CEO of NAACP, and others.

Last week the Miller bill was rolled out in a national electronic press conference with Conference President Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz pledging our total support. It is our hope that once, and we hope soon, the healthcare issue is dealt with, we can focus on the Miller legislation which is a true jobs bill as compared to so many pieces of legislation that are being rolled out with the “jobs” label but do not have direct funding for our cities and counties.

Energy Block Grants/Department of Energy Partnership

Mayors are frustrated with statements coming from the Department of Energy and others in the Administration who seemed to be confused as to the question of whether or not city governments have actually received energy block grant program funds.

At our recent Leadership Meeting here in Washington, February 24 - 25, Executive Committee and Advisory Board members requested President Kautz to seek a meeting with Energy Secretary Chu. Today, we have 1,017 USA mayors within our Climate Center who have signed the Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. Mayors want a partnership with the Federal Government. The green jobs/climate centered issue is today a top priority of The U.S. Conference of Mayors. The issue is not going away. Indeed, it will grow as we all realize that there is economic activity creating green jobs that will increase. Again, mayors want a partnership with the Federal Government. It’s that simple. We look forward to building the partnership as we go forward. It is most important.

Executive Director's Column

March 5, 2010

Washington, DC

Kautz Leads Mayors Back to Fight for Jobs

Conference President Mayor Elizabeth Kautz led mayors back to Washington to fight for real jobs legislation to provide fiscal assistance and real jobs for our unemployed. Our 2010 Winter Leadership meeting last week is the third time this year President Kautz has been back here in Washington on the issue of jobs asking Washington to wake up and recognize the needs of millions of Americans who just want a job.

On the first day of our Leadership Meeting we went to the Senate side, where Alaska Senator Mark Begich gave mayors almost two hours as he strategized openly with them. He went through the recent announcements of the Senate leadership stating that there will be several jobs bills over the next few months. Each one of the “jobs” bills is labeled in certain categories. There are lists of subjects under each category and it’s not clear with many of these items if these proposed pieces of legislation would actually provide the immediate and direct jobs that are needed in our cities now. The fact is that the Senate actions are hard to follow these days. There’s the food fighting we have had with the healthcare legislation that the American people do not understand. There’s the announcement of a large jobs bill. Then there’s the sudden announcement by Majority Leader Reid that there will not be a big jobs bill, instead it will be several smaller jobs bills. And they have announced that all the legislation that now comes from the Senate will be called a jobs bill. So we have to read beyond the label.

While there is confusion about the legislation and the timetable in the Senate, one thing is true and perfectly clear. Senator Mark Begich of Alaska is the best urban Senator since Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota who was a boy mayor of Minneapolis at age 30 before he became a legend in the Senate giving his creative energy for mayors and cities. Senator Begich continues, in open meetings and closed meetings, to be an advocate for cities. Senators are talking about Senator Begich, about how his voice, mind and actions, in just a few months, a little over a year are helping bring some common sense to the Senate as to what cities mean to this great nation. Anchorage has sent Mr. Begich to Washington. He hasn’t forgotten Anchorage. And he hasn’t forgotten his brothers and sisters, the mayors of this nation, the cities, and above all the people they serve.

Miller Jobs Bill is Real

On the House side, President Kautz led a group to meet with Congressman George Miller where he briefed them on a real jobs bill he will soon roll out. The Miller bill would provide funds in a distribution structure that is identical to the very successful and popular CDBG program. Hence the cities with a certain population would receive funds direct and not through the states. Mayors could use the money for hiring people or mayors could use the money for job retention to save jobs and avoid future layoffs. Nonprofit funding coordinated through the mayor’s office could also be funded.

Congressman Miller told the mayors that heavy lifting from the mayors will be needed if the bill will succeed. The mayors gave support and were pleased to find someone that was offering a real jobs bill that they could understand.

The next day mayors met en masse with our friend, Philadelphia Congressman Chaka Fattah. The mayors talked to him about the unfortunate situation we now have with the Department of Energy and our new energy block grants. The mayors are concerned that the Department has no history with administering block grants to cities. After a frank, open, and direct discussion, Congressman Fattah pledged his help.

Congressman Fattah also briefed the mayors about the Miller jobs bill that was the subject of the Kautz meeting with Miller the day before. Congressman Fattah introduced Dr. Gordon Lafer, Senior Labor Policy Advisor to the Committee on Education and Labor, who outlined the features of the bill and he got an enthusiastic response and all mayors pledged their support.

Small Business

President Kautz also presented to the mayors, for the first time, Small Business Administrator Karen G. Mills for the purpose of discussing how the SBA can assist small businesses access credit. Since the economic downturn began in September of ’08, mayors have been fully aware of the economic damages to small businesses on Main Street America. Mayor Kautz announced she will be working closely with Administrator Mills as mayors continue to push Washington to focus on the serious challenges small business continues to face.

Healthcare Dominates/End in Sight?

