By Dana Bykowski
July 1, 2002

Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman hosted the first CitiesFirst™ Task Force meeting on Friday, June 14th during the United States Conference of Mayors 70th Annual Meeting. Several mayors from all over the country attended the meeting ranging from cities in California, Ohio, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Kansas and Colorado. Several important issues were raised during the meeting, including the need for affordable workforce housing for city employers, building affordable units near methods of transportation, and working with local builders and developers to increase housing production at a lower, more reasonable cost.

"I am very grateful to the leadership of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Nehemiah Corporation for bringing a partnership program to the USCM focusing solely on the issues of affordable housing, access to homeownership, and special needs housing. Under the leadership of our current president, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino, CitiesFirst™ will help mayors across the country to make housing a number one priority for their cities," Mayor Coleman said.

CitiesFirst™ announced several milestones that have occurred over the past year, including providing $300 million dollars in down-payment assistance to more than 110,000 families in 5,521 cities through The Nehemiah Program. CitiesFirst™ is currently developing four special needs housing projects and working with the mayor's office in the cities of Baltimore, Indianapolis, Charlotte and Atlanta. Over the course of the next few months, we will continue to hear about the progress of the facilities that will provide a safe living environment for the mentally ill and disadvantaged youths, and former substance abusers. Scott Syphax, President & CEO of Nehemiah Corporation, was also on hand to discuss the success of the roundtables that have occurred ove"These roundtable discussions are an important tool for all of us who want to work towards combating the affordable housing crisis in urban areas," said Syphax.

"These roundtable discussions are an important tool for all of us who want to work towards combating the affordable housing crisis in urban areas," said Syphax.

North Little Rock Mayor Patrick Henry Hays, who hosted the first CitiesFirst™ roundtable discussion, encouraged other mayors to become involved in the CitiesFirst™ program. "I encourage all of you to use the resources that CitiesFirst™ has to offer member mayors here at the Conference. We had a good dialogue going between representatives from our chamber of commerce, local builders and real estate developers, our housing authority, local banks, our economic development corporation, and community development organizations. CitiesFirst™ has several housing programs available to cities, and brings a wealth of knowledge and technical assistance to mayors in the area of economic development and expanding opportunities for homeownership."

For more information about CitiesFirst™, please contact Managing Director, Dana Bykowski, at (202)

861-6764 or via email at dbykowski@usmayors.org