Executive Director's Column

Welcome to Oklahoma City! And to our 78th Annual Meeting of the ONE and ONLY United States Conference of MAYORS!
First we salute the city of Oklahoma’s mayor, Host Mayor Mick Cornett. His vision and leadership, backed up by a dynamic team and strong citizen and business support puts this city of 551,789 people in the top rank of cities emerging further on the national scene.
This city’s efforts to raise taxes through special referendums and continue to move forward in the present economic downturn will be described in detail on Monday afternoon in a special workshop. Please note the program, Oklahoma City: A Win-Win. Mayor Cornett has brought in three former mayors, Andy Coats, Kirk Humphreys, and Ron Norick. And Mayor Cornett will be joining with the group and he is turning over the moderating role to a former mayor. Come and learn how this city has worked in a seamless pattern of leadership, which has contributed to the national recognition and, indeed, a top 2010 best practice for mayors and local officials.
We also thank our President, Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz. In Oklahoma City, she begins her term elected by you to serve as our 68th President. When Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels left office at the end of last year, 2009, then Vice President Kautz was immediately inaugurated in her hometown of Burnsville, Minnesota where I, on behalf of our Executive Committee, gave the gavel to her to serve out Mayor Nickels’ term. She also has been coming back to Washington on a regular basis leading our advocacy efforts on the funds for our energy block grants.
She has also done so much as she has lead an international mayors campaign on climate change and green jobs. She said in Stockholm at the 2009 EuroCities Meeting, our European counterpart, that mayors across the globe must “roar like lions” to move their national governments off dead center. Her theme continues to be that mayors and cities are leading their nations on climate protection and green jobs. She is right. We have seen in other nations national governments and provincial or state governments politically deadlocked on strong climate protection and green job legislation. But there is no deadlock, no stalemate, no inaction at the city level. USA mayors lead every day, and with President Kautz’s leadership, we will continue to push for a final climate bill this year that includes a role for mayors and cities through our energy block grants. The energy block grants, the role of mayors, the economic green job benefit on this issue is not on Washington’s radar screen now. The administration did not include money in its budget to continue our energy block grants. The new Senate outline of a Climate bill announced recently does not include our block grants. Speaker Pelosi has promised multi-year funding and her representative Urban Caucus Chair Congressman Chaka Fattah of Philadelphia will be here speaking to you at Friday’s lunch. He has been our champion on this issue since Past President Trenton Mayor Palmer and I had the first meeting with him on the creation of energy block grants for cities. We do have friends of the energy bock grants in high places. We just need more. And mayors assembled here will beckon the call of President Kautz, and we will go forth as we have before, pushing Washington to understand they can not get to the promised land on climate protection unless mayors are involved. There’s one speech, one forum, one C'span session after another about this approach and that approach. Meantime, mayors are not just talking about it; they are implementing smart climate protection, steps toward more energy independence, and green job initiatives every day. We have the political strength and will. And we must never, never, never give up until Washington recognizes that climate damage is caused by human behavior and mayors will change human behavior. We are making progress. Thanks for your leadership on this issue. We must work to strengthen our partnership with the Congress, the Department of Energy and the Obama Administration and press them hard to include in the climate bill the energy block grants to have a sustainable source of funding in the years ahead. President Kautz is standing strong on this issue. Stand with her and we will prevail.
