By Dave Gatton
May 26, 2003

The International Council of Shopping Centers kicked-off their spring convention on May 19, in Las Vegas, NV, with an opening plenary session featuring the leadership of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and over 35 mayors anxious to attract investment to their cities.

Led by U.S. Conference of Mayors President Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, Vice President Hempstead Mayor James A. Garner, and Advisory Board Chair Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic, the mayors took center stage in a town meeting on "Public/Private Partnerships in Retail Development" attended by over 2,500 private sector developers, retail representatives, and investors.

"This is where the action is in attracting investment to our cities," said Mayor Menino. "Our new partnership with the International Council of Shopping Centers is going to reap concrete benefits to cities in efforts to revitalize their communities," he said.

The town meeting was moderated by Emmy Award winning journalist and talk show host Meryl Comer. She and U.S. Conference of Mayors Executive Director J. Thomas Cochran introduced the mayors by referring to them as America's new "public CEOs".

"Cities are strong, cities are back, and ready to do business with the nation's developers," Cochran told the audience.

The mayors agreed that the recent down turn in the economy was not hindering their efforts to attract investment or to provide incentives to form public/private partnership with investors.

Almost half the mayors on stage said they faced budgetary shortfalls. Mayor Menino, however, assured the audience that mayors were still ready to come to the table to foster economic development because it meant jobs and an expanded tax base for their cities.

Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams, said he had dedicated $30 million of funds for retail development and that fiscal stress would not inhibit the city's use of tax increment financing as an important development tool.

Gary (IN) Mayor Scott L. King discussed his brownfield redevelopment program, including a large stretch of Lake Michigan's water front. The city plans to promote the clean up of over 250 acres of land for development, and will indemnify developers against unforeseen and excessive clean up costs.

King also called on both the ICSC and the U.S. Conference of Mayors to work jointly in promoting legislation that would establish a brownfield redevelopment fund at the Department of Housing and Urban Development to spur investment in brownfield sites.

The Brownfield Redevelopment Enhancement Act, H.R. 239, has cleared the House Financial Services Committee, chaired by Rep. Michael Oxley (0H).

Many of the questions from Ms. Comer and the audience addressed the need to speed up the development process within city hall. Several mayors indicated that they assign a specific staff person to help developers wind their way through the process. Mayor Menino told how Boston sets a deadline for completing a project's permitting process. If the deadline is not met, the city refunds the developer's fees.

The audience of developers gave the mayors feed back on important issues raised during the town meeting through an instant polling system. For example on the "smart growth" issue, 36 percent of the audience told the mayors they regarded the term as a code for "anti'suburb." Thirty-four percent thought it was code for "no-growth." But many mayors responded that they thought the motivation for the term was more positive. Mayor King said that, in part, the term meant a wiser, more efficient use of existing infrastructure and public resources.

North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Henry Hays told the audience that building a 21st Century transportation system that included rail and transit, would be key to future development. Citing figures of national population gains and increased traffic, Hays said, "I don't think anyone thinks that current roads can sustain that (growth)."

Hempstead (NJ) Mayor James Garner, who is slated to assume the presidency of the Conference in two weeks, said that he plans to bring even more mayors next year to ICSC's convention. "This is the premiere place to meet investors and developers," he said. "Next year we will strengthen our partnership with ICSC and provide more mayors an even greater opportunity to sell their cities."

Garner told the audience that one of his highest priorities would be to encourage greater communication between mayors and developer and to foster closer linkage with transportation and community revitalization.

Following the town meeting, mayors met one-on-one with developer in a session where each mayor was given a desk to discuss development deals in their cities.

That evening Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman entertained the delegation of mayors in his home where he discussed the development opportunities of the nation's fastest growing city.