For months now President Obama’s primary focus has been on healthcare. The number one priority of the American people and mayors is jobs, jobs, jobs, above any other issue. The day after the mayors left town, President Obama held eight hours of televised discussions on health care with Democratic and Republican members of Congress. President Obama is trying to break the gridlock. As U.S.Mayor goes to press, President Obama is speaking from the White House with doctors dressed in their hospital whites standing beside him in the White House demanding action now, saying everything that needs to be said about healthcare has been said, and he wants action now.

There is strong feeling here that President Obama will use the reconciliation process, which will require a majority vote, and then end this discussion with an up or down vote. President George W. Bush used the process to get his tax cut legislation. So it’s doable. We are all waiting for the posturing to end and for an up or down vote. Again, it’s hard to follow; it’s unpleasant to follow, and people throughout America want it to end soon.

Meantime, mayors will keep pushing Congress on legislation for jobs. We will keep coming back to Washington until Washington acts. As we go forward on the Miller bill and the Senate bills, we will need your help. Pay close attention to our emails and action requests. Mayors are united more than ever and together we can make it better for our cities and for so many people throughout America who are out of work and all they are asking for is a job – now.

Executive Director's Column

January 29, 2010

Washington, DC

Washington and Jobs for People Who Want to Work

Following our Seattle Leadership Meeting last Fall and through October, November, and December, The United States Conference of Mayors has had up front on our political screen…jobs, jobs, jobs.

As the President of The Conference of Mayors, Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz led a group of mayors to The White House on October 27 2009 to discuss the mayors’ recommendations. In those meetings the theme emerged that across our nation people without jobs were demanding action. Mayors registered deep unhappiness in the people they meet every day wanting work. Mayors can’t run or hide. America’s mayors are engaged with people, more so than any elected officials on earth.

The House acted on a jobs bill on December 16, 2009. We commended Speaker Pelosi and House Leaders at that time for including our priorities and indicated our concern that there was no money for energy, green jobs, no change in the way regular highway money is distributed, and no TIGER transportation grants.

We then moved to the Senate and throughout the Fall, my Chief of Staff, Ed Somers and a top USCM staff team here in Washington have worked the Senate side for the past three months as the Senate tried to decide what it might do, or not do, for millions who want to work.

The election of maverick Republican Senator Scott Brown has turned Washington on its head. Suddenly Washington is also saying it’s jobs, jobs, jobs. It’s amazing what one election can do.

And during our Winter Meeting, after mayors met with the appropriate Chairs and Senate Leaders, a jobs bill has begun to unfold. At least we can say now the Senate will act. Our challenge and task will be to continue to follow up to make sure there is a more balanced funding of transportation funding, funds for green jobs through energy block grants, TIGER transportation grants and increased Summer youth funds.

78th Winter Meeting

Conference of Mayors President Elizabeth Kautz, standing with mayors from across the nation, united, unveiled the 2010 New Metro Agenda. Adopted by our leadership on January 6, this Metro Agenda leads with the demand that the Senate act, and act now, to pass a jobs bill at the top of our demands.

Our meeting in The White House was totally dedicated to the jobless economy. The day began with a session moderated by Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Engagement, between Mayors and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, and Dr. Larry Summers, Director of the White House's National Economic Council. It was a frank discussion as we work with The President and his advisors on strategies to bring economic activity back to Main Street America, back to small businesses, and above all produce jobs for so many Americans.

Following the session moderated by Ms. Jarrett, Vice President Biden, and President Obama came out and after the Vice President introduced the President and set the meeting up, there was an honest give and take discussion between President Obama and our mayors. The President gave us insight into how his first year has progressed and he is quite aware of the unemployment rates in so many of our cities and it is a priority of his and of his Administration.

A special thanks to David Agnew, Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, and to Ed Somers, my Chief of Staff, who worked hard and worked together with President Kautz and me to design a Winter Meeting providing open discussion with the Obama Administration at the Capital Hilton and inside The White House.

Alaska Senator Begich

We are lucky and most fortunate to have a mayor in the Senate who has become our mayors’ voice in the Senate. Through this period as the Senate Jobs Bill was being developed, Senator Begich has been there for us.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi

The sister of a mayor, the daughter of a mayor – the girl from Baltimore and now The Speaker of The House continues to prove that the nation’s mayors have as their friend, The Speaker of The House. The moment she became Speaker, Past President Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer and I and other mayors met with her as she endorsed our 2007 Ten Point Plan which called for energy block grants to state and local governments to produce green jobs. At our Winter Meeting she said that she supports funding now and multi-year funding for the energy block grants that will produce green jobs and provide so much to get us out of this recession. She commended our new President, Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz for her leadership in presenting the 2010 Metro Agenda and the Speaker pledged her strong consideration as we all work together to do what we can to bring economic recovery to Main Street and jobs to people who want to work.