Trenton’s Own - Mayor Doug Palmer, our 65th President - Distinguished Public Service AwardOn Saturday, we salute the one of a kind human being, leader, father, humorist, tough-love mayor, platinum politician, “agile and mobile” - Mr. Douglas H. Palmer. Throughout his career, he has believed in the Conference of Mayors and it has been part of his being. He came to us as President when we lost our beloved President Dearborn Mayor Mike Guido. Throughout his career, there are untold stories of how Mayor Doug Palmer worked to make this family of mayors, the Conference of Mayors, stronger for ourselves and stronger for our cities. Time and time again, I have seen him stand aside, pull back for himself, and put this organization in front of himself. Mayors present saw true leadership in 2008 when he presided over the hot debate over the Iraq War. We were split down the middle on that hotly contested day. Back in the day, we might have had a fistfight. That was the day that the mayor of Fresno quit our organization blazing away as he walked out. And that was the day - that was a defining moment when President Doug Palmer calmed the waters with his voice, his eyes, his charisma. He is a natural. Recognized by his peers, we honor Mayor Doug Palmer at our Saturday City Livability Lunch. Be with us. Let’s praise and thank people while they are alive and vibrant. As he leaves office, we thank his wife Christiana and his daughter Laila for giving us so much of his time on the morning or mid-night train from Trenton to DC to help all of us fight for what this organization stands for. Thank you Doug. Agile and mobile - forever!
The Oil Gusher Disaster in the Gulf, Florida, and Atlantic CoastThe BP oil gusher destroying our ocean, wildlife and the economic life of so many of our member cities and small business will affect our 78th Annual Meeting. Together we gather to determine what shall be the role of our organizations we go forward. We will listen to our mayors hit hard in those states and President Kautz will leave Oklahoma with a plan of action that will be first of all tailored to what the mayors and cities of that great region of America, unique and delicate to the environment must be supported because it is what America is about. While we don’t know what to do about what BP has done, I have never seen the mayors held hostage to anything. Mayors are doers and I know we will leave here determined to support and do everything possible to help Americans confront and demand BP and Washington action to protect the economies and humans and wildlife and fisheries of Americans for our own American cities and towns who are facing some hard times after the battle to kill the BP gusher is over. Join with President Kautz, Tallahassee Mayor John Marks, Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden and other affected mayors on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 pm to learn more and offer your assistance to help the mayors hit hard by the present and future oil destruction and damage to America’s Gulf area, the Florida Gulf Coast and the Atlantic Coast.
Immigration ReformThe Arizona statute fueled the fire of passion across the nation on the multi nation issue. The Arizona law comes forth and exposes Washington for sitting on their hands to pass true immigration reform, long a priority of The U.S. Conference of Mayors. It is ironic that one of the mayors, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, has been thrust forward on this issue and has been at times a lone voice and leader within our Conference and in Washington advocating immigration reform.
Vice President Antonio Villaraigosa has been most active on this issue in Los Angeles and as a part of the national conversation on this issue on national television. The New York Times cited Trenton, NJ as an example of a best practice for the nation to consider as local governments act in a void created by the current Washington inaction on this issue. On Sunday morning, we will have an immigration forum inside our morning plenary session. President Kautz felt strongly that we frame this session to go beyond the deficiencies of the Arizona statute and to include a framed discussion on immigration reform. Janet Murguía, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza will moderate this session. We encourage all to attend. This is an issue that affects us all in the land of immigrants and the great diversity of our nation - unmatched anywhere in any other nation on earth.
New Mayors Forum - New Faces and Old Places Facing Today’s Challenges - A Forum for Not Just New MayorsThis past election has provided our organization with more new mayors than any in recent history. President Kautz and Membership Chair Brian Wahler are presenting the media, our members, and corporate members an opportunity to see, hear, and get to know the new leaders coming in this year. This session is for ALL delegates and participants. It is not just for new mayors. I will be moderating this session and promise I will do my best to make it interesting. Please come by and feel free to join in the q and a and open dialogue.
Thanks for being in Oklahoma City! On behalf of President Kautz, Vice President Villaraigosa and all of us, thank you for being here for our 78th Annual Meeting. If I can be of any service or provide information to you about this meeting or any other matter please let me know 202-744-9110. See you soon!

