By Conference Vice President Akron Mayor Donald L. Plusquellic
June 7, 2004

Last week's news of possible terrorists attacks this summer in American cities followed on the heels of an FBI notice to local law enforcement of new threats to transportation systems — including buses and railways.

For two and a half years, Mayors and first responders have been living with these kinds of warnings — and the confusion surrounding threat levels. We have no choice but to take every warning seriously — because the lives of our residents may depend upon it.

This time, however, I detected a new sense of urgency — and it comes as our special Homeland Security task force is preparing its recommendations to Secretary Tom Ridge. We believe that these recommendations will improve how federal funding gets to cities more quickly.

As reported previously in USMAYOR, the Conference is represented on the "Task Force on State and Local Homeland Security" by our President James A. Garner of Hempstead, Advisory Board Chair Beverly O'Neill of Long Beach, Criminal and Social Justice Committee Chair Chris Bollwage of Elizabeth, and myself.

Each of the "Big 7" state and local government organizations — governors, state legislatures, counties and National League of Cities — are also represented on the Task Force. Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney serves as Chair. I was selected to serve as Vice Chair of the Task Force.

We all started with different perspectives on the issue, and not everyone who came to the first conference of the Task Force was convinced there should be an urgency to our work. Mayors knew — especially following the release of our 2nd Homeland Security Monitoring Survey — that in most cases, the funds must wind their way through three levels of bureaucracies before showing up in our cities.

President Bush said as much at our 72nd Winter Meeting when he pledged to "unstick" the funding. His visit to the Conference meeting was immediately followed by a call from Secretary Ridge to Tom Cochran, and subsequently, the Task Force on funding was established.

What have we learned from the effort so far? The distribution process is uneven from state to state, and because each state has chosen to handle the money differently, it has been difficult to track the billions of dollars in the system. Even where a state has sent money to counties or regional governments, as many did, it is even harder to follow the funding because no system was put in place to track it.

This continues to show the importance of the surveys that the Conference of Mayors conducts and that we are all asked to participate in.

Our Task Force has been charged with completing its work presenting a report to The Department of Homeland Security by the middle of June. We expect to meet that goal.

Your representatives to the Task Force have strongly pushed for some form of direct funding. That's been our position from day one. We realize that due to the positions of most of the other members, as well as the charge from Secretary Ridge, it is unlikely that the system of distribution through the states will change that quickly; but it is possible that some form of direct support may yet be possible — especially where cities are charged directly by agencies of the federal government with securing high-threat sites. We have also offered other ideas to improve the system, as it currently exists. We-d like the federal government to re-evaluate the reimbursement nature of the program which most of us seem to agree, has slowed down access to the money.

We also would like procurement rules and procedures to be re-examined; and, we all agree that a better tracking mechanism is needed so that everyone — elected officials, the press and the public _can clearly see where the money is.

Our safety forces have done a tremendous job since September 11 protecting our residents, but our police departments must have the resources they need to provide the continuing, extra security for critical infrastructure and visitor sites that are called for by federal officials. And yes, this in many cases means overtime. There simply is no substitute for more officers on the streets — being vigilant, gathering and sharing intelligence, and engaging with the community. (We learned this lesson in the 1990's war against crime, and it is just as true today in the war against terrorism.)

What is clear to me through these discussions — is that there are many dedicated officials at the state and local level who are motivated to help our federal government protect our residents. No matter what we are able to gain in the writing of the final report of the DHS Task Force, it is my hope that this process of consultation and collaboration with cities can continue.

I also hope that the final report conveys the sense of urgency that Mayors give to the issue of homeland security. We agree that there is a need for careful planning, regional cooperation and thoughtful grant management; but, for us, this issue is about equipping and training our domestic troops. We must treat first responders as the soldiers they have become in the war on terrorism, and not allow bureaucracy to hamper the urgent need to prevent attacks and prepare to respond.