Washington, DC
July 29, 2011

Conference President Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa convened our 2011 Summer Leadership Meeting in Los Angeles this month and 50 plus mayors came to the table to hear expert after expert talk to them, offering advice, ideas and their vision. President Villaraigosa presided over all panels of the Summer Meeting. Mayors present played their part in the question and answer sessions following the panels loaded with experts.

The press, TV and print attended all of these meetings, which helped produce many messages on a number of issues from the many panels of speakers during our Summer Leadership Meeting.

At our press conference, with 11 cameras and the print press represented, President Villaraigosa focused on the debt ceiling stalemate between President Obama and Congress. Mayor Villaraigosa urged Washington to get the debt ceiling behind us and focus on jobs, jobs, and jobs.

Our other two top officers, Philadelphia Mayor Mike Nutter and Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, echoed the emphasis on jobs.

Mayors present voted unanimously to send a letter from Los Angeles to President Obama, Speaker Boehner, Majority Leader Reid, and other Congressional leaders, urging them to come forth with a compromise on the debt ceiling issue now.

As U.S.Mayor goes to press, the back and forth continues as we wonder out loud if mayors and city councils can compromise and get it done at the local level, why can’t Washington leaders do the same? Everyone knows this issue has to be resolved now. Mayors are saying to them get it done and get it done now!

As Philadelphia Mayor Nutter said in LA, “The unemployment statistics came out with 9.2 percent, totally unacceptable, and no one even mentioned it.” Mayor Nutter says no one in Philadelphia ever shouts out to him, “What about the deficit?” or, “What about the debt ceiling?” Mayor Nutter says they scream every day, “What about a job?” Mayor Nutter says Washington must stop bickering and give the American people a national plan for creating jobs.

The elephant in the room at our Los Angeles Meeting that wasn’t discussed are the massive cutbacks of the Conference of Mayors- key federal programs – CDBG, Summer Youth, the COPS program, transportation funding, and workforce training monies. Over the past few weeks, the issue of draconian budget cuts emphasized at our 2011 Winter Meeting and last month at our 79th Annual Meeting in Baltimore disappeared. Unless Mayors speak up and continue to fight, billions will be lost.

In the past decades, debt ceiling votes have been as regular as daily mail. This year, this new Congress has put the full faith and credit of The United States of America in jeopardy. Millions of Americans who are out of work, veterans, and fixed-income senior citizens are stressed out. Our international competitors, other nations are laughing at us being held hostage by a group of new members of Congress. The August 2 deadline looms. Let’s hope that when you get this issue of U.S.Mayor, the deal will be dealt and this crisis will pass.

Conference President Villaraigosa, Vice Presidents Nutter and Smith, and the nation’s mayors are all aware that we must have a national jobs plan involving the government and the business community.

President Villaraigosa brings mayors to Washington September 19-21 to continue to fight against unjustified budget cuts and to push The White House and Congress for specifics on producing jobs for the unemployed and economic metro activity to keep our nation strong.

The TV blares away, “Who is winning? The President? Speaker Boehner? The Senate? The Tea Party?”

It’s not about who is winning. It’s about who is losing. That’s us, the American people.