Executive Director's Column

Last week, the long awaited new climate bill was announced. The energy block grants for cities and local governments are not included in this proposal. Once again, Washington goes backward and away from the federal-city partnership on climate protection and energy independence.
Last year mayors were encouraged with the partnership we developed with Senator Boxer and her people, and we were included in her bill.
But the announcement last week did not mention our energy block grants, which are the cornerstone and catalyst to mobilize over 1,000 mayors to act.
We are frustrated and perplexed that the bill announced last week does not include the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants. We have to ask the question… if the Senate leadership stood together with mayors last year on the capitol lawn, then what happened that now gives reason for mayors and local officials not to be included?
Today, within the Mayors Climate Protection Center of The United States Conference of Mayors, we have 1,036 mayors and cities looking for a partnership with the federal government on greenhouse gas reduction and greater energy independence.
The mayors of this nation are recognized around the globe for their outstanding work on this issue, throughout Europe, thanks to President Kautz's work, with the European Union and EuroCities and at the COP-15 in Copenhagen. In Asia, with our continuing partnership with the Japanese Association of City Mayors and, recently, at the Sixth Sino-American Summit in Chengdu with the mayors of China, we continue to share our best practices and common goals.
The fact is that the cities of America are leading the nation on this issue while many states and some in Washington fail to recognize the contribution that we continue to make.
Science tells us that the threat to our globe is caused by the actions of human beings. The mayors of the United States are number one at changing human behavior. Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants are tools that we need to forge the public/private initiatives as well as enlisting and involving the 85 percent of the American people who live in cities and their metro areas.
We believe there are many Senators who have not reversed their sentiment toward mayoral and city involvement. As mentioned, last year we were heralded for the progress of mayors and cities. Our activities have not decreased or subsided over the past year and we have enlisted many more cities within the United States Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Center.
This issue is a top priority of The United States Conference of Mayors. We will continue to use our grass-roots efforts to include within the current legislation the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants that are so important to our national efforts.
The bill today has a goal of reducing carbon pollution by 17 percent by 2020 and by 80 percent by 2050. Today we stand and speak out to say that the nation cannot meet these goals unless mayors, cities, and their metro regions are totally involved in this national effort.
In Washington, as with all major legislation, this is a work in progress. And, we look forward to engaging with Senate leaders to correct this situation and affirm the crucial role of mayors and other local officials in this effort.
The mayors want a partnership with Washington, the executive and legislative branches of the federal government. It seems that Washington doesn't want us. It is shortsighted and unrealistic to think the nation can meet our common goals toward climate protection and energy independence without mayors and local government.
We must keep up the fight to add our energy block grants to the proposed climate bill. Ask your Senators to push for mayors and cities and our block grants as we go forward. Remember again it is the people who count and 87 percent of the American people live in cities and their metro areas and majority hold climate protection and energy independence as a top priority.
The legislation announced last week will need your political attention once it is properly introduced.
We are working now to amend the bill so that we can include our energy block grants, which are so important to meet the tough goals Congress has set out for us to meet. They can't reach these goals unless mayors and our people who live in the metro areas are mobilized.
Let's come together by contacting our Senators and stressing the energy block grants to be included in this new legislation as we all go forward together.
The Miller Bill - H.R. 4812 - Local Jobs for America ActPresident Kautz, Vice President Villaraigosa and our leadership and members have been quite active in securing endorsements of 161 members of the House to support what mayors believe to be the first real jobs bill (H.R. 4812 Local Jobs for America Act). The Miller bill would provide $75 billion for direct funding to cities and counties for job retention and the rehiring of those laid off or for new jobs.
We are allied with the National League of Cities, The National Association of Counties, The National Urban League, and other powerful organizations on this priority legislation.
Coupled with funds for municipal jobs, included in the Miller bill is $23 billion for teachers.
The recent strategy is to attach this legislation to the supplemental appropriations bill that will continue to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We are concerned that the Obama Administration has voiced their support in the form of a letter from Education Secretary Duncan supporting only the funds for teachers, police and firefighters. The Administration has not requested of Congress our funds for municipal jobs as contained in the Miller bill.
Conference President Kautz and Vice President Villaraigosa are actively involved to clarify and gain support of the municipal jobs portion of the Miller bill to make certain that in addition to funds for teachers, there will be funds for job retention, rehiring or hiring of municipal employees.
Shanghai Expo - USA Pavilion Opening - April 30Conference President Elizabeth Kautz, and Mayors Bob Foster of Long Beach, Bill Finch of Bridgeport, Elaine Walker of Bowling Green and I were invited by US Chinese Ambassador Jon Huntsman to stand with him, cut the ribbon and welcome the very first Chinese visitors as we opened the USA Pavilion of the 2010 Shanghai Expo.
President Kautz and mayors came to Shanghai after she presided over the Sixth Sino-American Mayors Summit in Changdu. The summit was a part of the very successful partnership we continue with the Chinese Association of Mayors.
Father Swears in SonIt was a special occasion for me to be with the Landrieu family earlier this month to witness former New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu, USCM President 1975 - 1976, swear in his son, Mitch Landrieu to be the next mayor of New Orleans. Also in attendance were all the former mayors including former USCM President Marc Morial.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu will be very active with us. He, along with our other dynamic new mayors, are bringing new energy, new faces and new ideas to our organization and President Kautz wants to put these new mayors to work for all of us.
Oklahoma CityThe 78th Annual Conference of Mayors will be in Oklahoma City soon! And that is where you, as a mayor, need to be.
President Elizabeth Kautz and Host Mayor Mick Cornett have worked hard to make this a meaningful, productive, and yes - enjoyable - fun meeting!
Register now. We need you in Oklahoma City.

