Washington, DC
October 17, 2003

Mayors/Police Chiefs/Ongoing Street and Neighborhood Crime

Mayors and police chiefs came together in Miami at our Fall Leadership Meeting to discuss something other than homeland security. They remind us that we still have crime and violence on our streets and in our cities and neighborhoods. They are concerned that some members of Congress don't seem to understand the importance the federal/city COPS and Local Law Enforcement Block Grant(LLEBG) programs are to the crime reductions we have had in our cities. These programs are facing cuts of up to $569 million.

Gary (IN) Mayor Scott King, Chairman of the Mayors and Police Chiefs Task Force, led the discussions in a special early morning meeting in which mayors and police chiefs were most candid in expressing frustration over how Washington does not seem to understand the direct relationship between these two federal initiatives and the reduction of crime in our streets and neighborhoods.

Richmond (CA) Police Chief Joseph Samuel, Jr., President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, pledged his organization's support to full funding for the COPS and LLEBG initiatives.

Next week the IACP holds its Annual Meeting in Philadelphia and Conference President Hempstead (NY) Mayor James Garner will address the group and further gather support from the police chiefs as they join with mayors to make the argument that the COPS and LLEBG must be fully funded.

Unfortunately, some people say this is a Clinton program and for one reason or another, it should not be continued. Working with President Clinton, the mayors and police chiefs drastically reduced crime in our nation in the mid-90s. The facts are there and the police chiefs will tell you the Clinton initiative worked. It is ridiculous to kill the COPS programs just because it was a Clinton initiative. Nixon created the Community Development Block Grant program. Democrats and Republicans have supported it and pointed to its successes for over 25 years. It's wrong to kill a program that is successful because someone dislikes or hates a President. We didn-t kill CDBG because some members of Congress hated Nixon. We shouldn-t kill the COPS or LLEBG programs because some members of Congress hate Clinton. They need to get over it. With all of their challenges, both of these Presidents put their political weight on the line to help the cities of America be safer and stronger. Their innovative and successful initiatives which invests USA federal tax dollars into USA cities with USA tax dollars sent from USA cities to Washington should be continued.

Mayors and police chiefs will continue to make the argument that these funds are needed to keep crime down and make our cities safer and stronger for all of us. We need all of you involved in this effort. Please notice our faxes and alerts on this critical issue of funding the COPS and LLEBG programs. If you have questions, contact Ed Somers, Assistant Executive Director at 202-861-6706.

USA Infrastructure Investment/New York City/ November 12

Over the past few months, the infrastructure of Iraq has been on the front burner. As USMayor goes to press, Congress acts on President Bush's $87 billion request for the military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Some Republican Senators have voiced concerns that the money going to Iraq for reconstruction should be a loan. Most observers believe that Congress — Democrats and Republicans — will in the end support President Bush's request to rebuild Iraq. After all Democrats supported the war that destroyed the infrastructure. And when they voted to destroy, they certainly knew that we — the USA — would foot the bill for a big ticket item to rebuild what we bombed. That's the way it is. It's the American way. We bombed the hell out of Germany and other European countries in WWII and we came forth with the Marshall plan to rebuild Europe. We dropped the big one on Japan and we helped rebuild that nation. We invested billions in a defense structure to protect Japan while they invested their money in a "bullet" train system that travels over 100 miles an hour from one place to the other. And we are stuck with a challenged Amtrak system and as we sit in our cars in gridlock on the congested interstate highway system that was built by President Eisenhower after WWII to help us flee from the Russians when they were going to bomb us. So what's the big deal? We knew we were going to rebuild Iraq. So perhaps we should go ahead and do what the President knew and we all knew we were going to do when we gave him the support he needed to destroy the Iraq infrastructure. What's a few more billion with the deficit we already have? So, sooner or later, Democrats and Republicans will give our President what he wants. We already know billions will go to Iraq.

In the midst of the billions going to Iraq after a war Congress supported, some are raising the question about infrastructure needs here in our own country. For many years now the infrastructure and deferred maintenance has been a serious issue.

Recently, the American Society of Civil Engineers released their 2003 Program Report in the form of a Report Card for America's Infrastructure. Here are some highlights with their grades of A,B,C,D and F:

Roads (grade D-). The nation is failing to maintain the substandard conditions we currently have, a dangerous trend affecting highway safety. The average rush "hour" grew more than 18 minutes between 1997 and 2000.

