Dispatch From DC
On Monday I traveled to Washington, D.C. with a delegation of Southern California elected and business leaders to meet with administration officials and members of congress and advocate for federal funding for our area. With 22 million people, Southern California alone is more populous than 48 states; 43% of all goods that enter through America’s ports come through Southern California; we have an unemployment rate over 11% and our homeless family population has increased by 28.3% in six months. My message to Washington leaders this week: investing in Southern California is crucial to the nation’s economic recovery.
It’s been an extremely rewarding trip and, I think, quite productive. Some highlights:
- Senator Boxer spoke to us about the job growth potential of clean technology and alternative energy. We met with Energy Secretary Steven Chu as well and specifically made the case to him that Los Angeles is poised to be a market leader in green job training. We have a real opportunity to lead the nation in a green jobs revolution and I have no doubt that with Van Jones at the helm, California will be central to the administration’s green job investments. Chu challenged us to not just push for green-designed buildings, but to monitor energy use (and to push white roofs.)
- We talked to White House officials about the importance of an urban-based strategy for recovery, where a combination of public works projects, stalled private developments in need of public dollars, and strategic sector initiatives could help put people back to work in our urban centers. Cities are the economic drivers of our nation and for the last 8 years, we’ve seen investment dry up. I’m heartened to see the new administration’s commitment to the renewal of our cities. The stimulus dollars we’ll be getting over the coming months are extremely precious and can go further if properly directed to the right urban renewal projects.
- Yesterday we had a bipartisan lunch with 12 members of congress and Northern Californian counterparts like David Chiu, my equivalent at the SF Board of Supervisors. At the meeting, we discussed the importance of moving CA from a “donor state” (in taxes spent versus money we get back) to a more evenly-balanced state. For every dollar Los Angeles sends to Washington, we get 73 cents back. That’s got to change.
- We also spoke to Obama’s economic advisers about the importance of solving the housing crisis at the heart of the economic downturn. We discussed the need to focus on ways to write down mortgages on homes or promote short sales to forestall even more foreclosures. I had a great conversation with Rep. Maxine Waters about home foreclosure and eviction prevention.
Today we met with Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis about workers’ issues, Attorney General Eric Holder on public safety, Education Secretary Arne Duncan about education issues and Larry Summers to discuss the overall economic stabilization strategy. The access has been incredible. In fact, we appear to be among the few people having these meetings, getting this access, and helping shape policy early. I’ve just been really impressed with the amount and quality of time they’ve devoted to us and the very real commitment they’ve demonstrated to smart investment not only in California, but around the country to get us on the road to economic recovery.
