Urban leaders see an ally in Obama

by Katie Wang and Jeffery C. Mays
The Star-Ledger
Monday November 10, 2008

As a community organizer in Chicago's grittiest neighborhoods, President-elect Obama had a street-level view of problems afflicting American cities.

That experience, say city officials and urban policy experts, could prove valuable for urban mayors seeking an ally in the White House.

"This is an administration that will take metropolitan regions seriously," said Margery Turner, director of the Urban Institute's Center of Metropolitan Housing and Communities in Washington. "They realize this is where most of us live and where the economic engines that drive the country are located."

The list of problems facing cities is long and daunting.

Affordable housing remains scarce, neighborhood blocks are being swallowed up by foreclosures, and cities face huge deficits as the unemployment rate ticks higher, hurting tax revenue. And while the murder rate has declined nationally, crime remains a nagging constant in most cities.

Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer, a former president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said cities are starved for support after years of neglect under the Bush administration. Cities, he said, suffered as President Bush cut money from the Community Development Block Grant program, which is considered the lifeblood for rebuilding cities. Money for fighting crime also took a hit under Bush with substantial reductions for the Community Oriented Policing Services program, which funnels money to municipalities to hire police officers.

"It seemed as though he had a total disconnect with the needs to grow the metropolitan economies of American cities, which help create jobs," Palmer said.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker called Obama's election a new day for American cities, but he also said "we can't be in the situation where we think our problems will be solved overnight just because he is in office."

Even so, Booker beamed, "Our cities will have a friend in the White House."

That relationship between the president-elect and city leaders began at least a year ago when Obama invited representatives from Newark, Philadelphia and Baltimore, among other cities, to meet with his staff regularly in Washington.

"The good thing for places like Newark is a lot of the people involved in setting up the Obama administration have city experience," said Elnardo Webster II, a Booker confidant who was among a group who traveled to Chicago to brainstorm urban policy. "A lot of the problems they have dealt with in their own professional career. It's clear to me they understand the urban agenda."

Palmer agreed. The Trenton mayor said Obama understands the critical role American cities play in the economy and the overall well-being of the country.

"I have been in meetings on several occasions where we've pushed our agenda and he understands it," Palmer said. "He was upfront and said there are money issues, and he knows there are priorities that have to happen if we are going to have a secure America."

Democratic pollster Ron Lester said the economic crisis is one reason why urban constituencies need to temper their expectations.

"We live in a period of declining federal resources. It's going to be difficult to do more in terms of direct financial assistance," Lester said. "But with federal, state and local money, there are innovative things President Clinton did like empowerment zones. Mayor Booker is a big supporter of charter schools, so we might see Newark do very well in that area."

Obama's proposed urban policy, which is outlined on his campaign website, calls for restoring money into the CDBG and COPS programs, increasing the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2011, creating a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank to focus on city highways, railways and bridges, and increasing capital to small businesses owned by women and minorities.

Obama also proposes to create an Office of Urban Policy to develop a strategy for American cities.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said the early Obama urban proposals show "there will at least be a whole new focus."

"We need to invest funds right here in the cities," said Healy, a co-chairman of Obama's New Jersey campaign.

Obama also wants to create thousands of new units of affordable housing every year under a new Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which would use a percentage of profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to pay for the homes.

Housing is a critical issue for cities such as Newark. Last year, housing authorities nationwide received 86 percent of the funding deemed necessary to operate. In the last 2 1/2 years, cuts in funding have led the Newark Housing Authority to lay off more than half its work force.

Tory Gunsolley, the Newark Housing Authority's chief administrative officer, said the Obama campaign demonstrated its concern for the issue by hiring a respected voice in the affordable-housing sector to solicit suggestions.

But when they tried to reach the Republican candidate John McCain's campaign, they got a different response.

"They didn't have anybody to deal specifically with the future of public housing," Gunsolley said.