By Ed Somers
October 12, 2009

Almost 60 mayors traveled to Seattle on October 1-3 for the largest USCM Fall Leadership Meeting in the organization’s history. Conference President Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels hosted the meeting.

Over the course of the meeting, the mayors met with top officials from the Obama Administration on priorities including passage of climate legislation with dedicated funding for the Energy Block Grant (EECBG), health insurance reform, the continuing mortgage foreclosure crisis, implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), reauthorization of the nation’s surface transportation law, the 2010 Census, drug treatment, improving public schools, amending the Stafford disaster assistance law, proposed changes to federal floodplain rules, and ARRA broadband grant “anchor institution” concerns.

Participating from the Administration in the meeting were:

• Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan

• Energy Secretary Steven Chu

• White House “Drug Czar” Gil Kerlikowske

• White House Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley

• White House Urban Affairs Director Adolfo Carrion

• Census Director Robert Groves

• HUD Deputy Secretary Ron Sims

• Transportation Deputy Secretary John Porcari

• Education Deputy Secretary Tony Miller

• Special Assistant to the President for Urban Affairs Derek Douglas

• White House Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Cecilia Muńoz

• White House Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs David Agnew

A number of other agencies also sent intergovernmental staff to meet with the mayors.

The meeting featured a press conference where Mesa (AZ) Mayor Scott Smith was announced as the 1,000th signatory to the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement. The meeting itself was closed to the press to allow for a detailed and open discussion between the mayors and the Administration.

A major theme of the meeting was the increasing budget difficulties being faced by cities of all sizes across the nation. Mayors discussed ways they are addressing these concerns through contract renegotiations, furloughs, service reductions – and in some cases layoffs.

As part of this discussion, and the news that unemployment had reached 9.8 percent nationally, the mayors sent a letter to President Obama seeking a meeting with Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag and National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers to discuss the role the Fiscal Year 2011 Federal Budget, or any supplemental appropriations, could play in addressing these critical concerns.

The letter stated that, “We believe that over the coming year, targeted initiatives within your FY 2011 Budget Request, along with supplemental appropriations measures, must be put in place to address jobless rates that have far exceeded earlier projections. These initiatives can be quickly implemented to create jobs now.” The letter outlined the following funding priorities:

• Fully Fund the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program (EECBG)

• Fully Fund the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program at Inflation Adjusted Dollars

• Fund the COPS Program at ARRA Levels

• Provide ARRA Level Funding for Summer Youth Jobs

• Provide Targeted Fiscal Relief for High Unemployment Cities and Metro Economies

• Provide Additional Funding for the TIGER Grant Program