By Larry Jones
February 1, 2010

National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial addressed mayors at the January 20 morning plenary session by urging mayors to take an active role in shaping the jobs bill being developed in Congress and to actively engage all sectors of their communities to work together to encourage everyone to participate in the 2010 census count.

Morial, former mayor of New Orleans who served as President of The U.S. Conference of Mayors 2001 - 2002, told mayors that the most recent recession was the deepest and longest that the nation has experienced since World War II. "The loss of jobs has not only been greater but more sustained. And of the more than 15 million people who find themselves without employment today, 40 percent of them have been unemployed for a year or more," he said.

Because unemployment in cities and metro areas is significantly higher than in other places, Morial told mayors it is important for congressional leaders to hear from them "loudly and clearly." He explained that, "Never before in recent American history has there been a need for the collective bipartisan voice of big city, small city, medium sized city, Republican, Democratic and Independent mayors. What your voices are needed for is the influencing, the shaping of what a jobs bill will look like."

He reminded mayors that a year ago, Congress passed a bailout package "to help restore the stock market and many of the nation's biggest banks to profitability. I think the same type of dramatic, sweeping, far reaching bipartisan effort needs to be put together to put people back to work."

Before commenting on census issues important to mayors, Morial commended Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory, Chair of the U.S. Conference of Mayors 2010 Census Task Force, for being a powerful leader. He then urged mayors to use their voices to help people in their communities understand that "the census is a tool of both political and economic empowerment. If your city is undercounted within your state, when it comes time for congressional redistricting and legislative redistricting, your city will end up underrepresented. And when it comes time for distribution of formula funding, your cities can be short changed."

In closing he encouraged mayors to take an active role in organizing and leading full count committees with representation from all sectors of their communities who could make a huge difference in getting all residents to respond to the census.