By Conference Staff
March 3, 2003

Under the leadership of Conference President Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, the leadership of The United States Conference of Mayors met in Key West on February 20-22. The primary focus of the discussion was on the lack of new first responder funding in the FY 2003 omnibus appropriations bill, and need for direct assistance to cities and counties.

In reviewing the FY 2003 bill, the mayors agreed that while some new funding was provided for local fire grants and state emergency management grants, it did not met the President's request for a new $3.5 billion first responders program, or the needs of America's cities. In addition, the bill proposes major cuts in existing public safety programs, such as the COPS program for cities which was cut by 20 percent.

The mayors agreed that a grass roots lobbying effort to address critical priorities will be launched to reach out to the Administration, Congressional Leadership, and every member of Congress. In addition, a second Mayors Lobby Day will be held to bring mayors, police chiefs, fire chiefs, police officers, and fire officers to Washington, DC in the near future to call for action immediately on a supplemental appropriations bill.

The Conference will continue to stress that the majority of first responder funding must come directly to cities and counties. The Conference is united on this issue with the Major Cities Police Chiefs Association, Police Executive Research Forum, International Association of Fire Chiefs, International Association of Fire Fighters, and National Association of Police Organizations.

The Annual Leadership Meeting focused on other issues contained in the FY 2003 omnibus bill and the Administration's FY 2004 proposed budget. These included legislative and regulatory matters related to economic stimulus and job creation, housing, TEA-21 reauthorization, Amtrak, telecommunications, the film industry and runaway production, water, and brownfields redevelopment as discussed below.

The mayors also discussed upcoming Conference of Mayors calendar events such as the Urban Water Summit, Travel and Tourism Task Force Meeting/National Summit on Travel and Tourism, ICIC/Inc. Magazine/USCM Inner-City 100 Event, USCM/Broad Foundation Public Schools Meeting, USCM/Casey Foundation Working Families Meeting, International Council of Shopping Centers Meeting, and the 71st Annual Conference of Mayors/2nd International Conference of Mayors.

Film Issues

Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz, Co-Chair of the Mayors Film Task Force, led a discussion on the issue of run- away production, or productions made for film or television filmed outside the United States for economic reasons. As the mayor pointed out, economic runaway film and television productions are a growing and persistent problem for the U.S. From 1990-1998, there has been a 185 percent increase in the number of "runaway" productions resulting in a $10.3 billion economic loss for the U.S. It is estimated that in 1998, more than 20,000 jobs were lost. Canada captures the vast majority of runaway productions with 81 percent of the total followed by Australia and the United Kingdom. Some of the states hit hardest by the loss of films and television production are California, New York, Texas, North Carolina, Florida, and Illinois.

The mayor indicated that the Film Task Force will be looking at proposed federal legislation to help remedy the problem as well as conducting its own studies and meetings to examine the problem further.

Heritage Tours

Chris Belland, Chief Executive Officer of Historic Tours of America, discussed the importance that cultural and historic tours can have in cities. His company, which has operations in such cities as Boston, Key West, Washington, D.C., and San Diego, helps to make history come alive for tourists. Heritage tours that often focus on places and events that are historically related to individual cities often appeal to international visitors and the more educated visitors. While the travel and tourism sector has seen a decline post 9-11, things like heritage tours can be one way for cities to rebound back.

National Housing Agenda

Nicolas P. Retsinas, Director of the Joint Center For Housing Studies at Harvard University, gave the mayors an update on the National Housing Agenda, the priority issue of Conference President Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. Retsinas reviewed the Conference of Mayors' activities since last May when a number of recommendations were developed by more than 140 housing experts and mayors during a national housing summit.

Those recommendations were endorsed at the Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting in June. Retsinas said that the Conference of Mayors had brought increased visibility to the housing issue which is evidenced by more housing news stories over the last 18 months than the previous 10 years. He also said that there was a greater national understanding of the housing crisis which is the plight of one out of seven working families having to spend more than 50 percent of their income for housing. Retsinas said that there had even been some positive action in Washington. He cited President Bush's White Conference to increase minority homeownership, and the success of the National Housing Trust Fund which did not pass congress but got further than most people expected.

"The situation has changed", Retsinas said, and mayors must now have a double agenda. First, Retsinas said, "you need a strong defense this year." He spoke of the continuing problem of the public housing operating subsidies, the funding which HUD recently announced would be cut anywhere from 10 — 30 percent. Moreover, the administration's FY2004 budget proposes to eliminate HOPE VI and Brownfields redevelopment funding at HUD, transfer the Section 8 Voucher programs to states in a block grant, and possibly change the formula of the CDBG program. The second part of the agenda, Retsinas noted, is an offensive strategy which would urge passage of a homeownership tax credit, a national housing trust fund, and address the problem of predatory lending.

Bollwage on Brownfields

Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, chair of the Conference of Mayors Brownfields Task Force, outlined new developments in the area of brownfields.

Potential Problem

Bollwage outlined a potential problem for certain city applications for this latest round of brownfields assessment and cleanup funds. Bollwage said, "If a city voluntarily took over a brownfields property prior to January 11, 2002, when the brownfields bill was signed into law, the city is now considered a potentially responsible party and not eligible for cleanup or assessment funds for that property."

The Senate staff are discussing this matter with EPA and asking EPA to interpret the law as they had intended. The Senate said if this does not work, they may seek a legislative fix but they are not eager to do this since there are other parties that would seek additional concessions.

