Andrea Batista Schlesinger
Mayors Tell Candidates for President to Talk About Cities For A Change
In today's presidential campaign, America is all heartland -- tractor pulls, county fairs, town halls and truck stops. Candidates scramble for photo ops in plaid, stump in wheat fields and scarf down corn dogs. Our country, it seems, is all country.
Yet we are an urban nation. More than 80% of Americans live in cities. Urbanites drive 90% of our economy. In pandering to rural voters, presidential candidates ignore the bread and butter issues that most Americans deal with every day -- housing, transportation, infrastructure, crime, education.
Have the presidential candidates lost touch with urban America? Are "urban issues" code for poor people and ethnic minorities, and thus to be avoided at all costs? Should the candidates have an urban agenda? What should it be?
To find out, we asked the people who know our cities best -- America's Mayors. In punchy video interviews, a diverse and influential group of mayors gave their prescription for an agenda that supports American cities, and thus America at large.
The result -- MayorTV.com -- offers surprising insights into presidential politics, priorities and the candidates themselves.
Just one of our 10 fascinating interviews is below. All can be viewed and discussed on MayorTV.com .
New York Times columnist Clyde Haberman's December 14th column, "So Many Presidential Debates, So Little Concern Shown for Cities" is all about MayorTV. You can read it here.
Posted at 7:28 AM, Dec 17, 2007 in Cities | MayorTV | Politics | Progressives | Permalink | Comments (1)
Comments
Kudos to DMI for creating MayorTV.com! The MayorTV project is democratic action at its best. By highlighting presidential and congressional neglect for city problems, MayorTV refocuses the political debate to the problems of most Americans. Disproportionate presidential campaigning in sparsely populated areas is anti-democratic because it jettisons the voice of most Americans in favor of a select few.
The pro-city appeals put-forth on MayorTV highlighted many continuous urban (and often rural) life problems -- infrastructure, pollution, high energy costs, public health, transportation, and etcetera. For each of these issues, sustainable development is a necessary long-run solution. America’s cities can’t continuously attempt to be bigger and better than one another. City-dwellers and local officials must halt the all too familiar stadium, highway, and power plant projects.
I’m reluctant to acknowledge anything popularized by Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie as a public policy solution, but the “simple life” is the answer! Our cities can’t continue to grow beyond their sustainable means.
City folk and local officials are obviously not going to solve the daunting problems of urban life on their own. I’ve visited and resided in many of America’s major cities, and I’ve never seen a local sustainability movement strong enough to mitigate the problems caused by inefficient urban living. So, MayorTV’s focus on the need for federal intervention is clearly crucial.
The lack of presidential and congressional action on urban problems is tragic. When city problems become prevalent nationwide, they are not longer city problems, but rather national problems. Our federal government must step-in to resolve the harmful impacts caused by inept local management.
In addition to my hesitance in adopting Hollywood socialite clichés, I’m also wary of using tired and overly sound-bitten presidential talking points. However, I must admit, the federal government needs to adopt “carrot and stick” policies towards local governments. Our nation needs more policies that both incentivize sustainable development and punish harmful growth. Enacting such measures would be extremely helpful in solving many city problems.
I hope our next president provides the leadership necessary to resolve America’s persistent urban issues because congress has clearly become a divided and unproductive bunch.
Posted by: Chauncee Smith | January 3, 2008 05:12 PM