Next Steps – President Kautz Leads Campaign

During and after the Winter Meeting, mayors commended our new President, Mayor Kautz, for cutting back on the long speeches from our podiums to provide more dialogue, more questions from the floor, more give and take, more questions and answers. President Kautz is determined to follow through and work with us as we provide in all of our meetings more conversations from mayors. Mayors speak out so often in their own cities. But when they come together as they did at this Winter Meeting and when they are given the opportunity to speak, and to coalesce, it is a magical power that cannot be dismissed. The mayors left united and they will follow President Kautz as we go forward.

Where are we? The President’s State of the Union is a reset button for Congress to act on a jobs bill. Still, there is work to be done. President Kautz went home, turned around and came back this week to present our 2010 Metro Agenda to 12 Senators as Senate Majority Leader Reid convened and requested our President to come and present our recommendations. She was a powerful witness as she gave your demands quite forcibly to the Senate Leader and Senators assembled.

And so the campaign for Main Street recovery and jobs continues during the worst recession we have had since the Great Depression. 78 years ago mayors came together during the most difficult times to fight for jobs. Now in 2010, it’s a different world in so many ways but there’s one thing that remains as true in 2010 as it was in 1932 – the fact is if you are out of work and you want a job your mayor knows it. In 1932, mayors knew they had to confront Washington. They came here. They did it. They formed our great organization, and we’ve been here ever since. Today, President Kautz and the nation’s mayors once again rise up to bring the message to Washington that Main Street and the thousands who live in our metro areas want to get up every day and go to work.

While we have seen signs of progress toward the passage of a Senate jobs bill, President Kautz and our mayors are not taking anything for granted. She is bringing mayors back to Washington next month and the next month until Washington acts. She will need your help and from what I saw, heard, and felt at this Winter Meeting, mayors have united behind her and together we will demand and get the response and action we need for our cities and our people.

Executive Director's Column

In Trenton this week on the night of October 20, Mayor Douglas Palmer launched a historical initiative, “Trenton First.” Hundreds gathered to hear Mayor Palmer and President Clinton. Mayor Palmer’s non-profit will encourage grass roots efforts and citizen action to make Trenton a sustainable city. Mayor Palmer says that his experience with the Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Center, our USCM Climate Protection Agreement signed by over 1000 mayors, The C-40 Large Cities Summit, and the Clinton Global Initiative have all given him energy and vision to create this Trenton non-profit.

It was a special evening in Trenton to witness the trust, respect, and yes, love, that these two men have for each other. President Clinton told of how Mayor Palmer was “ahead of the curve” on a recent tour to Africa, and gave him his vision on green initiatives for Trenton. President Clinton said he would support Mayor Palmer “for the rest of my natural born days.” So that means that President Clinton for sure will, among other things, help Mayor Palmer continue to raise money for “Trenton First.” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter also joined in to come to Trenton to congratulate his neighbor Mayor Palmer on the launch of “Trenton First.” Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage along with a strong delegation of New Jersey mayors attended the ticketed event. Thousands of dollars were raised for the launch and Mayor Palmer let the crowd know that he will work on this initiative and support it for the rest of his new life, after his term ends as Trenton’s mayor next year.

We all know that Mayor Palmer has done so much to push the green agenda forward. When Congresswoman Pelosi became Speaker Pelosi, Mayor Palmer and I took his “10 Point Plan” to the Speaker. The number one priority of the “10 Point Plan” was the creation of the Energy Block Grants program, which is now a reality.

As Mayor Palmer has been active nationally, he has now transformed his vision into action and he has given to his historic city of Trenton a gift, “Trenton First,” that will be a catalyst toward a green and sustainable city.

The other thing that must be mentioned is that Mayor Palmer is providing leadership in a city like Trenton. This is not Seattle, Boulder, or Minneapolis. It is a city with diverse neighborhoods, and joblessness is a factor. It has been a challenge from day one to sell the climate change issue and saving polar bears to challenged communities with unemployment. Mayor Palmer’s creation “Trenton First” is a best practice that we hope other mayors will consider.

President Clinton said that Palmer’s “Trenton First” is historic and challenged us at the Conference of Mayors to encourage and promote this best practice to other cities who have signed on to the Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

Unemployment Up

As we learned in our recent leadership meeting in Seattle, joblessness is raging in many of our cities. As directed, we have a survey in the field to provide a national report on unemployment in cities across the Nation. We need this information and we will use it strategically as many groups are discussing among themselves and with Obama officials the need for emergency relief from the current unemployment condition in hundreds of cities. The stimulus money is out there, but unemployment continues to rise in so many areas. This is a challenge for all of us. The mayors feel and see the pain when a person loses his or her job. When members of Congress start running for re-election next year, a few months from now, they will be forced to deal with it. When incumbent Senators face re-election they will have to deal with it. Some of the mayors races now are showing visceral reaction to joblessness. Voters aren’t happy. Incumbent Members of Congress are lucky they don’t have to face voters this year. But they will soon and they will be forced to provide real jobs as 14 states have over 10 percent unemployment rate now. And if a state has a 10 percent rate, our cities unemployment rates will be much higher.

