By Elena Temple
August 25, 2008

Led by U.S. Conference of Mayors President Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, host New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Co-Chair of the national infrastructure coalition Building America’s Future, and Conference Vice President Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, the nation’s mayors held their second press event in conjunction with the second Mayors ’08 Action Forum on infrastructure in New York City August 14. At that conference, mayors called for a new local/federal partnership to bring critical investment to our nation’s cities in transportation, water and other critical public infrastructure.

Noting that the American Society of Civil Engineers grades our nation’s infrastructure at a D, Diaz said, “When a bridge collapses in Minneapolis, steam pipes explode in Manhattan and levies burst in New Orleans … and these are not isolated incidents, they are symptoms of an underfunded national infrastructure.”

Diaz believes that Washington no longer invests in its cities and its people. He continued, “Washington has lost its values – lost its principles – lost its sense of purpose – engaging in endless debate and partisan bickering while people in this country continue to suffer. … Plain and simple, Washington has abandoned us.”

During the press conference, mayors talked about their determination to replace antiquated transportation and infrastructure systems in ways that are climate and energy centered, as well as their demand to use existing infrastructure resources more efficiently. The mayors also released a report on water infrastructure underscoring that public infrastructure investment yields positive returns, and investment in water and sewer infrastructure has greater returns than most other types of public infrastructure.

Bloomberg commented, “Today’s action forum has put the spotlight on the national failure of our infrastructure policy. It’s a failure that has two fundamental causes, the federal government is not investing enough in our infrastructure, and, when it does, it’s not investing wisely. If America is going to remain the world’s economic superpower, this must change.”

The Mayors Action Forum on infrastructure is the second in a series of mayoral forums in key cities around the country intended to challenge the next Presidential Administration to invest in America’s cities and metropolitan areas – the economic engines of the nation accounting for 86 percent of the Gross Domestic Product and where over 85 percent of people in the country live. Recommendations from this forum and four others will be presented to the next President of the United States during the critical first 100 days of the new administration.