The nation's mayors send their ideas for Obama

Oregon

Corvallis, OR
Pop. 55,000
Charles C. Tomlinson, mayor
My request to President-elect Obama would be to sign a Congressional bill that contains the full appropriation for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program. From an environmental, balance of payments and national security standpoint, the United States needs to develop energy strategies that lead to a reduction in our dependence on foreign oil. Energy efficiency and conservation are significant components of this strategy. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant provides for grants intended to reduce fossil-fuel emission and total energy use. Under the law, Congress can appropriate up to $2 billion in funding for the program, 68% of the funds go to local governments. Congress has not appropriated funding for the program. President-elect Obama can provide state and local governments the means to deploy energy strategies that serve local communities.

Tualatin, OR
Pop. 22,791
Lou Ogden, mayor
1. For the record, the "to do" list is: assure the world is safe, particularly our homeland, so that people can prosper.
2. Secondly, to facilitate an environment where we can have full employment with productive, well paying jobs for everyone who is able and willing to work, to facilitate an economy where the employed can earn quality health care as part of their compensation for their production, and facilitate a system that provides basic services for those who are willing but unable to produce because of physical or mental limitations beyond their control.

Pennsylvania

Ambler Borough, PA
Pop. 6,426
Charles T. "Bud" Wahl, mayor
The economy and environment, and they tie together. We have a 10-year plan like reaching the moon, by JFK. By having an almost WPA-like program, we put people to work and open factories closed by lack of car sales, for the production of wind and solar instruments to make us oil free. It is almost like WWII, when the autos were not made so we could make tanks! We are in an economic war.

Easton, PA
Pop. 26,263
Salvatore J. Panto, Jr., mayor
1. I would ask that Hometown security be placed on the agenda as well as Homeland security. Here in the cities we need police officers. We need to take our streets back from the gangs and drug dealers.
2. An increase in housing grants available to cities to rehab and restore vacant structures.

Harrisburg, PA
Pop. 50,000
Stephen R. Reed, mayor
1. Eliminate the arbitrage restrictions on tax-exempt bonds issued by cities, towns, counties and states. The current restrictions went into effect Sept. 1, 1986, when Congress 'reformed' the IRS Code. Eliminating these restrictions would lower the cost of borrowing for governmental entities and their taxpayers, would spur long-overdue infrastructure, alternative energy, housing and other critical initiatives, stimulate job growth and investment, and give a real shot in the arm to the investment sector. When the IRS code was amended to restrict arbitrage earnings to no more than the interest rate on public bonds, a significant source of capital funds was wiped out.
2. In the Great Depression, the U.S. bought many mortgages, refinanced them to keep homeowners from losing their homes, and this investment was eventually paid back with taxpayers making a profit. Nothing less is needed now to really bolster the economy.

Meadville, PA
Pop. 13,685
Richard Friedberg, mayor
1. One of the biggest issues we face and that we cannot control are the rising costs for providing health care and supporting three defined-benefit pension plans. In our case, premiums for health care will increase by 40 percent for 2009, which is about 40 percent of our currently projected budget deficit. Like many other cities, we are forced to reduce the number of employees (which we have been doing for the past 10 years) to avoid a large tax increase. This does not help us fulfill our mandate to provide for public safety, especially at a time when crime will likely increase. We need a national health care plan.
2. Community Development Block Grant funding eroded by 25-30 percent under Bush  --  not counting inflation!!!  --  and should be restored to pre-2000 levels. These are the funds that local governments use for a variety of projects to help their least fortunate residents.

Monroeville, PA
Pop. 30,977
James J. Lomeo, former mayor
1. Defeat the terrorist. This helps on a local level, in that state and local law enforcement can focus on traditional crime prevention, as opposed to spending resources, training and time on domestic terrorism.
2. Issue by executive order that FNMA lowers the 30-year rate by 1 percentage point for one year. This would cause FNMA to lose money, but it is a lot cheaper than the $70 billion bailout. Also, it would directly assist homeowners to refinance out of ARM loans and reduce their monthly payments, which of course would stabilize home prices. This issue is important to local government, since most of our revenues come from real estate taxes, and lower values means lower revenues.

Puerto Rico

Caguas, PR
Pop. 150,000
William Miranda Marin, mayor
1. The time is right for a renewed approach of Washington toward the countries in Central and South America, as well as the nations in the Caribbean basin. The opportunities for collaboration and economic prosperity and social progress are real. We should pursue a strategy to fully integrate socially, economically and politically the Americas through agreements that facilitate the flow of goods, capital and people, following the model of the European Union. In this way the whole hemisphere will become a regional block of around 700 million people positioning to face the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that a new world configuration are creating.
2. Infrastructure for competitiveness. To succeed in this economy, we should embark, through increases in funding in the CDBG program, as well as in other programs, to develop the infrastructure from the ground up.

Rhode Island

Barrington, RI
Pop. 16,819
June Speakman, vice president, town council
1. Adopt a national energy policy that provides incentives for homeowners to go green and clean, and provides programs that allow municipalities to figure out the best way to meet the community’s energy needs. Among the most difficult issues that has faced our council has been the siting of a wind turbine. No matter which piece of town land we consider, the neighbors protest vehemently about the sound and aesthetics of the turbine. If there were a national energy policy, local officials could devote their time to things that municipalities do best  --  -conservation, recycling, gentle landscaping, green purchasing.
Keep the federal government’s promise regarding funding for special education. This issue can divide communities in particularly ugly way. The feds promised to pay 40% of the costs for federally mandated (and vitally necessary) special education programs. That promise has never been kept. The federal share is about 10%.

Central Falls, RI
Pop. 18,928
Charles D. Moreau, mayor
1. The mortgage crisis has ravaged my city, and we need help ASAP. $19.5 mm has been allocated to RI, however it seems that nobody knows how the funds will be allocated to each eligible community.
2. Health care costs are out of control  --  $3.3 million on a $17 million total budget. We all need help in this department.

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