Executive Director's Column

Forty years ago on April 22, 1970, we witnessed the largest human public demonstration in the history of America when 20 million people stood up on Earth Day and created a grassroots political movement that changed, at that time, the way federal political and governmental system views and treats our nation’s environment.
Some say this movement was sparked even earlier by a shy Pennsylvania woman scientist, Rachel Carson, who wrote her book Silent Spring. There was controversy when she raised serious questions about the destructive and biological harm caused by the way chemicals were used on our farmland and in our high density populated cities. Her book caused an uproar. The industries came out strong attempting to discredit her. At a White House press conference when asked his thoughts on Carson and her book, President Kennedy supported her. She testified before Kennedy’s Science Advisory Committee and the 1963 Kennedy report largely backed up and supported Carson’s claims. Due to her writings and her advocacy, the current national policy of handling pesticides was reversed. The spark was lit and the environment was strengthened as we moved to the 1970s after her death in 1964. She has to be given notice and credit before we get to Earth Day 1970. And President Kennedy too. He believed in science and he knew she was right and he, along with his Interior Secretary Stewart Udall, one of the greatest environmentalists of our political history, stood together in those historical days.
Earth Day 1970Forty years ago, after the grass roots movements of civil rights and opposition to the Vietnam War, there emerged the environmental movement and we saw a young student leader and environmental activist named Denis Hayes join up with a Senator from Wisconsin, Gaylord Nelson. It was Hayes who had the vision to place the environmental issue into the body politic. And it was Nelson who had thoughts of how to implement the vision with teach-ins in all our schools. Senator Nelson reached out to Republican Environmentalist Congressman Pete McCloskey of California and they co-chaired this great event.
Three million American citizens turned out for Earth Day 1970 and it was a shocker to the political world. In New York City, Mayor John Lindsay closed Fifth Avenue. He along with mayors and I, shoulder to shoulder, with thousands marched down Fifth Avenue. It was a great experience. Mayor Lindsay was chair of our Legislative Action Committee. Part of our urban and national agenda was to push for passage of air and water anti-pollution environmental laws that we lobbied along with other national, state and local groups, to push them through Congress and to President Nixon’s desk for signature and enactment.
Earth Day 1970 was a serious political event. It wasn’t just placards, t'shirts, chants, and screams. It was a political movement. Washington felt the pressure and rose to the occasion. There was not inertia as it is today. In a strong bi-partisan manner, Washington acted.
After the demonstrations were over, the movement turned toward elective politics. The movement, led by Hayes, came up with a list of the most anti-environmental members of the House and the dubbed twelve Congressmen as “The Dirty Dozen.” Grassroots efforts were strong against the Dirty Dozen. Seven of the twelve Congressmen were defeated, including a powerful chairman. When Congress returned that year, Speaker Albert and Congressional leaders knew that Earth Day ‘70 had been transformed into a more political machine geared toward elective and legislative politics. Senator Ed Muskie championed the Clean Water Act. The Environmental Protection Agency was created. Federal laws were passed right and left and Nixon signed them all. Many people still do not accept how President Nixon supported and signed such historic environmental laws during his first term before Watergate hit him.
President Carter’s environmental record is probably as strong as any other President since Teddy Roosevelt. Many political observers feel President Carter’s style and the way he asked people to give up something, to deprive themselves in order to save the planet did not motivate enough. Americans wanted alternatives. They didn’t want to sacrifice. Inflation was high, gas lines were long, American hostages were locked up and blindfolded in Iran. The body politic was in a bad mood. But Carter persevered he gave the nation his MEOW speech, moral equivalent of war, for energy and environment.
He put solar panels on the White House and turned off the night lights at the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials to conserve energy. President Reagan came in, turned the night lights on, removed the solar panels and thus opulence was in.
Through the years we find President Clinton and Vice President Gore doing more for the environment after they left office.
