The environmental breakout welcomed U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ), and a former mayor himself, and was led by Mayors Rick Kriseman (St. Petersburg), Chair of the Environment Standing Committee, David Berger (Lima), Chair of the Mayors Water Council and Jon Mitchell (Ned Bedford) Chair of the Energy Standing Committee on cities environmental priorities. The discussion covered critical areas like clean water, drinking water, solid waste, recycling, and brownfields redevelopment, and highlighted how federal-local-private sector partnerships can improve the environment and protect public health. . ."
On the first day of the United States Conference of Mayors’ 89th Winter Meeting, hundreds of mayors gathered virtually to discuss some of the most pressing challenges facing cities – and our nation – today. They engaged in conversation with Biden administration officials, heard from business leaders, and they exchanged ideas and solutions with each other.
The day kicked off with sessions dedicated to cybersecurity and equity. During ‘Responding to Current Cybersecurity Threats and Attacks,’ mayors discussed how to keep our cities safe from future cyber-attacks and long-term threats to our nation’s cybersecurity. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced a new public awareness campaign during the session which will educate Americans against rising ransomware cyberattacks, which have impacted numerous cities across the country.
In “Supporting Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in a Post-COVID America”, mayors discussed how they are implementing internal and citywide efforts to strengthen existing programs and launch new initiatives aimed at identifying and eliminating barriers that have marginalized underrepresented residents for too long.
The opening plenary session featured Conference President Mayor Greg Fischer as he outlined the Conference’s priorities for 2021 and what the new Biden administration means for mayors and cities. . .
Mayor Fischer was joined in the plenary by numerous mayors including Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Chicago and Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami, and by business leaders including Laysha Ward, Executive Vice President and Chief External Engagement Officer of Target Corporation, and Hans Vestberg, CEO of Verizon, for conversations on civil rights and affordability of and access to the internet.
Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, President Biden’s nominee to serve as Secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and a former mayor herself, joined a conversation led by Mayor Fischer and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms on housing policy under the new Biden administration. Fudge pledged, if confirmed, to work with mayors on a variety of critical areas, including affordable housing and homelessness.
89th Winter Meeting (2021)
Conference of Mayors Concludes Final Full Day of the 89th Winter Meeting
The day started with mayors welcoming back a former member of the Conference in a mayoral listening session with Transportation Department Secretary Designate Pete Buttigieg. The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, Secretary Designate Buttigieg engaged in discussion with several mayors in a session moderated by Mayor Michael Hancock of Denver, CO, Chair of the Conference’s Transportation and Communications Committee. Mayors had questions about the federal government’s priorities for investing in the infrastructure in cities, including bridges, public transportation, and walking paths. Noting that our most vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected by decades of transportation policy that has neglected the needs of those who rely on public transportation as a means to access everything from education to health care to jobs, Secretary Designate Buttigieg said, “The federal government needs to harness some of the creative problem solving that’s already happening in cities across America.”
Kicking off the plenary session, Austin (TX) Mayor Steve Adler gave mayors a hopeful preview of what may be the first in-person meeting of the Conference later this year. The 2020 USCM Annual Meeting was set to take place in Austin, but the pandemic prevented mayors from gathering there, and the Conference met virtually instead. Mayors are hopeful that in June they will be able to convene in Austin for the 89th Annual Meeting, live and in person.
Next, mayors heard from Kathy Maness, Council Member from Lexington, SC and the current president of the National League of Cities. USCM and NLC have a long history of collaborating to drive solutions to problems facing American cities, and Council Member Maness talked about how important local leadership is needed during this time of crisis.
Cities are always innovating, launching new initiatives, and leading local programs to help improve people’s lives, and today, several cities were recognized for this work. Katherine Lugar, President and CEO of the American Beverage Association announced this year’s winners of the Childhood Obesity Prevention and Environmental Health and Sustainability Award. And Columbus (OH) Mayor Andrew Ginther and Kim Wilkerson, representing Bank of America, named the cities that are this year’s recipients of the DollarWise Innovation Grant Awards, which rewards programs promoting economic mobility.
