By Rhonda A. Spears
August 5, 2002

Conference of Mayors President Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino addressed the United States Chamber of Commerce CEO Leadership Conference in Pasadena (CA) on July 29. In his speech, Mayor Menino discussed breaking the old stereotype of mayors and businesses not working together and building a stronger partnership with the business community. "Today, as president of the United States Conference of Mayors, I want to personally reach out to you and ask you to be a partner with us," Menino said.

Mayor Menino further explained that this partnership marks a new day in the relationship between the business community and mayors. "It begins an effort to take the common ground that we have established with business leaders in our cities and turn it into shared purpose at the national level," he added.

During this address, Mayor Menino extended an invitation to the Chamber CEOs to join the nation's mayors in Washington, D.C. on September 26 for "Lobby Day" where the focus will be on two major priorities — homeland security and economic security. "Since September 11th, the job of mayor has changed and we now operate on those two tracks. We work to keep our cities secure and safe for those who live and work there. And we work to build a better economic future for the working families of our cities," Menino said.

Mayor Menino also asked the Chamber CEOs and the business community to work with mayors to develop sound policies in four key areas: housing, workforce development, education, and public safety to help foster future economic growth.

As President of the Coference of Mayors, Mayor Menino has made housing his top priority. Menino said, "I believe housing is key to our nation's economic prosperity. Housing construction creates jobs for the people who build the houses — as well as the banker who writes the mortgages, the real estate broker who sells the house, appliance companies, furniture companies — everybody wins!"

Another issue where Menino said businesses can join together with mayors is in the area of workforce development and training. Menino stated that for most Americans, the day of employment at one company for all of their life is over. Many people will need new skills and retraining. "America's future depends on a highly skilled workforce, the best in the world. I ask you to work with us to ensure that our nation's workforce development system receives the necessary support," he added.

Additionally, Menino focused the Chamber's attention to the Conference's Metro Economies report that was released this past June in Madison at the Annual Meeting. This report shows that over 90 percent of the new jobs in the year 2000 were created in cities and over 86 percent of the nation's gross domestic product was generated by those same cities. "What this tells us is that our cities are the economic engines of the American economy and if we are to remain strong we must develop national policies that continue to make our cities productive," Menino added.

Finally, Menino challenged the United States Chamber of Commerce and its individual members to join forces with the mayors of this nation to take the message to the American people "that to ensure the future growth of our economy we must ensure the future growth of our cities."