Executive Director's Column

At our Fall Leadership Meeting, Conference President Elizabeth Kautz launched a 50'state campaign to retain our current member mayors and to recruit non-member mayors.
Membership Chair Brian Wahler of Piscataway is leading the implementation of 50 mayor/USCM staff teams engaged in our effort. My staff will work with our Board Member Mayors in each of their respective states. Our primary goal is to bring more non-members than ever to our Winter Meeting here in Washington, January 19 to 21, 2011. Many mayors and staff concur that if mayors come to our Annual and Winter Meetings, they will give us the opportunity to discuss the benefits of our organization and they will return. Our strategy is quite transparent. We want all eligible mayors to be active as dues-paying members in our organization.
Last month, President Kautz and I, along with our USCM California staff team went to the 2010 League of California Cities Annual Conference and Expo in San Diego. We set up our booth. There was great interest. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders and USCM Trustee Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster joined with President Kautz to host a membership reception. We were also joined by former Long Beach Mayor and past USCM President Beverly O'Neill. Each mayor told the story of why he or she belonged to our organization, and we followed up with those mayors who came to our event. We are currently designing a sustainable effort as we recruit a diverse and large number of non-member mayors in California.
Last week, Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch hosted a dinner with me and Connecticut mayors for the purpose of talking membership to a number of non-member mayors of Connecticut. The dinner meeting took place on the eve of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities Annual Convention. Several mayors expressed a strong interest in joining the Conference. We thank Mayor Finch for his continued leadership. During the CCM meeting, we had an opportunity to hear the debate sponsored by that organization between Republican nominee Tom Foley and Democratic nominee Stamford Mayor Dan Malloy.
Next week, we will have a team of mayors and Conference staff going to Corpus Christi, TX - the site of the Texas Municipal League Annual Conference. Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck is working with us as we reach out and show Texas mayors how they are needed to join our organization and strengthen their voice in Washington to benefit their cities.
Other meetings will be scheduled in other states. USCM staff is charged to set up conference calls with leadership mayors in each state. We know that the best sales pitch for membership in our organization is the mayor-to-mayor approach. Mayors active within the Conference are absolutely the best when they are asked why they are active members of USCM.
This week, a letter goes out to non-member mayors with a special invitation to attend our 79th Washington Winter Meeting. We believe that when given the opportunity, mayors and Conference staff can show in a convincing manner why it is essential for all cities to participate as dues-paying members of The United States Conference of Mayors.
The response has been terrific at this stage of our campaign. We thank the mayors who have helped us in three states. We look forward to the next few weeks as others join us to get more mayors to come to Washington for another dynamic Winter Meeting January 19 to 21, 2011. Together we will work in these challenging economic times to strengthen our organization, keeping our membership strong and active. Together, mayors working within The United States Conference of Mayors will make their cities stronger and better places for people to live and to work in cities large and small throughout our nation.
For more information on how you can help and benefit, please contact Debra DeHaney-Howard atddehaney@usmayors.org or 202-861-6702.
Again, on behalf of President Kautz, I thank you for your continued support as we work together for a stronger United States Conference of Mayors.