President Fischer then led a fascinating and engaging conversation with celebrated author and journalist Tom Friedman. They explored the acceleration of change in society, and how it requires new thinking about jobs, education, and government safety nets. Friedman talked about how different people are experiencing today’s change differently, and how 21st century challenges require collaborative ecosystems of people working together to solve problems – ecosystems that fall outside of the traditional political boundaries. We think in “left, right binary politics,” Freidman said. “But it’s not a binary world anymore.”
Later, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio introduced his home-state senator and new Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer. Senator Schumer spoke about the intersectional crises we’re facing as a country, as well as the horrible attack on the U.S. Capitol that he experienced on January 6th. Leader Schumer outlined his priorities in the Senate, including quick passage of the Biden rescue plan. Importantly, Senator Schumer said, “Let me be clear about one thing: the Senate Democratic Majority will make sure the next COVID package will include aid for states, but direct aid as well, for local and municipal governments.”
To close out the opening session, mayors welcomed our new president, Joe Biden. In one of his first addresses since becoming assuming office earlier this week, President Biden spoke about his long working relationship with American mayors and restated his commitment to making mayors a critical part of his plans to rebuild the country. “You have a partner in the White House, Vice President Harris and me. A partner you can trust, who will listen, who will work to get you what you need.”
The president spoke in great detail about his American rescue plan and acknowledged that cities have been hit hard by the pandemic. He talked about $350 billion for state and local governments included in his plan, a top priority for America’s mayors who have been on the frontlines of this pandemic, but now face devastating budget shortfalls. “We didn’t get into this mess overnight. It’s going to take time for us to turn things around. But we also have to act now – now – with urgency and unity as the United States of America, the president concluded. “We’re your partners, we can do this together.”
Following the plenary session, mayors joined breakout sessions for two separate conversations on current immigration issues and city climate priorities. Moderated by Mayors Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, Jorge Elorza of Providence, and John Giles of Mesa, a conversation on immigration policy with mayors featured Esther Olavarria, Deputy Director of the Domestic Policy Council for Immigration, and Tyler Moran, Special Assistant to the President for Immigration for the Domestic Policy Council. The reviewed President Biden’s recently signed Executive Orders pertaining to immigration and his vision on immigration for the coming months. The discussion highlighted the importance of the partnership between the federal government and mayors to identify solutions that can garner bipartisan support, essential to finding a path forward on federal immigration legislation.
The environmental breakout welcomed U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton (D-AZ), and a former mayor himself, and was led by Mayors Rick Kriseman (St. Petersburg), Chair of the Environment Standing Committee, David Berger (Lima), Chair of the Mayors Water Council and Jon Mitchell (Ned Bedford) Chair of the Energy Standing Committee on cities environmental priorities. The discussion covered critical areas like clean water, drinking water, solid waste, recycling, and brownfields redevelopment, and highlighted how federal-local-private sector partnerships can improve the environment and protect public health.
Finally, the day concluded with an important conversation on a major priority for mayors: climate solutions. Mayors welcomed President Biden’s Special Presidential Envoy on Climate John Kerry and National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy. In a conversation led by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, Kerry and McCarthy spoke about the opportunity that exists in a renewed national commitment to fighting climate change and outlined the Biden vision for solving the challenge. “The green economy, the new energy economy that we need to create all over the world is not a choice between… having the environment or the economy,” said Kerry. “And all of you understand that. It is the economy. It is the future. It is the jobs of the future.” He and McCarthy stressed the leadership role that mayors have been playing on climate issues and how they will be an important part of the Biden administration’s efforts to meet its climate goals.
At the close of Saturday’s sessions, Conference President Fischer reflected on the three days of the Winter Meeting, “While we weren’t able to meet this year in person, this virtual meeting gave me hope. That’s what this meeting always does for me, and has done again, even if virtually. It gives me hope. Hope for my city, hope for our nation, and hope for our people.”