In Washington this week, Administration Officials have begun to discuss how many jobs have been created or saved under the $787 billion stimulus program. The President has a goal of creating 3.5 million by the end of this year.

And every now and then, some economists say that the current recession, the worst since the Great Depression, “is over.” Many have begun to say it’s a jobless recovery. Some say that Wall Street is recovering. But we know that Main Street is suffering. Addressing hundreds of mayors in Chicago at last month’s Illinois Municipal League meeting, Mayor Daley said that Washington keeps saying the recession has ended and then he suggested that they are drinking or smoking something in Washington when they say the recession has ended.

It’s tough for mayors right now. These are hard times. Mayors are being forced to fire and lay off people they know. It’s much more personal especially in the medium-size cities. And yet big city mayors are going through it too.

Thanks for providing us the data and information on your unemployment and local economic conditions. Together, we will continue to present your needs to the Administration and the Congress.

Executive Director's Column

Washington DC

August 4, 2009

On July 28, one month after our annual meeting, mayors were back – this time, Washington DC, the Senate side of Capitol Hill, meeting with Committee on Environment and Public Works, Chair Barbara Boxer about the Senate Climate Bill providing funds for energy block grants to cities.

USCM Vice President, Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz, Past President Mayor Douglas Palmer of Trenton, Energy Chair Mayor Miguel Pulido of Santa Anna, Mayor James Baker of Wilmington, Mayor Chris Bollwage of Elizabeth, Mayor David Cicilline of Providence, Mayor Tim McDonough of Hope, Mayor Brian Stratton of Schenectady, and Mayor Brain Wahler of Piscataway.

In meetings with Senator Boxer, she gave the mayors every reason to know that her bill will contain language in it providing a share of funds that will go directly to cities and counties with a distribution system as contained in The U.S. Conference of Mayors Energy Block Grant Program.

Mayors present in the meeting with Senator Boxer gave our organization’s pledge of support to bring mayors back to town in September. Further, mayors pledged to reach out to key Senators during the August recess. September 28 is the date Majority Leader Reid has charged all committees to be done with their final say on the historic climate legislation.

No question, the Senate floor vote will be close. We must give our total attention to the Senate Climate Bill. Senate action is a must if we are going to have our language in the bill because the House-passed climate bill does not provide direct funding to cities. The House would give billions to the states to spend on climate protection as they see fit. Today we have over 950 cities poised and ready to create green jobs and retrofit our cities to help our nation attain its climate protection goals.

Every mayor is aware of the amount of money he or she is getting under the Energy Block Grant Program as contained in the recovery act, ARRA. But ARRA is a one shot deal. We must have sustainable funding for our new energy block grants. That’s why language providing such is so important. We need your help as we go forward. The political atmosphere of Washington presents the feeling that if we do not get this climate bill now, we may never get it. Next year’s congressional elections may bring changes. We must use this moment to do everything in our power to continue our energy block grants. This bill would provide sustainable funding for forty years. We must not lose this opportunity. Stay close to us as we go forward. And plan to be with us as we call mayors, at the request of Senator Boxer, to come to Washington in September to continue our efforts as we head for a floor vote in the Senate this Fall.

The National Urban League

President and CEO Morial and President Nickels

National Urban League President and C.E.O. Marc Morial provided strong leadership at the 99th Annual National Urban League in Chicago this past week. Conference President Greg Nickels gave a powerful speech to thousands assembled. President Nickels echoed his inaugural remarks last month in Providence as he continues to call for a new deal for cities in America. With great credibility having founded our USCM Climate Protection movement, Nickels urges the Senate to pass the Climate Bill and he urges that provisions for our energy block grants be contained in the Senate Bill.

Following his major address, I had the opportunity to participate in a green jobs panel sponsored by Wal-Mart during the sessions in Chicago.

The meeting ended with a black-tie gala honoring among others, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

Marc Morial, President and C.E.O. of The National Urban League continues to push his organization in partnership with ours. The history of The National Urban League and The United States Conference of Mayors is strong and deep. Today, it is important we have a former mayor and President of The Conference of Mayors running the organization. Marc Morial doesn’t forget where his father came from. Both his father Ernest “Dutch” and Marc Morial were outstanding Presidents during some perilous times of The U.S. Conference of Mayors. Today, Marc Morial continues to manifest bold leadership. And together The National Urban League and The U.S. Conference of Mayors will be a strong coalition for a new metro/urban policy for our future. The stars are lined up. Leadership, bold leadership, will be needed if we are to enact and transform the current status quo funding mechanisms that ignore the strength of our metro economies. We will continue to strengthen this partnership and to work in a collaborative political effort as we work to streamline the federal/city funding mechanisms into a more efficient way of keeping our metro-economies strong.

