By Ed Somers
October 20, 2003

Conference President Hempstead (NY) Mayor James A. Garner took his message of sustainable development and local leadership to a meeting of Latin American diplomats and local government leaders in Mexico City on September 24-26.

The meeting was sponsored by the Organization of American States and officially titled the "Second Meeting Of Ministers And High-Level Authorities Responsible For Policies On Decentralization, Local Government And Citizen Participation at The Municipal Level In The Hemisphere."

Participating in the meeting were diplomats and officials from countries all across Southern, Central and Northern America that are working to promote decentralization as a way of improving participatory democracy and economic opportunity.

The United States delegation was led by Ruben Barrales, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs for the White House, and included Mayor Garner, National League of Cities President Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. of New Haven and National Association of Counties President Karen Miller of Boone County (MO).

As part of the Mexico mission, the local government representatives met with mayors and executive directors of local government organizations from across Latin America.

As part of Barrales's formal presentation, Garner was provided the opportunity to address the conference.

In his remarks, Garner said, "Localism — or Federalism — is the cornerstone of our democracy in the United States. The guiding principle that has been central to the success of U.S. federalism is that the powers of our central government are limited, and state and local governments — which are closest to the people — play a critical role in our governmental system."

"That is why state and local governments continue to oppose what we call -unfunded mandates- where the federal government directs our actions without providing resources," Garner added.

Garner highlighted the Conference's Metro Economies Report, and urged the delegates to develop similar information in their countries to help build that case for localism, which was a very popular message.

In concluding his remarks, Garner argued, "One of the strongest arguments for localism is that it promotes competition. Cities and counties of all sizes compete to attract businesses, and we compete to provide a good quality of life that attracts citizens. This competition at the local level drives us to improve services, protect the environment, balance our budgets, keep taxes at reasonable levels, invest in infrastructure, improve public safety, and promote sustainable development."