Connecticut mayors looking for money, ideas in Washington ...
By: Ana Radelat | January
21, 2015 CTMirror.org
http://ctmirror.org/2015/01/21/conn-mayors-looking-for-money-ideas-in-d-c/
Washington
– The U.S.
Conference of Mayors is part carnival, part money chase and part serious
networking.
It has drawn a baker’s dozen of Connecticut mayors and selectmen this year; and this
year, paramount on most of their agendas, is the search for opportunities
to seek funds from Washington.
“I’m always trolling for grant
opportunities,” said Danbury Mayor Mark Boughton, who
is attending the conference for the first time.
In addition to scoping out
possible federal funds, the six Republican and seven Democratic Connecticut mayors in Washington this week are exchanging ideas,
both big and small, with hundreds of fellow mayors around the nation.
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“You get an opportunity to find out what
other cities are doing to solve political problems,” said New Haven Mayor Toni
Harp, also a first-timer.
The mayors will meet with Obama
administration officials and members of their congressional delegation to try
to find help for local problems and projects.
To East Hartford
Mayor Marcia Leclerc, that means support for her
energy conservation projects and finding money to shore up infrastructure.
Her town recently refitted its street
lamps with LEDs and is placing solar panels on
landfills. “We need money for our roads and bridges,” she said.
Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra
said the week-long event is a learning opportunity about what’s going on in
Congress and a chance to smoke out new resources. For instance, he said, he
discovered a land and water conservation trust that could help him maintain
his city’s parks.
Segarra
also met with Interior Department officials about plans to turn Hartford's Coltsvillle neighborhood into a national historical park.
Last month Congress approved legislation that
would create the Coltsville national park, along with about
a dozen others.
“The problem is that [the Interior
Department] got additional parks approved, but they did not get additional
appropriations,” Segarra said.
With Congress in gridlock, intense sniping
between Capitol Hill and the White House, and a shrinking supply of federal
dollars, it may be difficult for the nation’s mayors to get what they want from
Washington. But Segarra was philosophical. “Some
doors close and others open,” he said.
Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch is also
optimistic. “As much as we groan about Washington, there’s still a lot of money
here,” he said.
Harp said the conference is also an
opportunity to find private funding for local projects, including a Wells Fargo community grant
program.
At their luncheon Wednesday, pollster Frank
Luntz told the mayors they should do what their
constituents do — accomplish more with less. Washington, mired in
discord and the subject of public contempt, can no longer lead, he said.
Luntz
told the mayors they are the logical
alternative for people to turn to, and constituents want them to
be decisive, accountable, decision-oriented and non-partisan.
“You have to do it because they don’t trust
Washington,”
he said.
Going forward, Connecticut’s mayors
can attend a number of breakout sessions on housing, education,
policing, and on women mayors.
Finch will lead a discussion on energy
independence and climate protection. Segarra is on a
panel on immigration. But Boughton and Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst
took a break from the policy discussion Wednesday to tour the U.S. Capitol.
Throughout the conference, mayors are
subjected to pitches from companies that are trying to promote everything from
airlines to soft drinks and chocolates. Their booths, offering a number of
freebies, line the Capitol Hilton that hosts the event.
Among the booths is one staffed by Mayors
Against Illegal Guns. Volunteer Elaine
Arndt said business is good.
“Last year we signed up 10 new mayors in
three days. This year we signed up 10 mayors in three hours,” she said.
Thursday the mayors will hear from Vice
President Joe Biden, and on Friday meet with President Obama and other
administration officials.
Given a chance to speak to Obama, Boughton said he would address the economic recovery.
“I’d tell him, ‘The metrics are good, but
things are in a very fragile state,’” the Republican mayor and former
gubernatorial hopeful, said.
Other Connecticut city officials at the
conference include Stratford Mayor John Harkins, Norwich Mayor Deberey Hinchey, Stamford Mayor David Martin, Shelton Mayor
Mark Lauretti, Waterbury Mayor Neal O’Leary,
New Britain Mayor Erin Stewart and Bristol Mayor Ken Cockayne.
Correction:
An earlier version of this story erroneously referred to East Hartford Mayor
Marcia Leclerc as being from West
Hartford.