Dallas Will Be Better if Mike Rawlings Runs for Mayor Again
president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, makes remarks during the group’s
annual meeting in Dallas AP-Tony Gutierrez
“I don’t know if the man is going to run again or not, but America will not be as good if he doesn’t run, and certainly Dallas will be all the better if he does,” said Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA All-Star and the current president of the mayors organization.
“I want to start by saying a big, Texas-sized THANK YOU to the more than 236 mayors who are here with us today. You represent the best and the brightest from around the country and are the leaders who are driving the change our nation so desperately needs. I’m so glad we have the opportunity to come together at this conference and am so grateful for the USCM.” President of U.S. Conference of Mayors, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings has said it was a great opportunity to show off the city. He was especially excited about the international journalists here for the New Cities summit. He wants Dallas to become a global destination, like Paris or New York. The Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau says the summit generated over 300 global media stories, most of them positive. Officials say that if they had to buy advertising to equate to that type of coverage, it would cost $9.5 million.
The benefits we receive from the organization are clear: It helps Mayors build key relationships with the White House, Congress, and the federal government. It allows us to leverage relationships with the private sector, boosting public/private partnerships. And it brings national exposure
and attention to our cities. We owe so much to this great organization, and I’ve made a pledge as mayor to grow our membership so that we can
increase our revenues and grow.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors will take all of these discussions to Capitol Hill. The mayors passed more than 100 resolutions for everything
from tax credits for renewable energy to more money for veterans’ services. Those resolutions become the mayors’ blueprint for lobbying Congress. They believe if they make a lot of noise together they can put pressure on Congress to act.