Bridges (grade C). As of 2000, 27.5 percent of the nation's bridges (162,000) were structurally deficient or functionally obsolete; $9.4 billion for 20 years to eliminate all bridge deficiencies.

Transit (grade C-). Ridership has increased 22 percent since 1998 — the highest level in 40 years. TEA-21 spending has helped, but declining physical conditions called for the present $9.5 billion to be doubled to reach the projected need of $18.9 billion.

Aviation (grade D). Even with post 9/11 decline, the FAA forecasts US enplanements to reach 1 billion in 2014. This is compared to 2001 which showed 683 million enplanements. A 5.3 percent air cargo increase is expected for the next 12 years. The FAA states 2 billion is needed.

Schools (grade D-). The lowest grade goes to the physical condition of our schools due to severe overcrowding, aging outdated facilities or new class sizes. A whopping 75 percent of our nation's school buildings remain inadequate to meet the needs of our school children. Capital investment needed is $3,800 per student, more than half the cost to educate one student per year. Population growth outpaces investment. $127 billion is needed for USA schools.

Drinking Water (grade C). While water quality remains good, the water infrastructure is aging rapidly. Federal funding remains flat, yet the infrastructure need continue to increas. There is an annual shortfall of $11 billion in funding to replace or rehabilitate facilities that are nearing the end of their useful life and to comply with federal water regulations.

Waste Water (grade D-). Some sewer systems are 100 years old and many treatment plants are past recommended life expectancy. There is a $12 billion annual shortfall.

Dams (grade D). The number of unsafe dams has risen by 23 percent to over 2,600. There are 10,049 dams that are deemed "high- hazard potential dams" whose failure would cause loss of life. $10.1 billion is needed for USA dams.

Solid Waste (grade C-). Waste sent to landfills has dropped 13 percent since 1990, while waste recovered through recycling has doubled. New technology has created a new stream of discarded electronic equipment which now is 1 percent of municipal solid waste and growing. A USA based e-waste management system is needed.

Hazardous Waste (grade D-). Contaminated new sites has halted. Superfund cleanup has quickened but not enough to keep up with new sites. Brownfield redevelopment is positive with the redevelopment of 922 sites providing new revenue and jobs for cities. There are 24,987 USA brownfield sites awaiting redevelopment.

Navigable Waterways (grade D-). Our 25,000 miles of waterways and harbor channels moving 2.4 billion tons of commerce are in need of modernization. Half of the navigation locks in the USA exceed their 50-year design life.

Energy (grade D-). This past August 50 million people were left without electricity. Transmission investment dropped from $5 billion in 1975 to $2 billion in 2000. USA electric transmission line grid capacity has not been upgraded to meet USA growth demands.

The overall grade for the USA infrastructure is D-. Solid waste got the highest mark of C-. Schools got the lowest with a D-; it's a strange statement about our children in the USA. The group did not grade prisons. New prisons are being built right and left and some of them are quite modern and in better shape with more modern conveniences than some of our schools.

In New York City on November 12, Conference President James Garner will summit with USA mayors and CEOs to bring forth the question of USA infrastructure needs. This discussion will provide direction as we develop our -04 Metro policy recommendations from USA mayors and business leaders to the Presidential candidates of both parties. Conference President Garner will unveil our plan at our Winter Meeting of USA mayors here in Washington next January on the eve of the New Hampshire primary.

The New York meeting will provide the base for our economic security strategies to be incorporated in our -04 document. We are steeped in our strategies for homeland security and crime. Infrastructure needs will be presented as sound investments to increase the quality of life in the USA as some say we must rebuild Iraq — and we must also rebuild and modernize antiquated infrastructure systems in the USA.

I look forward to seeing many of you in New York as we continue our effort to provide recommendations and take action to ensure we have economic security for all and hometown security for all where USA citizens can live without fear of street crime as well as terrorist threats. Let us hope that the next Presidential sweepstakes contains some modicum of discussion — thought and Presidential vision of what needs to be done for USA citizens and USA cities through modernizing our antiquated infrastructure. We must help Iraq. We must support our troops. And we must first and foremost also rebuild America and provide places of work and play — safe havens for our women, men and children of the USA.