This past weekend was all abuzz in Washington DC.  Not just getting ready for the inauguration, but it was also time for the 77th Winter Meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors.  TCP has attended these meetings since 2007, as a member of the Business Council.

We were able to see a lot of mayors there.  All working hard to come up with solutions to the problems facing cities today.  Their main concern is the economy that the country and its citizens are facing today.  They also have shrinking budget concerns, due to lowered home values and lay-offs by the companies in their respective areas.

They are the first line of action within the community.  The city staff is the first to come to the homeowners and businesses with aid and advice.  If they can.  Many times the crisis occurs and they are left trying to pick up the pieces.  Including the closing of businesses and banks that supported the lives of their neighbors.

During this meeting, the mayors exchanged support and ideas.  They also visited Congress and the administration to give advice and information about the needs of their communities. 

In particular, the mayors have submitted many proposals for projects in their communities.  These projects, along with county, state and federal proposals have been wrapped together into the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009.  This is the bill before Congress now.  It is the bill that President Obama wants to have passed.  

 As part of the bill, the mayors want to have the money flow direct to the cities and not filter through their states.  Their thought is that working though the states will reduce the amount of money that the cities can receive and delay timing of the projects they want to proceed with, while the states work through the process of directing the money to the cities.   They all agree that this is a swift and efficient way to utilize the funding of the bill and jumpstart the changes within their communities. 

Go to www.usmayors.org for a look at the mayor’s Mainstreet Economic Recovery Plan.  Then stay and look at their blog http://usmayors.blogspot.com/, to understand their position with the stimulus package.

We at TCP have supported the Conference through sponsorship and information about the savings of energy efficient practices.  Of course our expertise is in lighting, but we also talk about what we as an energy efficient company has done or has heard about other products and/or practices.