Today it could be better. The Cap and Trade Legislation is dead in the water and an alternative energy bill is being introduced by Senators Kerry of Massachusetts, Lieberman of Connecticut and Graham of South Carolina. The details will evolve and change in order to get enough Senate votes.
The big meeting in Copenhagen last December was a bust for national governments.
The fact is that the cities of America are leading the nation on the whole question of climate protection. We have 1036 cities signed on to the United States Conference of Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. And in other nations, mayors are leading their nations. Conference President Elizabeth Kautz took our message to Brussels and Stockholm last fall. European mayors have joined with USA mayors, and are pushing their central governments to be more active on climate issues.
We fought hard to get the energy block grants into the stimulus package passed by Congress and signed by President Obama last year. The stimulus money is just now hitting our cities and mayors will continue to lead the way. These funds that we fought so hard to get will be seed money mayors and cities need as we continue to leverage, create jobs, and make a difference throughout America.
Recently Conference President Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz led a group to meet with Energy Secretary Chu and we believe this is a new beginning with the mayors of America working with the Energy Department as we did when HUD was created with our big push in 1965. Our goal is to work with The Energy Department. We seek a partnership with our federal government and President Kautz is leading the way. We have optimism and hope as we follow up with DOE to strengthen our partnership.
Today, in Washington while there is inertia in some places and confusion in other places, mayors and cities are leading the way using every tool that we have to get things done.
Every day I hear and see of another mayor out there with a new idea backed up by actions. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is a mayor that makes the founders of earth day proud.
Currently Mayor Bloomberg is trying to reduce the carbon footprint of his city by turning the 13,237 yellow taxi cabs “green” with a rule requiring taxi cab owners to buy hybrid or other fuel efficient cars whenever they retire their current vehicles. The current taxi fleet is responsible for 580,000 metric tons of carbon emissions – the same amount as an entire town of 30,000 people according to Mayor Bloomberg. The rule would save 34 million of gallons of gasoline a year, reduce New York City’s carbon footprint, and our dependence on foreign oil. A federal judge struck down the rule finding that the federal laws cited prohibits cities and states from setting their own fuel efficiency standards. Mayor Bloomberg wrote in the Washington Post, “Only in Washington could a Clean Air Act prevent efforts to create clean air!” He goes further and says, “The Federal impulse to standardize must be balanced by the local need to customize.” Mayor Bloomberg says that since taxis are regulated locally, cities should have the authority to set emission standards for them.
Mayor Bloomberg is urging mayors and local governments to support the Green Taxis Act, supported by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Jerrod Nadler
Today the nation’s mayors, The United States Conference of Mayors, support Mayor Bloomberg on this legislation. It would allow local governments to take a local step that would give us the opportunity to make sound decisions for our cities and expand the market of hybrid and fuel efficient vehicles.
Mayor Bloomberg and New York City’s green taxi initiative is another example of a smart climate change policy that pushes a smart economic policy.
Yes, cities are leading the nation on these efforts and Congress must support us and not stop us from doing the smart thing when it comes to climate change as we go forward.
Earth Day 1970 to Earth Day 2010 - it’s not the same political atmosphere for national action but there’s one thing for sure, cities have not stopped leading the way for smarter transportation, housing, energy, and health policies that affect our planet and our people. Together we will continue to push the federal government for a national consensus in Washington that will produce smarter climate centered, job producing measures and incentives. Meantime, we follow Mayor Bloomberg’s lead. We’ll do it one step at a time. Mayors are not waiting for Washington to act. The taxi cab issue, the fleet issue, not exactly global, but with thousands of green fleets - it will be worth it until there is a consensus like we had following the first Earth Day, April 22, 1970 - forty years ago. We have made progress since then. We must find the consensus today we had back then, and if any group is leading the way toward a consensus, it’s the mayors like Bloomberg and others who are out there every day finding consensus and getting it done on the streets and in the neighborhoods of the cities of America.

