By Ed Somers and Larry Jones

In his inaugural Presidential address during the 1999 Annual Conference of Mayors in New Orleans, Denver Mayor Wellington E. Webb outlined a new action agenda for America’s cities and metropolitan areas. Mayor Webb and Conference staff are currently working on the details for the draft agenda, which will be refined by the leadership of the Conference during the 1999 Summer Leadership Meeting in Denver, September 23-25.

The new agenda will then serve as a guide through the presidential and congressional campaign season.

As the details are being developed, Mayor Webb has been carrying his vision of a new agenda for America’s cities and communities to major national organizations which he sees as important partners in this effort.

Democratic Leadership Council

On July 14, Mayor Webb participated in the Democratic Leadership Council’s "1999 National Conversation" in Baltimore. During a panel discussion, Mayor Webb stressed the Conference’s continued focus on the importance of metropolitan economic engines to the national economy, and the need to support policies which enhance the strength of these metro engines.

Mayor Webb stated that the nation’s economic growth is being driven by 317 powerful metropolitan economic engines.

Quoting the Conference of Mayors/NACo Joint Center for Sustainable Communities report entitled The Role of Metropolitan Areas in the U.S. Economy, which was compiled in partnership with Standard & Poor’s DRI, Webb said metro economic engines accounted for 83 percent of the Gross Domestic Product in 1997; 84 percent (11 million) of the new jobs created between 1992 and 1997; and a staggering 86 percent (or $1.573 trillion) of the nation’s economic growth for the same period.

Mayor Webb added, "If city/county metro economies were ranked with nations, 47 of the world’s largest 100 economies would be U.S. metro areas. For example, the New York metro economy ranks above Mexico’s; the Los Angeles metro economy above Taiwan’s; the Chicago metro economy above Switzerland’s; the Boston metro economy above Indonesia’s; the Providence metro economy above Vietnam’s, and the Birmingham metro economy above Kuwait’s."

Mayor Webb also pointed out that, "many of our metro economies exceed entire state economies. For example, the Buffalo metro economy exceeds Hawaii’s and the New Haven metro economy exceeds Nevada’s. In fact, the economic output of the 10 largest city/county metro areas in the U.S. exceeds the combined output of 30 states."

It is therefore critical, Webb stressed, that federal and state policies be designed in a way that allows these metro economies to continue to grow, and encourages rather than limits their potential.

Mayor Webb said that a new agenda for America’s metro areas must be built on four key priorities: public safety (including issues related to violence, the abuse of drugs and alcohol and guns); supporting our kids and schools; expanding and improving our parks, open space, arts and cultural activities, and transforming neglected and contaminated acreage into spaces where residents and visitors can relax and congregate; and developing new strategies for economic development.

Within this context, Webb said that the agenda will focus on three new priorities: 1) smart growth and regional cooperation; 2) promoting the competitive assets of cities; and 3) investing in working families.

Webb added that the agenda proposes to build on the current community empowerment approach, harnessing the entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector to bring new capital and jobs to neighborhoods that the prosperity of the past six and one-half years has passed by.

Joining Mayor Webb in this panel discussion were Mayor Jesse Norwood of Prichard (AL), President of the National Conference of Black Mayors, Prince George’s County (MD) Executive Wayne Curry, Montgomery County (MD) Executive Douglas Duncan, and Delaware Governor Tom Carper, Chairman of the National Governors’ Association.

City-County Partnership Top Priority

Mayor Webb participated in the National Association of Counties (NACo) annual meeting in St. Louis on July 18, and addressed the Large Urban Counties Caucus (LUCC).

As mayor of a consolidated city-county government, Mayor Webb told members of LUCC that he was pleased "mayors have a long history working with NACo," and, as president, he would continue to build an even stronger relationship. Noting that many members of Congress and the press do not understand the significance of large urban counties, Mayor Webb told members of LUCC "I suspect you do not get the respect you deserve."

To address this problem, he said "we have to be proactive in telling people who we are and what our needs are." He said there is a "real message to be told." Webb explained that once Congress and the press understand the economic and political clout of cities and counties in metro regions and that mayors and county leaders are united behind a common agenda, they will take note.

Mayor Webb said he was excited about the opportunity to work with an old friend, NACo’s new President and Howard County (MD) Council Chairman C. Vernon Gray, whom he had met when the two worked for the administration of former President Jimmy Carter. Chairman Gray also expressed he was equally excited about the opportunity mentioned that many time in politics, things revolve in circles and that if you stay long enough, you are likely to meet many of the same people you started out with.

The membership of LUCC is comprised of elected county leaders from the nation’s 100 largest counties based on population and budget. More than 120 million people live in these counties which are located in 33 different states and represented by 248 members in the United States House of Representatives and 66 members in the Senate.

The need to work together is obvious as cities and counties in the same region most often share the same problems—school violence, drugs, brownfields and urban sprawl, to name a few. Through joint efforts, Mayor Webb said the Conference and NACo have been successful in urging Congress to pass critical legislation. He pointed out that he personally worked with the Conference and NACo in securing the passage of two bills. "The first was the Crime Act of 1994, the bill that created the COPS program and authorized a number of urban prevention programs. By coming with county officials to the Hill, we helped rescue that bill. The second was the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995, which limited the ability of Congress to impose new costly unfunded federal mandates on state and local governments."

Webb also mentioned the most recent example of successful joint efforts: the passage of the Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21st Century (TEA 21) and the "Fair Share Campaign," which was launched by the Conference and NACo to ensure adequate funding of transportation projects in cities and counties located in metropolitan regions.

Webb also met with the new chair of LUCC, Prince George’s County (MD) Executive Wayne Curry, to continue conversations regarding the joint political strategy of the nation’s mayors and large urban county leaders