by Ed Somers
May 29, 2006

Representatives Mike Turner (OH) and Mike Capuano (MA) announced May 23 the formation of the Congressional Former Mayors Caucus.

The Caucus will be a forum for former mayors to effectively address the broad range of policy issues impacting cities and towns throughout the country. The Caucus will serve as a forum to discuss and influence federal policies and practices that impact current mayors and the cities and towns that they represent.

The Congressional Former Mayors Caucus is bi-partisan, and as of the press event 18 members had joined.

Turner stated, “As the former mayor of Dayton and Chairman of Speaker Hastert’s Saving America’s Cities working group, I am excited about the opportunity to work with members with similar backgrounds to address the needs of our nation’s cities and towns. The Former Mayors Caucus is another outlet that will allow me to continue my work with cities.”

Capuano said, “The Caucus will be a forum to highlight the issues impacting our nation’s cities. As the former mayor of Somerville, Massachusetts, I have experienced firsthand how federal policies impact local communities.”

In commenting on the announcement, Conference of Mayors Executive Director Tom Cochran said, “Congressmen Turner and Capuano have been strong leaders for mayors and cities, and we welcome this new bi-partisan Congressional Former Mayors Caucus. We need all the help we can get. Over the past several years, we have had to fight hard to protect our interests and the needs of our citizens on priorities such as the Community Development Block Grant, telecommunications, and eminent domain. With so many key former mayors now in Congress, we look forward to working with the Caucus to strengthen the federal-local partnership on issues related to job creation, economic opportunity, and much more.”