Winter 2010 Policy Meeting

Resources

Download the full briefing book section.

Fiscal Challenges Facing Cities: Implications for Recovery, Mark Muro and Christopher Hoene, November 1st, 2009. Read more.

Speakers

Pegeen Hanrahan is in her 12th year of elective service with the City of Gainesville, and was re-elected as Mayor in March 2007. Support for her elections has been broad and bipartisan, and has included endorsements from diverse groups such as the Sierra Club, the Human Rights Council of North Central Florida, the Gainesville Sun, the Alligator, Satellite Magazine, the Iguana, and the North Central Florida Labor Council. During her Commission service, by vote of her peers, she was elected to serve as Mayor-Commissioner Pro Tem for three years. In addition to her public service, Pegeen is a registered Professional Engineer. She currently is a consultant to the Trust for Public Land in their Conservation Finance Program, and has spent five years with Terra-Com Environmental Consulting, a groundwater remediation firm where, in 2003, she was promoted to Senior Vice President. Pegeen is a native and lifelong resident of Gainesville, and is married to Tony Malone, a civil engineer with CH2MHill. Their daughter, Evyleen Mary Malone, was born in September 2005 and their son, Quinn Joseph Malone, was born March 2007.

First elected mayor of Scranton, Pennsylvania in 2001, Christopher A. Doherty is presiding over the most dramatic transformation in the city’s history and the most amazing of any city in Pennsylvania. New construction and the rehabilitation of historic structures is transforming the look of the central business district, parks are being transformed, neighborhoods are being revitalized, and the first massive infrastructure improvements in the city’s modern history are being made.

In total, almost $400 million dollars is being invested in Scranton and all of it began with Doherty’s election seven years ago.

The city has welcomed many new businesses, including a division of Sanofi Pasteur Pharmaceuticals, and is home to the newest medical school in Pennsylvania, Commonwealth Medical College.

Numerous shops and restaurants have opened in the downtown, and the New York Yankees recently made the Scranton area their home for its AAA Baseball Team.

The Mayor’s accomplishments have been recognized by his peers with his election as President of the Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities (PCLM).  In 2008, Mayor Doherty was awarded the PLCM Distinguished Community Service Award and was recognized by Governor Rendell with the Local Government Award for Excellence in Leadership.  In addition, he was inducted into the Governor’s Keystone Society for Tourism.

Because of his commitment to urban green space, Mayor Doherty was recognized by the US Conference of Mayors in 2008 for his efforts to protect the City’s tree canopy.  In addition, he serves as a member of the steering committee for the Mayor’s Innovation Project, a learning network of America’s mayors dedicated to efficient government.

Mayor Doherty has served as a speaker and panelist for the Brookings Institution American Assembly and Metropolitan Policy Program as well as the Comparative Urban Studies Project at the Woodrow Wilson International Center.

Mayor Doherty is a graduate of the Scranton Preparatory School and the College of the Holy Cross.  He and his wife, Donna, are the proud parents of six children.

Resources

Download the full briefing book section.

Fiscal Crisis Checklist and Resource Guide, AFSCME , June 1st, 2004. Read more.

Reducing Health Insurance Costs, American City and County, December 1st, 2009. Read more.

User Fees, Richard M. Hetzer, Illinois Municipal Treasurer’s Association. Read more.

Speakers

Mark Muro, a fellow and the director of policy at the Metropolitan Policy Program at Brookings, manages the program’s public policy analysis and leads key policy research projects.  Mark’s most recent publications include: “Fiscal Challenges Facing Cities: Implications for Recovery;“ “Implementing ARRA: Innovations in Design in Metropolitan America,” and “Metro Potential in ARRA: An Early Assessment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.”  Previous to those releases Muro published “Energy Discovery-Innovation Institutes: A Step Toward America’s Energy Sustainability” and “MetroPolicy: Shaping a New Federal Partnership for a Metropolitan Nation.” Mark was also a co-author with Rob Lang of the 2008 Brookings report, “Mountain Megas: America’s Newest Metropolitan Places and a Federal Partnership to Help Them Prosper.”  Each of these represents a key element of the metro program’s Blueprint for American Prosperity initiative, the policy series and policy development of which Mark has led.  Mark is also the author of such recent publications as “Reconnecting Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities: Lessons Learned and an Agenda for Renewal;” “Charting Maine’s Future: An Action Plan for Promoting Sustainable Prosperity and a Sustainable Future;” and “Back to Prosperity: A Competitive Agenda for Renewing Pennsylvania.”

Prior to joining Brookings, Mark was a senior policy analyst at the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University. He has also been a staff writer for The Boston Globe and an editorial writer for The Arizona Daily Star.  He holds a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and a master’s degree in American studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mark is also a member of the Citistates Group, a network of journalists, speakers and civic leaders focused on building competitive, equitable and sustainable 21st century metropolitan regions.