Thank your Marc. Thank you Rhonda Spears Bell. A great meeting – and we look forward to the 100th Centennial Celebration of The National Urban League next July right here in Washington, DC.

Happy Birthday Mayor Goodman

On Friday July 31st Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, “The Happiest Mayor in the Universe” celebrated his 70th Birthday. Las Vegas turned out to pay tribute to the Mayor at the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas in Las Vegas style. Mayors from all over had sent letters, emails, and cards. It was a birthday event that raised money for charities that will long be remembered. We salute Mayor Goodman and First Lady Carolyn. We thank him for his leadership and his personal contribution to our United States Conference of Mayors. From the nation’s mayors and our Conference staff team we say – Happy Birthday to Oscar Goodman, The Happiest Mayor in the Universe!

Executive Director's Column

Energy Block Grants Deadline June 25, Get on it! - New Stimulus Money
June 25 is the deadline for applications for mayors and their cities to apply for the funds that have been approved for your city. While the Department of Energy is sending out notices and we have published the city allocations in U.S. Mayor, recent inquiries and reports cause me concern that mayors and cities might not be aware of this new $2.6 billion Energy Block Grant that we fought for, and won, to be included in the $787 billion stimulus bill passed by Congress.
I recognize you are getting a number of emails each week. Still, I call your immediate attention to the application deadline of June 25 for the Energy Block Grant funds that are provided to you as a result of our efforts.

For further information about the application process please contact Debra DeHaney-Howard at ddehaney@usmayors.org or 202.861.6702.

New Jersey – Environmental Leadership
At the annual New Jersey Conference of Mayors luncheon on April 30, I addressed the mayors following New Jersey Governor Corazine’s remarks. Governor Corazine is going through hell with budget issues and he does his best telling his mayors that they will survive the economic pains suffered by all. Governor Corazine reminded the 400 assembled that the largest solar powered building in the United States is in Atlantic City. As he spoke I came afterwards with observations about New Jersey sparked by the Governor’s comment.
New Jersey, to the average person, isn’t exactly perceived to be one of the greenest states in the Union. But so much comes from the state with environmental leadership and stewardship of our planet.

The “brownfield” movement we started with the Clinton Administration and reached its success when New Jersey Governor Christie Todd-Whitman joined with other Republicans to get support to sign the brownfields bill in 2001. The mayor who led us in the beginning and continues to lead was Elizabeth, New Jersey Mayor Christopher Bollwage.

When Trenton, New Jersey Mayor Doug Palmer became our President, he developed, with our help, the “Mayors 10 Point Plan.” Again a New Jersey leader, Mayor Palmer, led the way. Palmer made the Energy Block Grant the number one issue as he bonded and partnered with Speaker Pelosi and we prevailed with a lot of hard work from many, authoring the $2 billion Energy Block Grant Program.

It was New Jersey again who responded when Mayor Palmer worked with Senator Bob Menendez to be our champion for the new Energy Block Grants with in the Senate Energy Committee and to all members. New Jersey also gave us Mayor Frank Lautenberg who helped with the appropriations process.

Our relationship with the New Jersey Conference of Mayors continues, and every time I turn around I find new environmental leadership from New Jersey.

Most recently, our friend Lisa Jackson was named by President Obama to head the Environmental Protection Agency. She’s New Jersey too, having served as the state’s EPA Director.

Piscataway Mayor Brian Wahler, our Membership Chair, was elected President of the New Jersey Conference of Mayors. And our great friend Hope, New Jersey Mayor Tim McDonough heads the New Jersey League of Cities.

The passage of the Energy Block Grant would not have been possible with out the leadership of New Jersey. We thank them for their vision, their leadership and we will stay close and take care of these special relationships – so important for the fight that looms to continue the Energy Block Grant funding when the stimulus money runs out.

Disarmament – 2020 Abolition Nuclear Weapons
In New York at The United Nations this week, we were fortunate to have two outstanding mayors, Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic and Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie, along with Hiroshima Mayor Akiba to continue to join with other mayors from across the globe as mayors throughout the world pressure their Presidents, Prime Ministers and Heads of State to abolish all nuclear weapons by 2020. Mayors were there from many countries around the globe.
Survivors of the Hiroshima bombing of 1945 spoke. We are reminded that bombs are dropped on cities to kill millions. Dropping bombs in the rural areas is a waste of ammunition. People who lived through the atomic bombs we dropped on Hiroshima are reminders. They usually start off talking about what they were doing on the August 6, morning at 8:15 a.m. It is usually a city activity.

The simple message in New York at the Mayors for Peace meeting is that we need to abolish all nuclear weapons so that the USA or other countries won’t drop them on cities anywhere in the world.

Mayor Plusquellic is Vice Chair of Mayors for Peace. The organization will be with us in Providence along with Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, Chair of Mayors for Peace. Other Mayors for Peace meetings are planned and we will continue to be present. We have strong policy supporting these activities adopted in Los Angeles at our 75th Meeting.

