By Dustin Tyler Joyce
October 22, 2007

Mayors across the country emphasized the importance of savings and wise personal financial management by recognizing Dollar Wi$e Week 2007, September 24-29. Cities marked the week through mayoral proclamations, press releases, seminars, workshops, and other public outreach efforts, and through a variety of community events. Many mayors built strong local partnerships with community organizations to organize and promote their Dollar Wi$e efforts.

The annual celebration of financial literacy, now in its fourth year, focused on “Savings for Kids and Families.” On this theme, Conference President Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer noted, “One reason so many people don’t regularly put money into a savings account is that they didn’t learn the significance of savings when they were young. In my city—and in every city—we can have a lasting positive impact by teaching our children not to spend all their money at once. In fact, the younger we can reach them with this message about savings, the better.”

Dollar Wi$e Week is an initiative of the Mayors’ National Dollar Wi$e Campaign, the financial literacy effort of The United States Conference of Mayors and the Council for the New American City (CNAC). Detroit Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick, CNAC’s chair, commented, “Prudently managing personal finances is essential to achieving a healthy financial future. Teaching our youth the importance of having a savings account and how to balance their checkbook will help them become fiscally-responsible adults.”

Countrywide Financial Corporation is the founding sponsor of Dollar Wi$e. Mary Jane Seebach, Countrywide’s Managing Director of Public Affairs, expressed her encouragement of the week’s purpose. “Dollar Wi$e is working in communities each day to provide consumers with relevant financial education programs that ultimately assist them in making informed financial decisions. Countrywide is a proud supporter of this national effort and joins in encouraging Savings for Kids and Families during this year’s Dollar Wi$e Week,” she said.

Citigroup joined this year as a cosponsor of Dollar Wi$e Week. “We strongly believe that financial education, particularly among youth and young adults, is critical to the development of strong, sustainable communities,” stated Senior Vice President Eric Eve.

Avondale held to two seminars on “Teaching Kids to Save” September 25. The seminars were part of Avondale’s Financially F.I.T. (“Freedom to Invest in Tomorrow”) program.

Between the seminars, representatives of The U.S. Conference of Mayors and Countrywide presented Avondale Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers a check for $15,000, provided by the Dollar Wi$e Capacity Grants Program, which offers cities funding to enhance their financial-literacy efforts. “Avondale is pleased to be a part of this campaign to spread the message about the positive impact of saving money and investing in the future,” Rogers said.

Louisville held a series of events throughout Dollar Wi$e Week. Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson helped kick off the city’s festivities at the annual Louisville Asset Building Summit September 24, funded by The U.S. Conference of Mayors through a $25,000 Dollar Wi$e Capacity Grant. “Financially stable families make for a more stable community,” Abramson said. “Everyone can learn to be dollar-wise and chart a course for financial self-sufficiency.”

Other events included Teach Children to Save Day, in partnership with the Louisville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis and Jefferson County Public Schools; and the DollarWise Family Festival along Louisville’s downtown riverfront.

Bettendorf, Davenport, and Silvis (IA) and Moline, Rock Island, and East Moline (IL) together organized events across the area throughout Dollar Wi$e Week. Public seminars included teaching children to save, planning to pay for college, and achieving homeownership.

A highlight was “Bucks for Baskets,” held simultaneously in three locations with the help of local financial institutions. The basketball activity for youth combined savings, music, and prizes such as gift certificates for deposit and basketballs.

Area mayors—including Davenport Mayor Ed Winborn, East Moline Mayor John Thodos, Moline Mayor Don Walvaert, and Rock Island Mayor Mark Schweibert—participated in the second annual QC Mayors’ Financial Literacy Breakfast, where they recognized community members for their contributions to financial literacy.

Lewiston Mayor Laurent F. Gilbert, Sr., came into the community during Dollar Wi$e Week to emphasize the importance of savings. At a press conference on September 24, Gilbert proclaimed Dollar Wi$e Week in the community.

