(12/19/08)
- "It was a productive and very worthwhile meeting," said Akron Mayor Don
Plusquellic upon his return last night from Chicago where he met with 15 other mayors and
two top members of the new President’s White House team to discuss the planned White
House Office of Urban Policy. The soon-to-be established office will focus on ways
the federal government can partner with America's cities. The goal is to ensure that
all federal dollars targeted to urban areas are effectively spent on the highest-impact
programs, according to the office of the President-elect. Currently, federal programs
aimed at strengthening metropolitan areas are spread among several areas, including the
departments of Housing and Urban Development, Transportation, Labor and Commerce.
A consequence of that is programs inadvertently undermine cities and regions by
encouraging inefficient and costly patterns of development and local competition,
according to Obama's urban policy plan at www.barackobama.com.
Mayors from Seattle; Philadelphia; Louisville; Charleston, South Carolina; Salt Lake
City; Trenton, New Jersey and others joined Plusquellic in meeting with Valerie Jarrett
and Cecilia Muņoz to discuss President-elect Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plans.
Valerie Jarrett is the new White House senior advisor and assistant to the President
for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison. Ms. Jarrett is also
co-chairwoman of the Obama transition team.
Cecilia Muņoz, senior vice president for the Office of Research, Advocacy, and
Legislation at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) is now Obama’s director of
intergovernmental affairs, coordinating the White House’s relations with local and
state governments.
Mayor Plusquellic emphasized that the meeting’s intent was to find out from the
nation’s mayors what the best way would be to distribute stimulus funding throughout
America.
"I can’t emphasize how important this is to our citizens who need to get back
to work, and for our city to get this work done on our infrastructure. Water lines,
bridges, schools: America needs to get busy again on these projects," the Mayor said.
He added, "Banks and auto companies are asking for a bailout. Mayors are
asking for resources for projects important to people and their families, and to do it
quickly so people can get back to work. It is our cities that possess the most
efficient distribution system. We can get the funds out there in 90 days."
Plusquellic said that in the two hour meeting, the mayors urged Munoz and Jarrett to
direct funding to metropolitan areas as well to the state capitals.
"My experience with homeland security funding a few years ago taught me that
there’s a better way," said the Mayor. "It is most important that any
monies arrive as quickly as possible. Sending funding directly to cities will ensure
this is done more efficiently than what we saw with homeland security funds."
END