Obesity – Healthy Cities
In Washington this week, I had the privilege of sitting with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation President and CEO, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey at a special dinner honoring mayors and local officials. Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey was the keynoter and she told all of us that the leadership against obesity among U.S. adults and children is today in our cities and counties in America. While we have the most obese adults and children in the world, it is a fact that our children are taking in fewer calories than just a few years ago. She makes a strong point about the grocery stores in our cities. In D.C. she goes neighborhood by neighborhood citing high numbers of grocery stores in the wealthy areas and still just one in the lowest income neighborhood. With no grocery stores, that means high calories and nutritionless food in other places of businesses other than grocery stores with fish, vegetables, and fruit. We are lucky to have such a leader as Dr. Lavizzo-Mourey who understands what our cities and our mayors are doing today. We thank her and what she and her foundation is doing to provide us the opportunity to lead the nation in our continuing struggle against the obesity epidemic in our nation.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Columbia Mayor Darwin Hindman received national awards for their efforts. Conference Vice President Elizabeth Kautz presented the award to Mayor Newsom.

Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett addressed the group too. He is internationally recognized for putting Oklahoma City on the path to overall weight loss and preventive health care.

Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp died this week. He was THE compassionate conservative. He liked mayors. He was most comfortable with all Americans. He firmly believed that every American should have an opportunity to be a part of the American dream. When he came to speak to us so many times you could feel that he was happy to be there. He wanted to be there. And he was like Hubert Humphrey, a happy warrior in politics. I recall one night flying back from Africa with him and Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. We laughed and traded stories. And we traded ideas. Some were lost in the evening and some became reality. He was a Republican who loved cities and our people. Today the Republican Party needs ideas and something to be happy about. His obituaries come as Governor Jeb Bush and others start a listening tour to build a new Republican party. Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough has come out with a book. Too bad Kemp is not here. He would add so much, they need more than Rush Limbaugh. Jack Kemp did his part; he gave new bold ideas for his party and he was the true compassionate conservative of this nation. We need more like him.

Jack Maltester – Our 27th President
Former San Leandro President Jack Maltester died last Friday. He was my first USCM President 1969-70. That was 40 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday. He was an ardent Jack Kennedy Democrat and yet he knew how to work both sides of the aisle. Early on in the Nixon transition period he was leading the way to support the original CDBG program, the establishment of EPA, General Revenue Sharing and CETA programs. There were billions of dollars being infused directly into cities, which surpasses even the direct funding amounts we have today with the current stimulus.

The Vietnam War in 1971 had divided the nation to abject hostility that produced thousands of people in the streets of American cities on a regular basis. It was the small town mayor from San Leandro who brought a resolution to our 1971 Philadelphia meeting calling for President Nixon to withdraw troops in Vietnam. The resolution failed on a first vote in the USCM Resolutions Committee. He immediately chided the big city mayors and called them out in public. It was a defining moment of leadership I’ll never forget. He then, after his passionate speech, called for a revote and the resolution passed the Resolution Committee. The next day the body of mayors stood with him, including Mayor Richard J. Daley, and for the first time in history the nation’s mayors had voted against their President’s decision and a war. This was all pre-Watergate. President Nixon was strong. Maltester stood up and again the leadership of a smaller city mayor helped turn the nation around. Forty years later we still have scars from what the Vietnam War has done to our country. Healing began though, and Maltester’s leadership helped start it by what he did that June day in 1971 at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia.

Mayor Maltester’s memorial services will be on May 16, in the City Hall of San Leandro. I will be there representing you as his city and all of us say goodbye to a great mayor and a true leader as President of the Conference of Mayors.

Providence - 77th Annual Meeting, June 12-16
Register now. Providence, Rhode Island is the place you need to be as we move the resources and personnel of the Obama administration to Mayor David Cicilline’s City of Providence.

Contact Carol Edwards now 202-861-747 or cedwards@usmayors.org.

Executive Director's Column

April is the month in poetry and literature that is about life, green trees, grass and buds flourishing, starting anew after long dark cold winters.

Green too, is the word we use for Earth Day/week and the “green” things we do to protect our environment and our globe, not just this one week, but every week.

April, in recent years, brings the color red. Red for the blood of our men, women, and –yes– innocent children that comes out of their bodies as they are shot by automatic AK47 and other weapons. Violence in America seems to raise its ugly head of death even higher in April.

It was on April 4th 1968 that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot in Memphis. Five days later on April 9th we walked behind the mule drawn casket all the way from Ebenezer Church to Morehouse College where Dr. Benjamin Mays said those beautiful words. I sat under a tree with Marlon Brando and Nina Simone.

It was the pretty month of April 1993 when the 80 people, 21 of them children, were massacred in Waco, Texas.

