By Washington, DC
August 1, 2003

Garner Leadership Meeting/New York City/Hempstead

Conference President James Garner called mayors to New York City last week to work among themselves in developing an '04 metropolitan action agenda to present to the '04 Presidential and Congressional candidates. In Manhattan we were hosted by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at Gracie Mansion and it was a time to discuss the budget challenges facing New York and the terrible and most unfortunate murder in City Hall of New York City Councilman James E. Davis the day before.

During our work sessions at the New York Hilton there was great energy as Mayor Garner has charged his new team of standing committee chairs to work with our staff and experts in developing our '04 agenda. Mayor Garner indicated this is our first stab at our final agenda. He will convene our leadership again on October 9, 2003 at the Loews Hotel in South Beach. Joining us then in our tables of discussion will be members of our Mayors Business Council and other corporate partners. Our new President wants leaders and the business community with us as we advocate key priority challenges most needed to keep our metro/local economies as they are the metro-engines that drive our national economy.

After working in Manhattan we traversed by bus to our new President's hometown for a day in Hempstead, New York. Mayor Garner had used his connections with Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and the Bush White House to have Secretary Ridge and White House staff with us. Our meeting in Hempstead took place at Hofstra University. Closed to the press, mayors had an opportunity for candid questions and discussion with Secretary Ridge about how the homeland security funds are being distributed. Secretary Ridge also faced the cameras with us for a press conference after our meeting at Hofstra. It was a good day of "give and take" as we all worked together to make certain homeland security funds for first responders get to our first responders in our cities. Mayors of both parties left energized to continue to help Mayor Garner as he works with the business community to forge an '04 metro-action agenda for the Presidential sweepstakes and our Presidential election now only fifteen months away.

National Urban League/ Garner/Morial/Pittsburgh

Mayor Garner and I, representing the Conference of Mayors, participated as guests in the installation of former Mayor Marc Morial as he was inducted to be President and CEO of the National Urban League in Pittsburgh last week.

Mayor Garner addressed the National Urban League delegates, praising them for selecting a Mayor and former President of the Conference of Mayors to be their new President. Mayor Garner and President Morial have announced they want cross fertilization of our polices and '04 action agenda. There is common ground in their priority issues and ours.

NUL President Marc Morial gave a forceful speech — most substantive — focusing on education, youth, health care and the challenge we all face with such a large portion of our African American young males locked up in prison. Without question, Marc Morial will emerge on the national scene to fill a void that now exists in the current pre-debate bantering among the Democratic candidates and President Bush.

President Bush also addressed the Urban League delegates. He recognized our President, Mayor Garner, when he spoke. President Bush also met with NUL President Morial and Conference of Mayors President James Garner before he addressed the plenary session in Pittsburgh.

Competing Amtrak Proposals

Four Republican Senators have broken from the Administration and will offer their own proposals. This is big. Our organization has worked with Senators Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas and Trent Lott of Mississippi to save Amtrak through the years. The other two are Senators Conrad Burns of Montana and Olympia Snowe of Maine. In addition, as U.S.Mayor goes to press Democratic Senators Thomas R. Carper, Fritz Hollings and Frank Lautenberg have announced that they will also be introducing a comprehensive passenger and freight rail proposal in early September. We are pleased and fortunate to have leading our efforts two strong Mayors John Robert Smith of Meridian and Patrick Henry Hays of North Little Rock to champion our cause. They will need your help as we work with the four Republican Senators and the three Democratic Senators who have stood up this week and said we must come forth with a bipartisan plan providing sound investments to keep our national rail system going. Senator Hutchison told the press yesterday that the only thing wrong with Amtrak is that we starved it to death. And she's right.

Watch for our continued faxes and emails on this effort. If you have questions, call Ron Thaniel, Assistant Executive Director for Transportation - (202) 861-6711.

Seabiscuit. The Book, The Movie, The Horse, Our People

Laura Hillenbrand's best seller hardback and paperback edition has now been transformed into a movie. It opened last week. Carlotta and I saw it in New York after the leadership meeting. And when it was over people applauded.

It's about a horse — and yet it is more about our people. They wait awhile in the movie before you ever see the horse. In fact it is more about the American people in the thirties, so many broke and broken. It's about what the horse did to help those that were close to him and what the horse did for our nation during the Great Depression. He brought the broken people of our nations together when it was ever so needed.

I mention it here because Seabiscuit's time was the same time — in the 1930s — our mayors came together in Detroit to form our organization, The United States Conference of Mayors. Their cities were full of broken people. The mayors did not know what to do. And so they came together. They needed one another. It was this bonding during Seabiscuit's days when mayors had no one to turn to but themselves.

And that is the culture of our organization today. When there is a need — even before a crisis — the mayors come together. They huddle. They think. They listen. They act.

Today we see the Presidential election 15 months up the road. There is no adequate discussion today among any of the candidates that will produce the comprehensive plan we need to keep our nation strong. Conference President Garner gave us this vision as he took the gavel in Denver this past June. Mayors are responding to his vision and his Presidency. They came together last week in New York City and pledged to develop the national agenda for our cities, large and small — urban and suburban — within our metropolitan areas. This time we are going to be joined at the hip with big and small business. Yes, it's "come together" time. And the mayors are doing it this year with zest and energy.