There is one final, very special session at this year’s Winter Meeting. On Tuesday, mayors will officially conclude the 89th Winter Meeting when they will hear from His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
The final full day of the United States Conference of Mayors' 89th Winter Meeting, led by Conference President Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, brought mayors together with some of the biggest names in American politics to discuss the biggest challenges facing the country. Mayors were especially honored to welcome President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to the
he Conference of Mayors Concludes Day Two of 89th Winter Meeting
Mayors Meet with Key Biden Administration Officials, Speaker Pelosi, Dr. Fauci, and other public and private sector leaders to discuss on COVID-19 recovery, vaccine distribution, reducing gun violence and other pressing priorities
On the second day of the United States Conference of Mayors’ 89th Winter Meeting, hundreds of mayors gathered virtually with key members of the Biden Administration as well House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Mayors, public health officials, and business leaders discussed the latest efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Conference’s partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies to facilitate vaccine distribution, strategies and policies to reduce gun violence, ways to support local businesses and the arts, and the need to get people back to work were all among the topics covered as the Winter Meeting rolled on.
The day began with a plenary session where Conference President Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer spoke with Siemens USA CEO Barbara Humpton and Business Roundtable Chairman Doug McMillon about how the business community is working to help our cities recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and the role that philanthropy can play in these efforts.
Former New York City Mayor and philanthropist Mike Bloomberg spoke about the important role mayors will play when it comes to helping our nation recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in coordinating vaccine distribution in their cities. District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser also spoke about her experiences leading our Nation’s capital city during the pandemic, the attack on the Capitol building, and the inauguration of President Joe Biden.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi closed the plenary by reaffirming the importance of delivering direct financial aid to cities through President Biden’s COVID relief plan. Cities have been largely left without direct federal assistance since the beginning of the pandemic, despite plummeting revenues and skyrocketing expenses. This lack of support has led to more than a million job losses and the reduction and elimination of critical services.
As Speaker Pelosi emphasized in her remarks, President Biden’s COVID relief package “will provide strong state and direct local government support to ensure that local government can keep workers on the job, keep services running and can equitably and immediately distribute the vaccine.”
Next, mayors held a panel with leaders from Bloomberg Philanthropies and practicing physicians to discuss the latest data available on COVID-19 vaccines and how mayors can use this data to effectively build their vaccine distribution plans.
In “How to Help the Amenities that Make Our Cities Great,” Mayor Hillary Schieve of Reno, Chair of the USCM Tourism, Arts, Parks, Entertainment and Sports Committee, moderated an important discussion about how to support the amenities that make living in cities so rewarding. She was joined by numerous mayors including Past President Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz and Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer who highlighted important steps mayors can take to help restaurants and bars weather the storm of COVID, support gig artists who may be struggling in communities, and how to prepare for the return of sports and tourism.
Mayors have long been on the frontlines of preventing gun violence in cities across America. During the session on “Strategies to Reduce Gun Violence,” Mayors John Cranley, Lori Lightfoot, Tim Keller, and Jerry Dryer spoke about how they are working to reduce gun violence in their cities and outlined how the ongoing pandemic has complicated their efforts. They were joined by Anthony Smith of Cities United, Rob Wilcox of Everytown for Gun Safety, and USCM advisor and former DC Police Chief Charles Ramsey for the conversation.
Mayors were also grateful to be joined by Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Vivek Murthy – President Biden’s nominee for Surgeon Genera – to discuss the state of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Biden Administration’s plans for the coming months, and the critical role mayors will play in the fight against the virus. As Dr. Murthy said, “This pandemic knocked on your doors a year ago and you’ve been dealing with everything that’s come through it ever since.”
To wrap up the day Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, President Biden’s nominee for Secretary of Labor, spoke with mayors about their priorities for responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, putting people back to work, and creating new employment and training opportunities for a strong economic recovery.
The Winter Meeting will continue with key public officials and business leaders in a series of sessions on Saturday, January 23rd. The 89th Winter Meeting will officially conclude on Tuesday, January 25th with remarks by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
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