The city partnered with three local credit unions to promote the message of Savings for Kids and Families. During the week, the mayor visited each credit union to greet patrons.

Gilbert spent time with local children on September 29, helping to teach them to save. The mayor read the children a cartoon-depicted story focusing on “Spending, Savings, and Sharing.”

Mayor Richard Moccia teamed up with a local bank’s vice president to teach children the value of wise personal financial management. According to local newspaper the Advocate, Moccia and Webster Bank Vice President Fred Wilms visited fifth-graders at Norwalk’s Kendall Elementary School.

The children were full of questions about credit cards: How soon could they get them? If they cut the cards up, would they still have to pay them back in full?

“They’re already thinking that way,” the Advocate quoted Moccia as saying, adding that it underscores why it is important to talk to children about savings.

Mayor Kevin Burns participated in a financial seminar for all clubs and organizations at North Miami Senior High School September 25. An additional seminar was held for students at Johnson & Wales University.

A press conference on September 24 announced North Miami’s participation in the Mayors’ National Dollar Wi$e Campaign and kicked off the week’s events. At the end of the week, the North Miami Public Library hosted a seminar as part of the Investor Education @ Your Library® program, sponsored nationally by the American Library Association and locally by the Florida Office for Financial Regulation.

“Savings are an important building block for the foundation of the American Dream,” Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson said. “They are essential to making possible many hopes and dreams—owning a home, educating our children, and having stable families.”

Under Johnson’s direction, the Savannah Dollar Wise Week Committee invited citizens to a full slate of activities throughout the week. Events included an invitation-only evening meeting with the mayor; collaboration with local elementary schools; and a community showing of the film Maxed Out.

Savannah’s efforts received extensive coverage in the local media, including the Savannah Morning News, WSAV-TV, and WTOC-TV.

The Greater Trenton Earned Income Tax Credit Asset Building Coalition joined forces with the Newark Asset Building Coalition to host a Statewide Economic Empowerment Forum for policymakers on September 27.

“The Internal Revenue Service estimates that some $127 million in Earned Income Tax Credit dollars went unclaimed by New Jersey working families in 2005, a significant loss to the taxpayer—and the local economy,” Conference President Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer pointed out. “Recognizing that knowledge of money management opens many doors for future prosperity, the asset building coalition is working to provide low- to moderate-income families with financial literacy education to help break the cycle of poverty and increase their economic stability and prosperity.”

Alexandria held a free Financial Information Fair September 25 on the campus of Northern Virginia Community College. Participants, including Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille, had the opportunity to learn more about money management, financial planning, and the importance of financial literacy.

Alexandria has a broad base of community support for its financial literacy efforts. Organizations involved in putting on the fair included the local chamber of commerce, Alexandria City Public Schools, ALIVE! (Alexandrians Involved Ecumenically), Citibank, ECDC Enterprise Development Group, Federal Citizen Information Center, Long and Foster, NAACP, National Association of Retirement Counselors, and Virginia Commerce Bank.

Mayor Heather McTeer Hudson promoted the Mayors’ National Dollar Wi$e Campaign by sponsoring a seminar on preventing identity theft on September 25. A representative of the Greenville Police Department spoke to members of the community on how to keep identity theft from happening to them. The seminar was hosted by Planters Bank, which also sponsored free shredding of attendees’ personal identity papers.

North Chicago (IL)

Mayor Leon Rockingham, Jr., proclaimed Dollar Wi$e Week in North Chicago and spoke about the importance of savings and personal fiscal responsibility. Through a proclamation, press release, and other means, Rockingham emphasized the importance of financial literacy and established it as a priority for his city.

“The most important investors in American cities are families and individuals,” Rockingham continued. “There is no better time than now for the citizens of North Chicago to take advantage of programs and activities geared toward financial management and prosperity. Improved financial literacy will result in a higher standard of living and more stable community.”