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Around Town
An Appointment With The Obama Transition Team
December 12, 2008
The first order of business for President-Elect Obama and congressional leaders in January will be an economic stimulus bill designed to jumpstart our staggering economy and put increasing numbers of unemployed Americans back to work. I traveled to Washington, DC, on December 12th with city leaders to meet with the members of the Obama Transition Team and urge that the stimulus bill include direct funding to local governments like Columbia. Earlier in the week a delegation from the US Conference of Mayors, including Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, was in Washington to make a similar argument.Our group included Mayor Coble and Council Members Cromartie, Davis, and Devine; USC Board Vice Chair Samuel Foster and Government Relations Director Shirley Mills;
and Engenuity SC representative Kyle Michel, and we linked Columbia's emerging identification as a "Green City" with joint initiatives at USC and Engenuity. We presented a "metro region" case for stimulus funding, pointing out that Columbia had "shovel ready" projects that could be immediately launched. Illustrative examples are our North Main Street and Harden Street infrastructure projects that not only meet the new administration's short-term goals of providing jobs, but also address long-term goals of providing infrastructure that spurs sustainable economic development. We urged that the stimulus bill include funding for the Surface Transportation program (for streets, sidewalks, bike paths, purchase of buses, etc.); Community Development Block Grants (for infrastructure in low and moderate income neighborhoods); Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants; and various law enforcement measures. While in Washington we also stopped by the offices of Congressman James Clyburn and Senator Lindsey Graham to meet with staff and discuss various projects for federal funding. We shared the concerns of our residents about the implications of the economic meltdown, state budget cutbacks, and the alarming recent unemployment projections in our state of up to 14% by the end of next year. Without a doubt it will be critical for our city to leverage every funding opportunity to address responsible projects that address critical city needs.
For more information on the work of the Transition Team on the economy, click here.