By Dave Gatton
February 3, 2003

The Council for Investment in the New American City, chaired by Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick, met at the 71st Winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors on January 22, 2003, to release its latest version of U.S. Metro Economy Reports outlining the employment outlook in U.S. metro areas for the coming year. (See related story page 17)

The report documented that 213 of the nation's 319 metro areas lost jobs in 2002 and that, in total, metro areas lost 646,000 jobs during the period. In 2003, 181 metros are slated to see job growth under 1%, a rate of growth that will result in a relatively unchanged unemployment rate for the year.

Jim Diffley, Vice President of Metro Regions for Global Insight, author of the report told Council members "unfortunately, we see a slow job growth year ahead." "This does not bode well for the overall national economy because metro areas are the engines of America's growth; if metros do not grow, the national economy suffers," he said.

Kilpatrick told the Council that the report would be used to bolster the case for a national economic recovery plan that the Conference of Mayors would release at the meeting. "There is no question that the last two years have not been easy for metro area economies," he said. "We need an economic recovery plan that promotes job growth and stimulates the economy now."

Kilpatrick thanked the members of the council for putting forth ideas that ultimately became part of the Mayors' national economic recovery plan, including the call for tax credits to encourage brownfield redevelopment, single-family homeownership, and school construction.

Gary Mayor Scott L. King briefed the Council members on a strategic plan to encourage minority homeownership in cities. He cited the need for financial institutions to develop an ongoing presence and identity in underserved communities so that investment opportunities, including homeownership, would be more available to minority residents. "We simply must address the need for financial services to be provided in a friendly, understandable and straight forward way to residents who often have had negative experiences with the financial world."

Following King's remarks, Fannie Mae Sr. Vice President Rebecca Senhauser reviewed the Council's plans to promote employer assisted housing programs to cities in the coming year. Such programs provide an opportunity for businesses to help employees with down payments in the purchase of a home. According to a national poll conducted by Global Strategies, Inc for the Council, one in four renters cites lack of funds for a down payment as the major barrier to owning a home.

Herb Tyson, Sr. Vice President for the International Council of Shopping Centers briefed participants on plans for the Conference of Mayors, Council members and ICSC to hold joint events at ICSC's annual meeting in Las Vegas May 18-22, 2003. Special sessions will be held to increase access of mayors to the nation's commercial and retail business sector to discuss urban investment opportunities.

John Courson, Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, discussed the merits of the homeownership tax credit proposed by President Bush last year. The Conference agreed to push for inclusion of the tax credit in the national economic recovery plan that Congress will address in the spring.

Several mayors in attendance discussed how they had advanced the Council's agenda over the last year. Dayton Mayor Ryne McLin described the city's one'stop shop Home Ownership Center; Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz described his city's plan to develop 16,000 units of affordable housing and to educate the residents on the value of using the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC); New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin talked about targeting 12,000 blighted homes for rehabilitation; and Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley described plans for the International Museum of African-American History, and the development of digital corridors within the city.

Mayor Kilpatrick announced that the Council would work even more aggressively in 2003 to expand its metro economy series, promote homeownership, and encourage commercial revitalization. "Cities are the engines of American economy," he said. "If we are competitive, the nation will be competitive," he said.