It was April 19th 1995, people were killed after a truck, parked outside the Murray Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City containing 5,000 pounds of fertilizer, ammonium nitrate, was ignited with a fuse. The driver locked the keys inside, lit the fuse and walked away and started to jog. At 9:02 am the entire north face of the building was reduced to dust and rubble. People were there ready to work; children had been dropped off at the day care center. 168 people were killed on the beautiful April day, including 19 beautiful and innocent children.

It was on April 20th 1999, a beautiful day in Colorado, that two students with high-powered firearms embarked on a massacre mission at Columbine High School and killed 12 students, one teacher and significantly wounded 23 others before committing suicide. Following this tragic event on that beautiful day, only the fourth deadliest school massacre in the USA, there was indeed, at least, national conversation. Denver Mayor Wellington Webb was our President; he asked Charlton Heston, the great actor turned gun fanatic, not to come to the National Rifle Association (NRA) meeting in Denver where Heston would raise his rifle over his head. We designed a portable “Wall of Death” like the Vietnam Wall depicting names of victims in 100 cities that were killed by gun violence in America during the year after Columbine. It got attention. It was displayed on the Washington Mall, the Denver City-County Building and at the Stapleton Convention Center in Los Angeles. It all started on an April day in Littleton, Colorado. The conversation lasted for a few months. They even developed and marketed a deadly video game which delves into the beautiful morning of April 20, 1999 and asks for players to relive that day through the eyes of Eric and Dylan the kids that used the deadly weapons, kept in the bedrooms of their homes, as they came to and fro attired in long black coats, and then used the weapons to kill those beautiful children on that beautiful April day in Rocky Mountain high blue sky Colorado in 1999.

It was on another day in April, on the 16th in 2007, at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia that the deadliest single gunman peacetime shooting occurred anywhere in our history. The killer had had some mental challenges before he hit the Hokie campus; he was treated for severe anxiety disorder in middle school, received therapy through high school. While in college he was accused of stalking two women students and was declared mentally ill by a Virginia Special Justice. But with his mental issues he purchased a 22 caliber automatic handgun and a 9mm semi automatic Glock 19 handgun. Hundreds of rounds were fired; hundreds of live rounds were found. Thirty-two people were killed that day; many others were wounded and the killer also killed himself. That was April just two years ago.

The violent springtime blood of 2009 started a little early this year. Even before the beautiful month of April, ten innocent people in a church worshiping God and a preacher were killed in Samson, Alabama on March 10. Four police officers were killed in Oakland, eight nursing home residents were shot to death in Carthage, North Carolina, five family members were killed in Santa Clara, California. On April 3, thirteen people teaching and learning to be American citizens were killed in Binghamton, New York. In Graham, Washington five children were killed on April 4, and on the same day of April 4, three police officers were killed in Pittsburgh. And in Miami over the last few weeks twelve members of three families were killed.

This past week in Frederick, a Maryland father shot his wife, his three children, ages five, four, and two. The father, using a small caliber gun, shot the older children, ages five and four, multiple times in their heads; the youngest, age two, received only one shot to the head. After the father shot and killed the children, the Sheriff said the father nearly decapitated the children, cutting their heads almost off with a kitchen knife and pruning saw. Then the father killed himself with a shotgun.

We have a few more days left in April. There will be more. These killings haven’t received the media attention that was given to previous Aprils. There’s a silence about it in 2009. Conference President Miami Mayor Manny Diaz has issued a strong statement urging congress and the White House to act. They could begin by banning the sale of AK47 automatic weapons. Police Chiefs and border patrolmen will tell you that the open sale of these weapons provokes more killing and violence.

The “elephant” in the room is the NRA, the National Rifle Association. You have to admire Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell. This past weekend he hit the tv talk shows calling for a number of actions from Congress that would help save lives and prevent violence.

It is interesting how contaminated peanut butter gets so much media attention. Two people woke up in California and had stomach cramps and the salmonella scare kept contaminated peanut butter on the radar news screen for months. Paul Helmke, President and CEO of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, former Ft. Wayne Mayor, and former USCM President talks about the news coverage the peanut butter scare has received as compared to the death by guns this spring. Then after the peanut butter scare we read about contaminated pistachio nuts and the dangerous threat contaminated pistachios pose to the lives of Americans.

Mass murders continue this April. The death by guns and violence continues. You have to wonder what it will take to get, at least, some movement on this issue. Maybe it will be more deaths. Aprils are tough for America. Nothing has changed. We had hoped for a little more from Congress, The White House, The Justice Department and the media. Mayors and Police Chiefs speak out, funerals and tributes where flags are folded and given to widows and widowers of police officers and multiple caskets of innocent men, women and children are on display. We see them, we count them, wondering when it will stop. While there is the strange silence, the red blood of America flows due to devastation of death and violence in this April of 2009. There are some common sense gun safety things we can do. But right now even though violence came a little earlier this Spring, and the deaths come stronger than ever, in so many places, Washington is asleep. Washington is deaf to the gunshots. Washington is in denial of the deaths that will continue to come when today so many guns, illegal or legal, are in the hands of youths, the mentally ill, and criminals in America.

