Manhattan Beach Mayor Mitch Ward meets President Obama
Mayor Mitch Ward warms up to the feeling of standing at the Presidential podium. Photo by Mayor Billy Kenoi of the County of Hawaii.
When Manhattan Beach Mayor Mitch Ward visited the White House last Thursday, he was faced with a once-in- a-lifetime decision: snap a picture with the President of the United States, or speak with him for a brief moment.
“It all happened so quickly that I only had time for one or the other,” Ward said. “I chose to talk to him.”
What was so important that it was worth forfeiting a chance at a photo with President Obama?
“I invited him to Manhattan Beach to be our guest of honor,” Ward said. “We shall wait to see if he takes us up on it.”
President Obama briefs 230 of the nation's mayors. Photo by Mitch Ward
Ward was among more than 230 mayors from around the country invited to meet with Obama during the 78th United States Conference of Mayors, a three-day session that began last Wednesday at the nation’s capital.
The first conference was held in 1932, when many of the nation’s mayors traveled to D.C. in pursuit of federal aid from the Hoover administration for cities struggling through the Great Depression.
Last week, city mayors set out with the same goal from the Obama administration.
Mayor Ward meets a White House staff member.
Mayors from all walks of life and both sides of the aisle gathered in the East Room of the White House and voiced their concerns in an hour-long meeting with Obama, according to Ward.
“Everybody was on the same page on needing more stimulus money at the local level,” Ward said. “I learned that on a national scale, cities are only receiving 48 percent of the stimulus funds earmarked for them.”
At a White House jobs summit in Washington D.C. last month, Obama acknowledged that while federal stimulus dollars have provided billions in fiscal relief for states, cities have not experienced the same level of relief.
“The way it is now, the federal government has set up a mechanism to filter money through the state, which allocates it out to the local level,” Ward said.
According to city finance director Bruce Moe, Manhattan Beach received $1.5 million of the $2.5 million the city applied for in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds.
Ward said that the mayors at the conference pleaded with Obama that money from stimulus programs be sent directly to city councils, bypassing state governments, which continue to siphon off funds intended for local governments — a trend going on “all across the nation it seems.”
The President discussed creating a National Infrastructure Bank — after calling for an additional $50 billion in infrastructure spending last month — which would make merit-based federal funding directly accessible to cities for public works projects. Sewer and building upgrades are some of the projects for which Ward said Manhattan Beach could use the funds.
“Investment in national and state public works projects would also create the necessary sustainable jobs paying livable wages that we are so desperately in need of today here in California,” Ward said.
Towards the end of the briefing, Obama took questions and comments directly from the mayors.
“He was very responsive to what we were saying,” said Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin, who also attended the conference. “He understood that moving forward in this economy and job creation affects people right here in our community.”
Carson Mayor Jim Dear (Left to right), Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang, Redondo Beach Mayor Mike Gin, and Manhattan Beach Mayor Mitch Ward visit President Obama at the White House to press for more stimulus funds at the local level. Photo by Redondo Beach city manager Bill Workman
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Beverly Hills Mayor Nancy Krasne, and Irvine Mayor Sukhee Kang also attended the conference. They took a tour of the President’s home and were also allowed to visit the usually off-limits Green, Red, and Blue rooms.
“It was such an honor,” Ward said. “It was so quick. You’re going in to the White House and you want to soak it all in. I may never be back there in my life and I don’t want to forget it.”
Regardless of whether Obama decides to take him up on his offer, Ward felt satisfied with the results of the conference.
“It was a mission accomplished for us,” Ward said. “I handed off to the President’s staff the key to the city of Manhattan Beach and we voiced concerns over protecting the local needs of our cities.”