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Osceola's Baker elected to National League of Cities (NLC) Board; Arkansans join the 'race to the future,' as the meeting's theme went in Indy; NLC designs strategy with the nation's cities and towns
By John K. Woodruff, League staff
INDIANAPOLIS-In this Indy 500 city, Arkansas delegates
and their guests helped the National League of Cities
Congress of Cities vote in Osceola Alderman Tommy Baker
to the NLC Board and to participate in the apropos theme,
Racing Toward a Better Future. To get there, newly installed
NLC President Anthony Williams, mayor of Washington,
D.C., proposed strategy to enable cities and towns to
leverage the power of knowledge and information to achieve
their goals. To put it another way, Williams wants the
NLC to be the "go to" information source to not only
tap NLC's resources but to smooth the process that enables
city officials to connect with other cities to share
knowledge of issues of mutual concerns. Williams, who
succeeded Charles Lyons, a selectman at Arlington, Mass.,
had announced some time ago his "knowledge" agenda, so
some strategies were already speeding away during the
conference, Nov. 30-Dec. 4. Among them was the newly
revamped NLC Web site, www.nlc.org.
Williams told a news conference that the NLC was seeking
"how to build relationships and forge relationships with
the second Bush administration." He said cities needed
to focus "on the things most do-able."
Osceola's Baker was among 20 new Board members. Baker,
Arkansas Municipal League president 1999-2000, joined
the Board with 15 other elected officials and four state
municipal league directors. Since Little Rock Mayor Jim
Dailey's term on the Board expired a year ago, Arkansas
has not had a member on the Board. Twenty-eight Arkansas
officials and five guests preregistered for the conference
At the business session wrapping up the conference Dec.
4, the delegates also elected Councilmember James C.
Hunt of Clarksburg, W. Va., as first vice president,
and Mayor Bart Peterson, Indianapolis mayor, as second
vice president. Williams' knowledge-based agenda pairs
with another of his goals as president-to use technology
to advance all the other goals, such as to: · Provide
the needed data and information to build the case for
action at local, state and federal levels to address
urgent problems; · Help local officials connect with
other cities when they have mutual concerns; · Assist
local problem-solving efforts by helping identify the
needed strategies and tools, including lessons learned
from other cities' efforts; · Help position our cities
and towns as "centers of opportunity, leadership and
government"; · Help bring together municipal activists
and their governments to cooperate on community projects.
Cities "less able" to meet financial needs. Speakers, too, fed the intellectual curiosity of the conference participants. Among them was out-going NLC President Lyons who lamented that "no progress" was made for cities and towns in the last congressional session other than in homeland security. But, he added, "I'm an optimist because I have seen the power of local government." He called for a strong federal-state partnership, "to reach out and bring hope to these diverse neighborhoods," and to help make all communities "livable, sustainable." Lyons was hopeful despite an NLC study that concluded this fall that 55 percent of city financial officers responding to an NLC survey believe that their city "was less able to meet financial needs than in the previous fiscal year" and 61 percent of them said their cities will be "less able" to meet financial needs in 2005 than in 2004.
Homeland security policy commended. Lyons echoed Williams's mantra that Washington, D.C., should have voting representation in Congress. Applause broke out each time Williams or others called for D.C. representation in Congress. Williams wants D.C. to decide its own fate. He said it was wrong that "D.C. residents cannot decide their own budget or tax almost 50 percent of their land." The delegates adopted a resolution supporting full voting rights for the District of Columbia in the U.S. House of Representatives. Lyons commended Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge for his desire "to get funds to cities quicker" and Ridge's acknowledgement "that cities are the front line" of defense against terrorists. Cities were "very satisfied" with the Department of Homeland Security decision that 80 percent of homeland security funds would get to first responders in 90 days.
Political "nastiness" faulted. When city officials have tough times making decisions, they could turn to history, Michael Beschloss, told the conference that when former President Harry Truman went out of office, he had a 12 percent approval record, yet today, "we see him as a hero." Beschloss said the founding fathers probably would not want the political "nastiness" of today, unlike years in the past when political opponents would stop their arguing at the end of the day and go have a beer together. He noted the "real relationships" of friends who were from "different sides of the aisle." President Ronald Reagan and Speaker of the House Tip O'Neal, and President Lyndon Johnson and U.S. Senator Everett Dirksen.
Resolutions adopted. Lyons, at a press conference, noted that delegates were at the Congress of Cities "because cities matter-to adopt a unified voice" before Congress. With that united voice, the conference adopted 47 resolutions to guide its strategy with Congress next year. Among the policies and resolutions are these: · Oppose simplification of telecommunications taxes in the Streamline Sales and Use Tax Act; · Keep Head Start local; · End chronic homelessness by seeking new funding; · Reauthorize the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) with a "well-funded, six-year transportion reauthorization bill early in the 109th Congress; · Support full funding of the Violence Against Women Act; · Support advance refunding of tax-exempt bonds; · Support the full funding of the Land and Water Conservation fund and the Urban Park and Recreation Recovery Program. Dr. Benjamin Carson Sr., a neurosurgeon, talked about his being called a "dummy" in grade school. He began reading two to three books a week. Carson went from the bottom of his class to among the top in standardized tests. He urged city leaders to be role models; "change the concept of young people as to what is important," he said. Carson said academic achievers need to be honored and rewarded as are star athletes.
Arkansas League officials attend Congress of Cities in Indianapolis
Municipal League Executive Committee finishes year with lengthy agenda
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