Executive Director's Column

April 16

Washington, DC

Poland

The plane crash in Smolensk, Russia killing President Lech and First Lady Maria Kaczynski is sad and unbelievable. The political, military, parliamentary, financial, and academic leaders are all gone. My immediate thought on April 10th was to call Ambassador Ashe, our past President and former Knoxville Mayor. He said it would be in this country as if Air Force One, loaded with our leadership, crashed and killed them all. He is right.

Poland’s loss today devastates the Polish people because the place of the plane crash where the national elite died, Smolensk, Russia, is less than twenty miles from the Katyn Woods where starting on April 4, 1940, 22,000 of the Polish national elite were killed seventy years ago. These were not only soldiers. Doctors, clergy, professors, business leaders, the national elite leadership were shot individually by Russian secret police with a bullet in the back of the head. Thousands were shot on the edges of open pits and fell dead on top of their comrades.

Once again, the national elite leadership of the Polish people are taken away - instantly. The young and the old grieve together, but the old grieve deeper because their dynamic and precious leaders have been killed, twice now in the same place, only twelve miles apart in the month of April.

The other person who perished was Anna Walentynowicz. She was the “Rosa Parks” of the rebellion at the Gdansk shipyard in August of 1980. She was a crane operator, and when she wasn’t operating the crane she was handing out unofficial union newspapers. Her firing was the defining moment that jolted the workers to strike and lead the way to the legalization of Solidarity, the first trade union in the communist bloc. At the same time, Lech Kaczynski was a law student and advisor to Solidarity. When the communists cracked down with the martial law, both Ms. Walentynowicz and Mr. Kaczynski were jailed without a trial. Afterwards, throughout the 80’s the two of them worked with thousands in underground resistance. In the new Democratic Poland Kaczynski would go on to become President and she was an outside critic.

Marjorie Castle, author of Triggering Communist Collapse, writes beautifully about how these two national figures boarded a small plane to perish together just a few miles from where others of national stature in life died seventy years ago. Castle writes “the irony can not be understated” and she goes further to point out that the lesser well-known names in the passenger manifest includes relatives and descendants of the Polish leaders who died seventy years earlier. These individuals spent decades working to reveal the nature of those deaths, which was methodical execution by Russian security police and not by the Nazis.

The methodical killing of 22,000 in April of 1940 and the plane crash with the national leaders in April of 2010, in the same place, only twelve miles apart, has caused former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski to call Smolensk and its environs ”a cursed place.” And Castle writes, “Smolensk will be a curse word for generations of Poles, yet unborn.”