Happy Earth Day 2009!

Executive Director's Column

This week mayors met with Education Secretary Arne Duncan. He is a different kind of Education Secretary. He is refreshing in the way he is so fiercely honest about his feelings about mayors being in control of their public schools.

He is very much aware of the challenges some mayors face with a challenged school boards, drop'out rates, demands from unions and state bureaucracies.

He is offering to come out in our cities to help mayors involve their governors to help them with the billions of stimulus dollars that have been sent out to the states for education purposes. During the discussions with him, the mayors’ questions are raised, questions about the new “Race To The Top” initiative. Mayors are learning that there may be no funds from this stimulus program that goes directly to cities or school districts. Secretary Duncan reassures them that applications from states that do not include funding and inclusion of city schools will be rejected. He also offers some hope when the word waiver is mentioned.

In the private meeting, Secretary Duncan wants to know how he can help the mayors. He recalls that former Department of Education calls to his office in Chicago were usually not to assist, but to discuss audits etc. You leave the closed meeting believing that this guy is hell bent to reform the public schools of America. He believes in mayors and is convinced we can do USA school reform with mayors in control.

He comes from the Daley School. We remember like yesterday when Chicago Mayor Daley called me, and all the mayors, to want time at our national meetings to discuss school reform and to promote more mayoral involvement. Mayor Daley was our “biblical” Moses on this issue in that he led the way and nothing would stop him from working night and day to get to the promised land of school reform in the great city, Chicago.

At that time the Chicago public schools were in shambles, the state legislature turned the schools over to Mayor Daley – getting rid of what they thought to be a hot potato. They passed it on over from Springfield and served it up to Chicago. And that’s exactly what Mayor Daley wanted. It was through his sheer determination and laser vision that the Chicago schools were transformed into the example they are today.

After our private meeting this week where Secretary Duncan was quite honest about his position, he spoke openly on the subject in our U.S. Conference of Mayors National Education Forum. With national press attending, he was just as fierce. He reminded me so much of Mayor Daley himself as he spoke on the necessity for mayors to wade in and provide courage and leadership for school reform.

Secretary Duncan is refreshing in this town of Washington. So many are careful about what they say about this or that. It is rare that a Secretary will put his whole career on the line because he knows and believes that true school reform will not happen unless mayors get out there to lead the way in their cities. As Mayor Daley put his political life on the line for school reform, so is Secretary Duncan. And you want him to get it done nationally as Mayor Daley did in Chicago. Secretary Duncan is giving the mayors the commitment that he will be there for them as he encourages them to have political will, political courage, and political leadership on school reform to produce American high school graduates who will be equipped to compete with others across the globe.

This week with Secretary Duncan, we begin a new day, a new year for school reform. He came to us. He is saying to us, “You must do this. I want to help you.” Public schools now move higher on our priority list as we all have something to win because when its all said and done, its about the children, the students who will become the men and women who will make our country what it is to be.

Mayors need to understand that because of the Secretary’s position, the mayors now have a reason to call their school boards and to work together with them to get new money for school reform in their cities from the states. Duncan says he is not approving state plans without innovative city initiatives. We thank Secretary Duncan for his blatant honesty and his determination. We thank him for committing himself as mayors move forward to follow this man who has done it in Chicago – for Chicago’s kids, and now wants to do it in America – for America’s kids.

Energy Block Grants

The Department of Energy announced the city allocations for our new Energy Block Grants and mayors are most pleased with these allocations. We must remember they would not have this money had it not been for the leadership and tenacity of the mayors and staff of The United States Conference of Mayors.

Yesterday, I did a live webcast with Mr. Gil Sperling of the Energy Department. Hundreds of questions came in from all over the nation and Mr. Sperling did an excellent job of answering the many questions that were asked.

We appreciate the new relationship we have with the Department of Energy and we pledge to continue to work with them in a trusting relationship to give us the flexibility we need to develop our Energy Block Grants to truly meet local needs.

USMAYORS.org – Your home in the sky!

Please watch our website, usmayors.org to get updates and the very latest on our new Energy Block grants as well as all of the very latest information on the many streams of funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). If you have any questions or if I can be of assistance to you, please let me know. Again, thanks for your personal contributions and leadership in making the needed energy block grants that must be continued when ARRA expires. We will spend the money wisely. We will have best practices with measurable and positive results. And we will be successful to continue those block grants to meet the goals of our Mayors’ Climate Protection Agreement, now signed by 935 mayors.

Diaz Blasts Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal for Recent Statement on the Arts

Governor Bobby Jindal had the audacity to say in recent states that arts federal funds have nothing to do with stimulating the national economy. Conference President Diaz has responded. See article.

Click to read article.

WSJ: States, Cities in Tug-of-War Over Stimulus Funds

I am attaching for all mayors article from Wall Street Journal sent to my attention for all of you from Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, Vice President of The US Conference of Mayors.

Click to read the article.