Mayors Rybak, Kautz Help Obama Transition Team Set Urban Agenda
Mayors Address Economic Stimulus, New Office of Urban Policy
December 18, 2008 (MINNEAPOLIS) -- Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz together met in Chicago today with Valerie Jarrett, President-elect Barack Obama’s Senior Advisor for Intergovernmental Affairs. Rybak and Kautz and a dozen mayors from across the country met with Ms. Jarrett to discuss the incoming administration’s metropolitan agenda and the development of a new White House Office of Urban and Regional Policy.
“Barack Obama is going to be a president who understands cities and will work with mayors to move this country forward,” Mayor Rybak said. “Obama clearly understands that cites are part of metropolitan regions that need to work together better on challenges they share, like transportation and economic growth, just as we have done with great results in Minnesota.”
“By using a regional model where cities in a metropolitan area work together, we can solve many problems,” Mayor Kautz said. “In Minnesota, our region’s mayors have worked together to improve housing options and transportation options throughout the region. That’s why I am encouraging Obama’s team to strongly support more regional collaboration.”
Mayors Rybak and Kautz used their meeting with Ms. Jarrett, also the co-chair of Obama’s transition team, to promote investments in transportation infrastructure as part of a broader economic stimulus package needed for cities and states.
“We have transportation projects that need attention and we need to put people to work now,” Mayor Kautz said.
Although urgently needed, Mayor Rybak said that transportation investments also should promote transit and sustainability, as well as help build the new green economy.
“The quickest things we can do may not have the most significant long-term impact,” Rybak said. “Unless we push for transit investments and green jobs, we could end up with a stimulus package that moves transportation strategy away from what we need to get off our addiction to oil. We were able to rebuild the collapsed I-35W Bridge quickly, while also including capacity for a future transit line on it. We showed how to act fast, but act responsibly for the long term.”
Mayor Rybak also used the meeting with Ms. Jarrett to highlight Minneapolis’ progress on reducing youth violence. “In the last two years Minneapolis has shown how a city can dramatically reduce violence committed by young people,” Rybak said. “The action plan we have developed and the lessons we have learned are quickly becoming a national model and the new White House Office of Urban and Regional Policy should look to our effort as a guide for other cities to use.”
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