Our Connection

The U.S Conference of Mayors has a long friendship with the Polish people and with Polish local and national leaders. I was invited in 1989 to witness the first municipal elections since the 1930s. Thousands of local officials were elected. It was indeed a celebration of democracy. The Solidarity leader who became President of the new Poland, Lech Walesa, came to Washington after he was elected and Guy Smith and I met with him at the National Press Club.

In October of 1990 with our government’s support, the Conference organized a delegation of mayors led by Conference President York Mayor Bill Althaus to conduct Mayors Leadership institutes in three cities Warsaw, Krakow, and Rzeszow. The conference fielded three additional delegations in 2004, 2006, and in 2007 and we held our first ever …outside the USA… International Mayors Institute on City Design.

We are so proud of the distinguished service of former Conference President and former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe, our former Polish Ambassador who led and accompanied our 2007 mayoral mission to the Presidential Palace to spend time with the late President Kaczynski, who was the mayor of Warsaw before he was President. Mayors present will remember much of the enjoyable dialogue with him was about his being a mayor and it was so good to hear a President who understood the role of a mayor because he had lived it.

Polish allies, and observers, students and historians all know how strong the people of Poland are. They have survival in their DNA. They will grieve and have pain. They have an abiding faith that runs deep and it centers them. They have been persecuted, killed, destroyed, and almost annihilated throughout ancient and modern history. But they will survive and be even stronger. May God bless Poland during this most painful period as He gives them strength to be even stronger, remembering their great leaders and determined people. And soon - just as sure as the sun comes up tomorrow morning, they will wipe away their tears and march on. Then the heroic saga of Poland and her people, rich in history, with its ups and downs, goes on to fill the pages of the future.

Statement on The National Mourning of Poland and the Loss of President Lech Kaczynski, First Lady Maria Kaczynski, and National Leaders of Poland

Washington, D.C. -- On behalf of nation’s mayors and The United States Conference of Mayors, CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran offers heartfelt condolences to the Polish people and its leaders upon the tragic loss of President Lech Kaczynski.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors has a long friendship with the Polish people and with Polish local, regional, and national leaders. The more than ten million Americans of Polish ancestry living in the United States have contributed greatly to American cities and to our nation.

As an organization, the Conference of Mayors has had a cherished friendship with Poland over many years and especially since 1989. Conference CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran was invited to Poland as an election observer in June 1989, and gladly contributed to oversight of that important election, the first democratic election in Poland since the 1930's.

In October 1990, with U.S. government support, the Conference of Mayors organized a delegation of mayors to conduct Mayors Leadership Institutes with newly-elected Polish mayors in Warsaw, Krakow, and Rzeszow. The Conference fielded three additional delegations to Poland -- in 2004, 2006, and in 2007. In 2007, the Conference held its historic first-ever – outside the United States -- International Mayors Institute on City Design, bringing together U.S. and Polish mayors to share best practices on design and to learn from each other.

The Conference of Mayors is proud of the distinguished service of Former Conference President and Mayor of Knoxville, Tennessee, Ambassador Victor Ashe, who was sworn in as Ambassador to Poland in June 2004 and served until February 2009. During the Conference of Mayors' 2007 Mayoral Mission to Poland, Ambassador Ashe accompanied the delegation to the Presidential Palace to meet with President Lech Kaczynski.

During that meeting, the U.S. Conference of Mayors delegation had a productive exchange with the President. His strong intellect and convictions, strength of character, and fierce patriotism were, as always, evident. The U.S. mayors also shared observations with the President about his having been a mayor himself, enjoying the President's remarks about his tenure as mayor of Warsaw, elected in 2002 and serving until 2005.

Poland is a country that produces giants of science, literature, music, politics, economics, and all other areas-- Jozef Konrad Korzenlowski (Joseph Conrad), Ignacy Paderewski, Maria Sklodowska (Madame Curie), Fryderyk Chopin. Adam Micklewicz, Zbigniew Brzeziinski, Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II), and countless others.

