The 2016 Mayors Conference got off to a rocky start with demonstrations by Black Lives Matter and shocking headline-grabbing news about toxic lead poisoning of residents from the city water supply in Flint, Michigan - a real-time and real-life call-to-action about problems that were either denied, covered-up, or conveniently ignored for years by local, state and national officials.
That was until investigative reporters looked into it . . .
Dear readers, please be advised this is not a quick read - you are encouraged to interact with this page by going to the links and see how Mesa mayor John Giles participated in social media >
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/MayorGiles
On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mesamayorsoffice
Mayor Giles had this to say on Facebook:
I’m proud to co-chair this task force with New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu as we work to honor the service of our veterans by making sure all of them have a home to call their own.
By focusing our resources and maximizing our commitment, we can end veteran homelessness in our communities and our country
The City of Mesa Newsroom mesanow.org had this press release on 21 January
Mayor John Giles selected to lead national effort to end veterans homelessness
- See more at: http://www.mesanow.org/article.php?id=1587#sthash.VitoKvke.Bjs6zZON.dpuf
Admittedly it's "an uphill climb" to deal with vet homelessness in Mesa. The results so far: 70 accommodations have been provided. Apparently the city doesn't know how many people who are homeless are here in Mesa - volunteers are needed for a one-day count
Three Arizona mayors were at the National Mayors Conference
On January 20, 2016 Mayor John Giles retweeted this
from Katie Bier, D.C. Correspondent Cronkite News | Central Sound videographer ArizonaPBS | Covering immigration and politics issues in the nation's capital
Despite all of that, however, the conference has released a new report detailing policy priorities for our nation’s cities.
The 2015 Menino Survey of Mayors shows that a majority of mayors surveyed reported that aging and underfunded physical infrastructure is the greatest shared challenge facing their city.
INFRASTRUCTURE = the basic and physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g., buildings, roads, and power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.
This is the second year in a row that infrastructure has topped the list of mayoral challenges.
Ranked according to importance, mayors said that improving mass transit and road systems are the key infrastructure issues they would devote the most dollars to if funding becomes available.
In addition to improvements in infrastructure, Mayors said that they are looking for better ways to protect cyclists while on the road.
When it comes to hot-button issues like policing, survey results show support for change.
Mayors overwhelmingly support an array of proposed reforms, including
- body cameras (with 93% strongly supportive/supportive),
- independent investigations for all police related shootings (87%),
- publicizing arrest and crime statistics by demographics (85%),
- evaluating police departments based on arrest and crime statistics (74%), and civilian review boards (65%).
Poverty, inequality, and housing also made it high on the list of areas that need improvement.
But, respondents also noted that they face a wide range of constraints when it comes to improving civic life in their municipalities.
- Mayors, regardless of party affiliation, are feeling increasingly constrained by state regulations and the aggressive efforts of some of their state legislatures to limit local autonomy.
- They also express frustration with the current funding environment, notably the lack of financial support available at both the federal and state levels.
As CivSource has reported, there have been coordinated efforts led by ALEC and other special interest groups to pass laws in several states limiting municipal broadband, municipal level environmental protections, and municipal prevailing and minimum wage increases. Those same organizations are also pursuing federal measures to limit state-level autonomy where possible.
https://civsourceonline.com/2016/01/20/mayors-conference-off-to-a-rocky-start/
POVERTY AND INEQUALITY: Cities, especially big cities, are aggressively pursuing a wide variety of policies targeting the challenges faced by low-income residents.
The vast majority of mayors (74%) have programs that address the lack of job training and workforce development needs in their city.
Approximately half of all those interviewed are focused on
- high housing costs (57% of responding mayors),
- limited access to healthy foods (54%),
- limited access to government social and emergency assistance programs like SNAP (51%), limited access to living wage jobs (49%).
Both large and small cities are aggressively tackling poverty, although big cities are taking on even more of the challenges affecting low income residents. On average, big cities are addressing more than five (5.5) challenges confronting the poor, while smaller communities are tackling just under four (3.8). Still, top priorities - job training, housing, food access, etc. - are similar regardless of city size.
While many cities have programs to address challenges faced specifically by low income residents, mayors believe inequality - the gap between rich and poor - is one area where they have limited control. They also believe constituents hold them to little account for any income inequality that may exist at the local level.
A playlist of On Demand Video of every plenary session of the 84th Winter Meeting is stream lived on our YouTube channel and right here >> http://usmayors.org/84thWinterMeeting/
