September 20, 2011 – Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle was one of 50 Mayors who met with President Barack Obama’s key policy advisors at the White House today to discuss jobs initiatives and how cities can invest in vital infrastructure. All 50 Mayors met with Nancy Pelosi and 8 other Senate and House representatives as well to share local concerns.
“We asked that a portion of the assistance aimed at creating jobs, and meeting local infrastructure needs come directly to cities and not only to the state for discretionary distribution,” said Mayor Suttle. “The President’s plan also proposes a new Pathways Back to Work Fund that will provide our city’s youth and adults with opportunities to work and achieve job training in growth industries. This initiative will bring hundreds of much-needed jobs to Omaha.”
Mayor Suttle will be in Washington, DC tomorrow, Wednesday, continuing his participation in the US Conference of Mayors Fall Leadership Conference. Tomorrow, Mayor Suttle will be speaking with representatives of the Mayor’s Water Council and EPA to discuss the Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) project. It’s an unfunded federal mandate which is currently set to cost our city $1.7 billion dollars. He and the other Mayors will be talking about a better system of sharing costs which are currently unaffordable for hundreds of cities across America, including Omaha.
The US Conference of Mayors (USCM) promotes the development of effective national urban/suburban policy and seeks to ensure that federal policies meet urban needs. Founded in 1932, the USCM is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more.