Lech Kaczynski, teacher, thinker, scholar, visionary, organizer, public servant, patriot, Mayor of Warsaw, and President of Poland, will be always respected remembered, and revered for his unflinching and dedicated service to his people, to his city, and to his country.

The United States Conference of Mayors joins with Poland and the world in mourning the tragic loss of the national military, political, and economic leaders of Poland, of Maria Kaczynski, the First Lady of Poland, and of President Lech Kaczynski.

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Released to American and International Press, Mayor Ryszard Grobelny, Mayor of Poznan, Poland and President, Polish Cities Association and Warsaw Mayor Hanna Growkiewicz-Waltz

Executive Director's Column

April 2, 2010

Washington (DC)

Tenacity, Strength, Courage – Leadership

“We will go through the gate. If the gate is closed, we will go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we will pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, we will parachute in.”

Who said this? General George Patton in World War II? Field Marshall Montgomery, leading the British Forces? General DeGaulle leading the French resistance to recover France from the Nazis?

None of the above.

The quote is from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The last sentence of the quote reads, “But we are going to get health care reform passed.”

She never gave up. Her healthcare legislation had passed the House on November 7. The Senate passed it on December 24 after a month of debate.

On January 19, the Washington political world was turned upside down with the election of Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts to replace Senator Ted Kennedy, thus denying Democrats the 60 votes needed for a supermajority.

Washington seemed stymied on the healthcare bill after Scott Brown was elected. Press reports and political observers also indicated thatthere was wavering on the health care legislation from some in the White House and Congress.

But Speaker Pelosi never wavered. It seems that after the going got tough, she was the toughest. The daughter and sister of both Mayor D’Alesandros, Tommy Jr. and Tommy III, then made the “we will go through the gate” statement.

And while it is true that President Obama hit the road and called and met with over 60 members, and he deserves credit, it is Speaker Pelosi who stood at that critical moment and gave the leadership what they needed to go forward to victory.

Time and time again, she has stood with our mayors and our cities. She has been with us on key urban programs from day one. And working with Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer in 2007, she supported and pushed our energy block grants. She said at our Winter Meeting she supports multi-year funding for our energy block grants.

We need more leaders like her. If you have the votes, and she can count, she is willing to go for it one way or the other. She wants to get things done.The mayors once again thank her for her leadership and we know we can count on her during one of the most turbulent periods in our history.

Words of Hate

During the House vote, while some were celebrating, others, including me, were disturbed, and I still am as the rhetoric of hate continues from both the right and left and even from some moderates. Civil debate is whatmakes America the open democratic country it is. But we have to be careful in the power that many elected people have with one fringe group or another because the “nutwings” are out there. There are too many guns in this country just out there, unaccounted for, and in the hands of those who might snap and start shooting at people and we could have more bloodshed.

Since 1963, and the mood of Dallas at that time, forewarned by attacks on Adlai Stevenson, my mind went back there as I watched TV covering the verbal abuses hurled at Congressman John Lewis and the spitting upon Congressman Cleaver, the former Mayor of Kansas City.

Two things that we have now that we didn’t have in years past, more guns in the hands of criminals, mentally ill, and youth. Plus we have 24/7 television that repeats, and repeats, and repeats which drives some people to do strange, mysterious and deadly things. It’s scary. It’s not a dream. Violence in America is not a bad dream. You don’t wake up when it’s over and it’s gone. You wish you could but you can’t. Violence, guns, and yes – hate, still exist in America. We must talk about it. We must discuss it with our children and our grandchildren. And we must hold our elected officials up to condemn and take action. It’s not to be tolerated, or laughed at, or excused.

What we need is a Summit on Civility and Tolerance. What a great country! What a weak country if we let one small group or any elected individual or any other leader to endorse lawless violence against another citizen in this nation. While we are going through whatever we are going through right now with the tea party, the coffee party or any other party of any other liquid we drink, kool-aid, coca-cola, lemonade, beer, vodka, black jack, bottled or even tap water... let’s all condemn violence and threatening language and just hope that the country cools down and nobody gets killed.

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.