Executive Director's Column

Following a most successful Annual Meeting in Oklahoma City, Conference President Elizabeth Kautz led a special mission of our mayors to New Orleans where Mayor Mitch Landrieu did a masterful job in showing and educating our members and staff on the ramifications of the BP oil gusher.
This was not a meeting where we sat in a hotel meeting and watched another power point presentation. We woke up early, put our "mud boots" on and headed to the Coast Guard Center in Lafitte, Louisiana, where Lafitte Mayor Tim Kerner and Incident U.S. Coast Guard Commander Captain Roger Laferriere gave a most informative briefing. Then after a short, graphic, and succinct briefing, we boarded boats and spent over three hours, visiting with fishermen, witnessing the oil in the marshes and learning so much about the culture and symbiotic relationship of the oil industry and the fishing industry.
No doubt, the people of the Louisiana marshland are in a fight for their way of life. For decades, family members have been employed in both the fishing and oil industry. Today, we see shrimp boats full of long coils of white absorbing boom, which is made of a substance very much like disposable baby diapers and is used as a floating barrier to stop the floating oil through absorption. It is not totally effective due to waves and currents, but it is effective to reduce some of the damage to this precious ecosystem, the marshland of Louisiana.
One reads; one watches TV; but when Mayor Mitch Landrieu takes you for a three-hour tour in the hot sun of the Louisiana marshland and he leads Lafitte Mayor Tim Kerner and the Coast Guard officials to discuss this challenge in "English" or street language — in less technical and more practical terms — we learned so much.
We learned that each day, Louisiana loses 100 yards every thirty minutes, that's as long as a football field of marshland through natural erosion. We also learned that the energy producing Gulf States get a very small amount, five per cent, of the oil revenues paid by the energy companies to the federal government. Other states receive 50 cents on the dollar for their natural resources, such as timber and coal. Senator Mary Landrieu has championed and Congress has passed fair share legislation, which will increase the amount to at least 37.5 percent. The legislation is passed and will be effective 2017. Conference President Kautz announced we will be supporting the fair share legislation to accelerate the effective date to 2010.
Houston Mayor Annise Parker reminds us on this mission that the moratorium on oil drilling needs to be re-examined and we should not "throw out the baby with the bath water." Mayor Landrieu and President Kautz have echoed their concern, both pointing to not just the economies of Texas and Louisiana, but indeed to the consequences that affects our national economy. These mayors support safety and smart drilling as they ask the federal government to consider the economic consequences during this national economic downturn.
Another issue is the misunderstanding in some areas of the nation that the Louisiana seafood is contaminated. Philadelphia Mayor Mike Nutter indicated that he had been in Philadelphia restaurants and people were asking where the seafood came from, insinuating that the seafood is contaminated. We learned that this is a myth and another horror story that has been carried forth by the media devoid of facts. President Kautz told local and national reporters of the seafood she had been eating since her arrival and all mayors ate seafood in the Bon Ton restaurant on Magazine Street with the press observing on our last stop of a long day fact-finding mission.
In Oklahoma City at our Annual Meeting, mayors of the Gulf Region, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, came together in private and public meetings to forge a resolution with six major demands. In addition, President Kautz announced our support of Senator Mary Landrieu's "fair share" legislation.
Armed with policy adopted in Oklahoma City at our 78th Annual Meeting and positions taken in New Orleans, The United States Conference of Mayors through our members and staff will go forth to use the power of our organization to meet the challenges the Gulf mayors and their people face. This is a national challenge. This is a defining moment of The United States Conference of Mayors. We thank all the mayors who came with us — from California, from Massachusetts, from Pennsylvania, from Texas, from Florida, from Mississippi, from Alabama and from Louisiana. And we thank Don Borut and his team and Mr. George Kevis, Director of the Mississippi League of Cities for their presence.
Together, we will continue with Congress, the Administration and BP to be an advocate for the mayors, their cities and people in support of our adopted policy and position.
President Kautz has assured all members that she will continue to follow through in a sustainable way to lead the nation's mayors in this effort. This, no doubt, will be a long haul and we are now in it for the long tough ride ahead.
Oklahoma City — Our 78thAll mayors attending our 78th Annual Meeting in Oklahoma City are most appreciated. President Kautz has indicated that in these tough economic times, it is much harder for mayors to travel to meetings outside their home cities, but she believes — and you do too — that our meetings are meaningful and productive and it is most important for us to come together in a united front to represent cities as the mayors have done for 78 years through this great organization.
Thank you, Mayor Mick Cornett and your team, for all you did to make our 78th one we-ll never forget. Oklahoma City is a remarkable city in that if you run for elective office there you must show and prove that your main interest is Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City and Oklahoma City. The mayors over the last 50 years have set that standard. This spirit was manifested in a special session during our Annual Meeting of three former mayors — Andy Coats, Ron Norick, Kirk Humphreys and our current mayor, Mick Cornett. The unity, the seamless dedication to their city is the reason Oklahoma City is where it is now and where it is going as a major metropolitan city of our nation and our globe.
Many mayors came to Oklahoma City, having never been. Hearing these mayors gave them a sense of renewed public service. It was a gift of which we can all be proud.
Again, thanks to all the mayors who came to Oklahoma City. As we go forward, President Kautz will need your support, and I know we can count on you in the days ahead. Thanks for your continued support and membership. If I can be of any service to you, please let me know.