Washington, DC – At its 90th Annual Meeting in Reno, Nevada earlier this month, the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) launched a new Public-Private Partnerships Task Force. The task force will be a hub for mayors to discuss opportunities, challenges, and best practices around public-private partnerships and their cities. It will be led by Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who was appointed chair by Conference President Miami Mayor Francis Suarez.
The announcement continues the Conference’s years-long commitment to promoting and nurturing public-private partnerships, including the production of a best-practices guide in 2019. The partnerships hold the potential to significantly save money for cities while improving services for residents and helping grow local economies. With the task force, the Conferences hopes to empower mayors to enlist the help of businesses and non-profits to improve local infrastructure and services for residents, workers, and families.
“Mayors uniquely understand the critical role of public-private partnerships in encouraging job growth, advancing public and social infrastructure and ensuring connected communities across our cities,” said Mayor Suarez, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and mayor of Miami, Florida. “That was the impetus behind the creation of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ new Public-Private Partnerships Task Force, and I can’t think of a better chairman for that Task Force than Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens. I’m grateful for Mayor Dickens’ leadership in championing collaboration between our public and private sectors as we work together to foster vibrant, resilient communities.”
“It is an honor to lead this newly formed Task Force and I look forward to working with a stellar bipartisan group of mayors on how best to collectively move our cities forward,” said Atlanta Mayor Dickens. “Mayors have audacious goals on public safety, transportation and our other priorities, but we can’t realize them alone. The private sector plays an important role in delivering. In Atlanta, we have shown how public-private partnerships like the Atlanta BeltLine and At-Promise Centers can be a powerful tool to build key infrastructure investments. I look forward to our work to share best practices on how we can invest in our infrastructure through these innovative partnerships.”
“In Austin, we already utilize public-private partnerships to build and scale a solution to homelessness and infrastructure projects,” said USCM Trustee Austin Mayor Steve Adler. “There are not enough public dollars to meet these challenges, and we limit innovation if we act alone. This task force is an opportunity for mayors to share and build on public-private partnerships that work.”
“The resources from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform the infrastructure of our cities, and we can accomplish even bigger, bolder things if we collaborate with the private sector,” said USCM Trustee San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria. “Here in San Diego, a public-private partnership is helping America’s largest border City deliver a new, state-of-the-art Port of Entry to enhance travel, trade, and binational commerce. When the public and private sectors work together, we can make a broader impact on the lives of our residents. I look forward to sharing what we’re doing in San Diego and learning from my colleagues as part of this effort.”
“We are very pleased to be a foundational part of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ P3 Task Force,” said Rodney Moss, Senior Vice President of Public-Private Partnerships for Hunt. “At Hunt, we know the value and power of public-private partnerships in delivering critical infrastructure faster and more cost-effectively, having successfully delivered more than 300 P3 projects over the last three decades. The collaboration of this group will help advise and educate mayors and public sector leaders on this type of progressive delivery, and we look forward to bringing our expertise to the table.”