Michael A. Nutter was sworn-in as the 98^th Mayor of Philadelphia on January 7^th, 2008.

Mayor Nutter is a native Philadelphian with an accomplished career in public service, business and financial administration.  He served as a Philadelphia City Councilman for nearly 15 years representing the city’s Fourth District encompassing the communities of Wynnefield, Overbrook, Roxborough, Manayunk, East Falls, Mt. Airy, and parts of North and West Philadelphia.

During his time in Council, Michael Nutter engineered groundbreaking ethics reform legislation and led successful efforts to pass a citywide smoking ban.  He worked to lower taxes for Philadelphians and to reform the city’s tax structure, to increase the number of Philadelphia police officers patrolling the streets and to create a Police Advisory Board to provide a forum for discussion between citizens and the Police Department.

In June 2006, Michael Nutter resigned his City Council seat and in July 2006 he announced his intention to run in Philadelphia’s mayoral election.  His campaign focused on four key areas: crime, education, job creation and ethics reform.  He won the Democratic nomination in a five-way primary election with 37% of the vote and on November 6th, 2007, was overwhelmingly elected Mayor of the City of Philadelphia with 83% of the vote.

The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote that Michael Nutter “is easy to imagine on the national stage as the fresh voice of a resurgent Philadelphia” and that “Nutter can lead Philadelphia to a brighter day.”  The Philadelphia Daily News wrote that “Nutter has the intelligence, the vision and the experience necessary to take this city into its rightful future.”

Resources

Download the full briefing book section.

Green Infrastructure Community Profile, CNT, January 1st, 2007. Read more.

Speakers

Neil Weinstein, P.E., R.L.A., AICP, MASCE is the Executive Director and one of the founders of the Center. Neil is a registered engineer and landscape architect and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners and the ASCE Urban Water Resources Research Council. He has a M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Johns Hopkins University and a M.L.A. from the University of Georgia. For the last 10 years Neil has primarily been focused on the planning, research, and design of innovative stormwater management practices, including LID. Prior to that he worked as a development engineer and planner on municipal, institutional, and private sector projects.

Mark Funkhouser, 60, earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Thiel College, a master’s in Social Work from West Virginia University, a master’s in Business Administration from Tennessee State University and an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in public administration and sociology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He began his career as a social worker and then went on to become an auditor, first in Tennessee State Government and then for the City of Kansas City, Mo., where he served from 1988 until 2006. Under his leadership, the City Auditor’s Office in Kansas City won the Knighton Award for outstanding auditing four times: in 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2004.

Dominique H. Lueckenhoff has over 25 years experience in the environmental field. She currently serves as an Associate Director of the Water Protection Division and Director of the Office of State and Watershed Partnerships for the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 3 Office in Philadelphia.

In this capacity, she is responsible for direct oversight of a variety of programs, including federal grants totaling over half a billion dollars under the Clean Water Act (CWA), covering the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware and the District of Columbia.

Some of these programs and activities include: The CWA Section 106 Water Pollution Control grants program, Non-Point Source Program (Section 319), the National Estuary Program (Section 320), the Coastal Zone Act Reauthorization Amendments (CZARA), Mining Program, Interstate River Basin Commission coordination for the Delaware, Ohio, Potomac, and Susquehanna Rivers, Targeted Watershed Grants, a variety of watershed studies and restoration efforts, and watershed planning and related partnering activities for the Mid-Atlantic region.

Her leadership in advancing innovative approaches and green practices to achieve sustainable environmental protection, economic vitality and improved community quality of life – is highlighted by her vision and creation of the Green Communities Program over 15 years ago.  This effort has resulted in a widely adopted incentive-based program to promote green buildings and infrastructure at a community scale.

H. J. “Bud” Schardein, Jr. is the Executive Director of the Louisville and Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District. He is responsible for operations, maintenance, capital projects and a budget $170 million annual budget, and supervises 600 employees.  Mr. Schardein oversees emergency response and is responsible for coordinating all MSD response efforts to natural, accidental, mechanical systems and intentional events that affect MSD operations and systems. He also oversees community relations and is responsible for presenting MSD projects, programs and initiatives to government, civic groups, neighborhood associations and media.

Mr. Schardein serves on the University of Louisville Board of Overseers  and the Greater Louisville, Inc. Executive Board.  He is past Chair for Central Kentucky of the American Public Works Association.  Mr. Schardein attended Morehead State University, served in the U.S. Army, and earned a degree in Communications from Spalding University. He is married and has two children.

Resources

Download the full briefing book section.

The Stimulus and Poverty: Using the Stimulus to reduce Poverty and Improve the Environment, Judith Bell , June 12th, 2009. Read more.

