Mayor Lang Attends 75th Winter Meeting of U.S. Conference of Mayors
MAYOR
New Bedford Standard-Times
Valerie Sullivan
Boston University Washington News Service
January 24, 2007
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 —Attending his first winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, New Bedford Mayor Scott W. Lang was struck by the universality of the problems he and his colleagues face.
“Every issue that New Bedford faces is a microcosm of the issues that every urban area faces,” he said.
The winter conference, taking place this week, is designed to bring mayors together to share ideas, improve federal-city relationships, and develop federal policy to meet local needs.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi , Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) , who is running for president, and Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) are expected to address the group.
The mayors split their time between working on their committees and attending seminars and lectures of other committees addressing various issues they all face.
“The great thing about the conference is that no matter what standing committees you’re on, you also have the ability to step in and take in the resources of the other committees,” Mayor Lang said.
Wednesday, Mayor Lang attended a seminar on public safety, sponsored by the Criminal and Social Justice Standing Committee.
“Public safety, violence, youth gangs [are issues] permeating all of American society and specifically the urban areas,” the mayor said, calling them issues “that clearly every mayor in attendance here is concerned about.”
He highlighted the need to combine education with job training to create productive members of society—young people who are able “to apply their skills in the work place” for both existing jobs and those that evolve in the future.
He also emphasized the importance of tourism in fostering economic development. “We continue to build New Bedford as a destination rather than a pass-through,” Mayor Lang said.
The conference is scheduled to hold a press briefing Thursday dealing with climate protection and the environment. “The energy issue is important for everyone,” Mayor Lang said, mentioning New Bedford’s effort to balance saving money and being “friendly and helpful to the environment.”
He said that the great number of communities pooling their best practices at the conference would help them more easily solve their shared problems.
“We have a lot of cooperation… people are very mindful and very committed to working together and solving these problems,” Mayor Lang said.
Mayor Lang also met with officials at the Portuguese embassy in Washington.
“I wanted to present myself as the mayor of New Bedford and give the greetings from the city and talk about the Portuguese community,” Mayor Lang said.
He called his time at the conference “a power-packed two days of being able to get the best information and resources for the city I can to get.”
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