Budget

Bollwage outlined the President proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2004 which calls for a $10 million increase in EPA's brownfields program from $200 million to $210 million but which also eliminated the $25 million Brownfields program at HUD.

Palmer Highlights Water Issues

Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer, Co-Chair of the Conference's Urban Water Council, highlighted the pressing water issues facing cities and urged the mayors to attend the upcoming Water Council Meetings.

Palmer said, "The Urban Water Council has been developing what I call a — Chinese Menu - on the various water needs that face communities so that there is something at these meetings for everyone."

Palmer outlined some of the topics to be discussed which included: complying with environmental regulations; replacing decaying infrastructure; protecting the watershed which includes dealing with nonpoint source pollution; securing water supplies and plants; creating alternative water sources; establishing water conservation programs; and dealing with water rights issues.

Richard Florida and the Rise of the Creative Class

Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf briefed the leadership meeting on the U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter meeting session featuring Carnegie Mellon professor Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class. Oberndorf reported that Florida presented to a standing room only audience of mayors to hear his theory that people no longer follow jobs, but jobs follow people. Florida dismisses arguments held by some academics that "place" has become irrelevant in the modern technological age. Instead, he says the excitement of an urban place, based on amenities, quality of life and other livability issues, will attract the creative class of people who in turn attract high quality jobs. Based on his creativity index, Florida statistically validates that creative people congregate in metro areas that are diverse, tolerant and technologically innovative.

Oberndorf recommended and the mayors agreed to invite Professor Florida to further elaborate on his new work in a plenary session at the 71st Annual Conference of Mayors in Denver, CO, June 5-10, 2003. The mayor said, "This is the most exciting approach to building creative communities that I have come across in a long time." "What Florida is espousing is what many of us have been trying to do by promoting the arts, urban design, and diversity," she added. "Now we have a real intellectual framework to relate directly to how we fashion future economic development efforts."

Tyson on City Investment Forum in Las Vegas

International Council of Shopping Centers Senior Vice President Herb Tyson invited the U.S Conference of Mayors leadership and member mayors to the ICSC annual meeting in Las Vegas, NV, May 18-22, 2003, where both organizations will sponsor a major plenary "Town Meeting" between mayors and the nation's commercial development and retail industries. Following an evening of social events with the nation's largest retail representatives, mayors will participate in forums to present their development opportunities to leading commercial representatives.

In ICSC's famous "leasing mall" over two-thirds of the nation's commercial deals get launched. Following the plenary session, mayors will participate in the leasing mall followed by an afternoon session of roundtables where developers and retail representatives can meet one-on-one with mayors.

Mayor Menino, responding to Tyson's comments, indicated that "real deals" originate at this meeting. "In my own city, I attracted several developers to key sites in the city," he told the other mayors. Registration materials for the meeting have been mailed to member mayors and questions regarding registration should be directed to Carol Edwards at 202-293-7330.

The Las Vegas event is being spearheaded by the Conference's Council for Investment in the New American City, Chaired by Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick.

Mayors to Gather for Working Families Meeting in D.C.

Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell briefed the leadership on progress being made to hold a meeting of the Annie E. Casey Foundation/USCM Partnership on Working Families. On May 4- 5, mayors, human services officials, and workforce development officials will meet in Washington (DC) to discuss ways they can strengthen and support working families in their cities. The Annie E. Casey Foundation has partnered with the Conference to continue to build national attention and support on the challenges facing working families in America today.

The goals of the partnership are to catalyze cities to improve economic opportunities for working families across America through interactive discussions among mayors on the issues of working families with the goal of ensuring economic success and collection and dissemination of mayoral best practices on working families issues.

Telecommunications Update

Dearborn Mayor Michael A. Guido, Vice Chair for Telecommunications of the Transportation and Communications Committee, detailed a grim picture for the mayors during the Saturday session on the threats to local government management of public rights'of-ways from Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Three key concerns highlighted by Mayor Guido include:

• The battle over unbundled network elements (UNE's), or what portions of a telephone network must be shared/leased with competitors and what role is preserved for state public utility commissioners;
• The struggle in the context of the cable modem decision to define what is and is not a telecommunications or cable service versus information service; and
• In the Homeland Security effort, the questions of whether the Federal government will fund local government's service in defense of the country and whether first responders will be assigned a priority status to public safety spectrum.

On March 15, 2002, the FCC issued a Declaratory Order finding that cable modem service offered over a cable system is an "interstate information service." In its decision, the FCC found that cable modem service is neither a telecommunications service, subject to state or federal telecommunications regulations, nor a cable service subject to local cable franchise requirements. As an interstate information service, oversight of cable modem service will be virtually nonexistent.

The FCC simultaneously issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) raising a series of questions about how this interstate information service should be treated for purpose of public rights'of-way access and other interactions with local communities and cable modem subscribers.

Guido stated that "within two weeks of the order, the nation's largest cable companies sent letters to local franchise authorities stating that they halted payment of cable franchise fees on cable modem revenues. The financial impact of the FCC's action, and the cable industry's response, is dramatic and severe, amounting to $600 million is 2002 alone and could grow to as much as a $1 billion per year loss within the next three years."

Guido highlighted the U.S. Conference of Mayors legal actions, including the raising of over joining of the national organizations together (National League of Cities, National Association of Counties, and National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors) forming an alliance to challenge the FCC ruling and the hiring of legal counsel to argue local government's interest before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and the FCC.