Executive Director's Column

Fifty mayors came to town last week for our Fall Leadership Meeting. Overhanging this special leadership meeting are the midterm elections. At issue is whether the mayors and our cities will lose Congressional support for our very much needed Community Development Block Grant program and the continued funding for our new Energy Block Grants that we fought for and won during the national debate and passage of ARRA, the national stimulus legislation.
We opened up our meeting with a special thank you to our mayors assembled from our President, Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz. President Kautz lost her husband on September 1st and she wanted to let all know how much the letters, e'mails, and telephone calls provided her support and spiritual sustenance during her husband David’s fight against terminal cancer.
President Kautz then gave the floor to national pollster John Zogby, and for the next two hours, there was brilliant discussion that took place between Mr. Zogby and our leadership mayors assembled. The issues of discussion went further than congressional attitude of our mayoral priorities, Mr. Zogby gave us an overview of the present political situation we live with, the anger and frustration of the American people at this time. He focused on how damaging the Tea Party is to traditional Republicans – probably more so than Democrats.
Mr. Zogby spent time discussing how President Obama’s numbers are down and he cautioned that at this point in President Reagan’s career, the Obama and Reagan numbers are about the same.
Of course the question everybody is asking is: will the House flip? Will we have a Republican controlled House? And Mr. Zogby was reluctant to give us a flat out prediction. He says there are still enough voters out there who are undecided, who have not made up their mind. People are confused. They see billions going to bail out Wall Street and the banks. But they haven’t seen much difference on their own Main Streets and with the jobless rate still high in many areas there are a lot of people who may want a different kind of leadership to take us in a different direction.
Mayors have been saying it: jobs, jobs, jobs, ever since we hit this deep national recession. We all spent a lot of time on health care and people don’t feel the benefits yet, especially with so many in our cities out of work due to layoffs.
We know it was unfortunate that so much of the stimulus money did not come directly to cities where thousands of our unemployed live. So many have not witnessed, seen, or felt our stimulus money at work. And so many of our small businesses have not been able to get access to credit. All believe that things will be better. But most of our mayors believe we should look at how the money was distributed when we consider the new multi'billion dollar transportation bill hopefully next year.
Secretary Ray LaHood is the most optimistic about our future. His voice heightens when he almost shouts out, “High speed rail is coming to America!” Mayors are enthusiastic to have a Secretary supporting a new way. He mentions the TIGER grants that have been great for those cities that have received grants from this popular competitive program.
Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed stressed the mayors’ position that we believe President Obama should have his own transportation bill with more specific language. The concern is that the Administration will outline “principles” for a new transportation system and then throw it to the wolves on Capitol Hill to devour and continue to spend billions on an antiquated system that is devoid and bereft of modern systems that will rid us of traffic congestion in our daily lives. Traffic hits the metro areas of America, large and small ' every day. It is not an urban problem. It is a metro city/suburban crisis that brings cities and urban counties closer together for a common need for their people.
Mayors will still ask President Obama to arm Secretary LaHood with his own language, his own transportation bill. We need it today with this Congress and we will need it even more with the possibility of a loss of some support we may have in certain areas after midterm elections.
The mayors appreciate Secretary LaHood always coming and being straight up with them. We are pleased with the way he has pushed the Washington needle of transportation funds more towards metro areas and we will be there to support him and the Administration direction to modernize our present outmoded traffic'ridden transportation system.
As to the question of funding of our energy block grants, we are most appreciative of Philadelphia Representative Chaka Fattah’s leadership. And we all acknowledge that the Department of Energy was given our block grants to implement in quite a different culture and legal situation regarding procurement than HUD. The stimulus grants are finally spending at a much higher rate. Still, the Administration has not assured us that money for the energy block grants will be in the President’s upcoming budget request to be released in February. We will seek additional meetings with the Administration to secure future funding for our energy block grants. And we will work with Congressman Fattah and others to help us with support in the appropriation process as Congress adjusts the President’s budget to meet their priorities.
Polls show there is still favorable support for climate change legislation, especially when it is tied to the new economy and new green jobs. We are trying to convince Congress and the Administration that until we do have comprehensive climate change legislation, our energy block grants are even more essential for green job development and our metro economies. So we have strong arguments in this area and mayors will be there to make them.
We are having challenges with EPA on two fronts – the determination of dioxin levels and combined sewer overflow mandates.
Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwage reported to our leadership meeting discussions he had with EPA and OMB. We appreciate Mayor Bollwage’s continued leadership on this issue.
The other issue, combined sewer overflow mandates, has been previously handled by our Water Council and our Leadership has taken the position, as articulated by President Kautz and others, that this issue must be brought out more to our Executive Committee and our Standing Committee on the Environment. Former Conference President Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic is most forceful on this issue and he can make the case that cities are being forced to waste millions of local taxpayers money due to the continued position of EPA on this matter.
The mayors will continue to work with the Administration and EPA for a more practical, yet safe, way to meet the concerns of all.
We had a most unfortunate discussion from a senior HUD official who expressed “ambivalence” over our flagship federal program, CDBG. When I asked him to clarify his position, he repeated in the same vein, and it causes the mayors to be stirred in a way that I have not witnessed in recent times. There was an awakening among the mayors that the Administration might be wavering in their support of CDBG. Since 1974, our program has flourished and it is an essential part of our cities economic structure today. Early in the ARRA stimulus process, mayors were asking for $8 billion of the $784 billion to be passed through to cities. We were not successful to get White House and Congressional support for additional CDBG funds at that time. Some reports inside the Senate deliberations indicated there was waning support for CDBG coming from the Administration. Secretary Donovan supports CDBG and his record proves it. President Obama said to the mayors when he addressed our 2008 Annual Convention in Miami that he supports full funding of CDBG. That is why it is unfortunate that a senior HUD official would speak as a representative of the Administration that he is “ambivalent.” In today’s political turmoil of Washington, ambivalence doesn’t do it. We need passion. We have it with the mayors. It came out and spread throughout the room like a western wild fire. President Kautz and leadership mayors are seeking a meeting with Secretary Donovan to clarify this issue and other priority issues and to also thank him for his leadership and friendship to American cities.
As we end our Fall Leadership Meeting, we face the mid'term elections. Mayors wait, as we have done before, to assess where we are with the changes the American people will send us. We are and will be agile and mobile, determined more than ever, as we have proved, that wherever America is going, it is the metro economies, the innovations, the cultural diversity, and the regained economic strength of our metro areas that will lead the way.
President Kautz has said that we must be prepared for any and all changes that the mid'term elections bring to us. Based on what I saw, felt, and heard this past week mayors are fired up more than ever and they will follow her to help us do everything we can every day to make our cities better and stronger for our people.
As we move toward the end of the year, our plans are already under way for our Winter Meeting here in D.C. President Kautz launched, along with Membership Chair Mayor Brian Wahler, a 50'state membership committee to retain and recruit major members of the Conference of Mayors. Her campaign was overwhelmingly accepted and mayors pledged a new kind of leadership and energy to help us with our membership efforts. It is most encouraging and we will need your help as state mayors/staff teams are established for our membership campaign. Our number one goal is to bring non'member mayors to the Winter Meeting in January. Thanks to all mayors who are helping us with our membership efforts. We need you.
During our 2011 meeting, here in D.C., January 20, 2011 marks the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy. I am pleased to announce that Tom McClimon and I met earlier this week in New York with his daughter, Caroline and her Husband, Ed Schlossberg. Ms. Kennedy will come to our Winter Meeting to commemorate and help us launch a special initiative involving mayors and youth with mayoral visits to schools asking our youth for more civic engagement. In addition to her presentation at our Winter Meeting, she will go to Capitol Hill and President Kennedy’s speech will be read aloud by several notables in a special ceremony. There are other events too and we will inform you of this very positive development as we mark the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy who changed the lives of many of us by putting us on a course of lifelong public service and who still inspires millions of Americans today. We thank Ms. Kennedy for being with us in January and we welcome her asking the mayors to strengthen the civic engagement of our youth which is so very much needed today in cities, large and small, throughout America.