Washington, DC
July 1, 2011
Thank you Baltimore! Thank you Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and all of your team, for all of us to say, “oh yes we did see” the new Baltimore, a city rich in history, with a future ever so bright.
Domestic infrastructure investments producing jobs for our cities seemed to be the big issue at our 79th Annual Meeting.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel came to us with his proposal for a new infrastructure bank and he is already working with Members of Congress to produce legislation creating the infrastructure bank. Mayor Emanuel’s speech was well received and mayors will support the Emanuel initiative within our Conference of Mayors. We welcomed him with open arms and we are pleased that he will be working with us as we go forward.
Governor (Mayor) Martin O'Malley welcomed the mayors to Maryland and continues to talk about the job he misses. He is doing a great job as Governor and he reported on Saturday morning successes before going to the Eastern Shore for an event. In the evening he returned, leading his band, O'Malley's March, with Irish rock and traditional music, and receiving a cheering response from all at Fort McHenry.
Immediate Past-President Elizabeth Kautz again pushes the city-business partnerships we must have to produce new jobs. At our Winter Meeting she had the CEOs of large corporations before us. In Baltimore, she led a group of CEOs along with Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and our partner George Cloutier of American Management Services, to give us the best practices of how to support small business within our cities. We thank Mayor Kautz for her leadership and look forward to her continued work in this area.
Mayors debated the resolution calling for an end to the Afghanistan War, where we are spending $2.1 Million a minute. The nation’s mayors were totally supportive of and thankful for the brave men and women who serve. The nation’s building of other countries has little support today within America. In all regions our infrastructure is in bad shape and unemployment continues to be way too high across America. Mayors are saying that the monies being spent in Afghanistan should be brought home and dedicated to infrastructure development and jobs for rebuilding our own nation.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in his inaugural address, called on Washington to understand how important our metro economies are to keeping our national economy strong. He was eloquent in going through a comparison of how the LA metro economy is stronger than some nations and many USA states. His speech was well received by all mayors as he becomes our 69th President of The United States Conference of Mayors.
Congratulations to our other two new top officers, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, Vice President and Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, Second Vice President.
President Villaraigosa has called for a Conference of Mayors Leadership Meeting in Los Angeles, July 21 - 23. Look for a letter from President Villaraigosa with registration materials and information for our Leadership Meeting. We will continue to refine the policy initiatives adopted in Baltimore and come forth with a bipartisan political agenda for the coming year.
Again, thank you Mayor Elizabeth Kautz for your continued service to our organization.
Thank you again Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake for a most exciting, meaningful, productive and fun Annual Conference of Mayors.
We congratulate our new President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Since coming to our first Leadership Meeting he has been active with us. You have honored him with the highest honor a mayor can hold in America, The President of The United States Conference of Mayors. He will be a bold leader. In these tough economic times, we need it. As strong as he is, he will need your support. The spirit of our Baltimore Meeting tells me we are more united than ever. And together, with President Villaraigosa’s leadership, we can lift our organization to a new plateau.
Thanks to all of your continued support. In these tough economic times we do not take your dues, time, and travel expenses to come to our meetings for granted. This is your organization.
If I can be of any service to you, please let me know.
I look forward to seeing you in Los Angeles next month.