Building the Clean Economy, Johanna Zetterburg, January 23rd, 2010. Read more.

Energizing Prosperity, George Sterzinger, Economic Policy Institute, March 3rd, 2008. Read more.

Speakers

Robert Atkinson is the founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington, DC-based technology policy think tank. He is also author of the State New Economy Index series and the book, The Past And Future Of America’s Economy: Long Waves Of Innovation That Power Cycles Of Growth (Edward Elgar, 2005). He has an extensive background in technology policy, he has conducted ground-breaking research projects on technology and innovation, is a valued adviser to state and national policy makers, and a popular speaker on innovation policy nationally and internationally.

Before coming to ITIF, Dr. Atkinson was Vice President of the Progressive Policy Institute and Director of PPI’s Technology & New Economy Project. While at PPI he wrote numerous research reports on technology and innovation policy, including on issues such as broadband telecommunications, Internet telephony, universal service, e-commerce, e-government, middleman opposition to e-commerce, privacy, copyright, RFID and smart cards, the role of IT in homeland security, the R&D tax credit, offshoring, and growth economics.

Previously Dr. Atkinson served as the first Executive Director of the Rhode Island Economic Policy Council, a public-private partnership including as members the Governor, legislative leaders, and corporate and labor leaders. As head of RIEPC, he was responsible for drafting a comprehensive economic strategic development plan for the state, developing a ten-point economic development plan, and working to successfully implement all ten proposals through the legislative and administrative branches. Prior to that he was Project Director at the former Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. While at OTA, he directed The Technological Reshaping of Metropolitan America, a seminal report examining the impact of the information technology revolution on America’s urban areas.

Sam Adams of Portland, Oregon was elected Mayor of Portland in May 2008 with 58% of the vote. Prior to being elected Mayor, Adams served as a Commissioner on the City Council for four years earning a reputation as a “policy-driven” advocate for sustainability, public transit, transportation planning, the arts, and gay rights.

Adams gravitated to politics as a University of Oregon intern for Congressman Peter DeFazio where he stayed on staff until 1987. He then went to work for the Oregon House Democratic Campaign Committee and at that time the Democratic Majority Leader Carl Hosticka. Adams turned his focus to Portland in 1991, where he successfully managed Vera Katz’s first campaign for mayor. At age 29, he began the first of 11 years as the youngest mayoral chief of staff in the city’s history.

As a City Commissioner, he was Commissioner in Charge of Portland’s Office of Transportation and the Bureau of Environmental Services, and council liaison to, among others, the Regional Arts & Culture Council, the Association of Portland Neighborhood Business Districts, and Worksystems, Incorporated. Today, Mayor Adams continues to tackle those political first ascents serving as Portland’s first openly gay City Commissioner and now, Mayor. In his new role as Mayor, Adams is the lead Council member on Economic Development, Planning and Sustainability, Education, Arts and Culture, and Transportation.

As the Commissioner-in-charge of the newly reorganized Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, Mayor Adams brings renewed focus to developing and implementing plans that will not only keep Portland livable, vibrant, and economically healthy, but will also increase Portland’s status as a national leader in sustainable planning and development. He is proud of Portland earning the title of America’s most sustainable city, and wants to see Portland earn the title of world’s most sustainable city in the future.

Bob Agee is the Acting Public Works Director for the City of Annapolis, where he is working to implement the Annapolis Renewable Energy Park.  He was the City Administratior in Annapolis for eight years. Bob also worked as the Assistant Anne Arundel County Executive for eight years and as Special Assistant to the Maryland Secretary of Transportation. He has been involved in international cultural and economic exchange projects with Gambia, Senegal, Estonia, Ireland, Brazil, China, and France.  In addition, Bob established a pilot program for local government training for representatives from various countries involved in local government management.

Bob serves on the ICMA Government Policy Committee and is  a founder and member of the Academy for Excellence in Local Government. He also serves as a commissioner on the Maryland Heritage Areas Commission, the Maryland Urban Forestry Board and is  the Chairman of the Maryland Rural Development Foundation. Bob attended Western Maryland College in Political Science and Economics and The University of Maryland for Public Administration and Urban Studies.

Johanna Zetterberg joined DOE as a Presidential Management Fellow in 2007, and serves as Deputy to Acting Program Manager Claire Broido Johnson of the Weatherization and Intergovernmental Program (OWIP) in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.  OWIP provides funding and technical assistance to its partners in state, local and tribal governments to increase the rapid deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.  OWIP currently administers $11.3 billion under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 through the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program, the State Energy Program, and the Weatherization Assistance Program. With more than seven years’ experience managing domestic energy and environmental issues, Johanna holds a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a BA in psychology from Pomona College.  She held previous positions at the California Public Utilities Commission, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the Sierra Club.