Transcripts For CSPAN2 AEI Discussion With Mayors 20240711 :

On the director domestic policy studies at aei and i am delighted to be with you today to join by a group firstterm mayors facing challenges our studies are pretty interesting im glad you are tuning in and you will enjoy getting to know each one of them. The new generation mayors and cities i am excited because we have mayors literally for weeks on the job just got started a mayors doing interesting things dealing with challenges during this challenging time with the pandemic and urban unrest and other challenges that flow from those things. I want to dive right in and hear from them and what they are doing for Public Policy and the future of our cities but let me do a quick round of introductions. The mayor of miami was selected in 2017 i guess the longestserving mayor of firstterm mayors and previously served as the commissioner for district four at the age of 431 of the youngest in the country the first miami born mayor of the city and has a lot going on we look forward to hearing from you mayor also serving as mayor of Oklahoma City since april 2018 the youngest since 1923 congratulations on that the first native with more than 500,000 residents and he served eight years in the senate and oklahoma the newest member to the Merrill Lynch on branch to the most diverse city in america january 2021 he famously served in the marine corps during that time has worked for one of the top security countries yall have diverse backgrounds and are grappling with what we are dealing with right now in our cities and we look forward to diving right in. Hearing about why you ran in the first place so i got you interested in this job to begin with, you can address that when you have a chance but i thought i would start with you mayor, mayor suarez will have to leave at 230 well try to get you first and deal with questions after the fact after he lives we could get back to you but so to talk what it is like to pursue that dynamism agenda in the middle of a pandemic. You made some new ways in december going up on twitter inviting Silicon Valley to miami and resulted in a lot of activity is insecure taking advantage of the fact people are mobile right now in those places i got an expensive and the new alternatives i wanted to hear about that we are so used to hearing about grim news about the pandemic that you are utilizing the Current Situation to pursue goals on the schools you had for miami anyway. Thank you for the opportunity to share the stage with other long time friends and recently elected new friend to the college of mayors its an honor to be with you and aei. Building a Technology Ecosystem is something the city of miami and i have been intending to do and this is a startup that has not received the first infusion of Venture Capital so at this moment what if we made miami the next Silicon Valley and i said how can i help . That was lightning in a bottle sometimes there is a confluence of factors that come together and conspire in your favor but as you said the cost of living was a major issue of tax policy. But there is a fair issue that is understated and doesnt have enough importance in my opinion which is being welcome and receptive treating people with dignity those that are creators and innovators to understand they need to build companies that change the way we live and the decisions that we make for the better. But they are not necessarily required to cure all of societys ills they are not responsible for the things that are wrong any city so from my perspective we take a hospitality approach to make sure people feel welcome in that issue of my generation of income inequality but its difficult so thats one of the essential tenets to create upward mobility then you have to create as close to an educational Playing Field to make sure the children of your Community Every child no matter their station in life can occupy one of those jobs and thats a secondary challenge. But i think people are. [inaudible] we may have lost the mayor as he is mobile. They are on the move. [laughter] he is frozen up the let him rejoin and come back when we can. So mayor, can you pick up on some of this . I want to talk about what you experienced in Oklahoma City just in terms of protest from last summer because you pursue that in and intentional way to go before we talk about that, you can you talk about what you have been doing to create that dynamism the city has become known for . Because unlike miami you have been experience quite a bit of Significant Growth lately over the last ten years the citys at 12 percent role above the National Average so tell us what it has been like to pursue that dynamism agenda to grow the city during a time of crisis. First of all thank you for the invitation i appreciate your organization very much and like mayor suarez it is an honor to be on the panel with he and the other mayors. In Oklahoma City i inherited great momentum the key to success over the last 25 years it is well documented here in Oklahoma City that we started to invest in ourselves and passing the temporary one cent sales tax to build qualityofLife Initiatives not necessarily Core Infrastructure. We have those needs as well and mechanisms in place but we found 25 years ago that it was very important to have a lot of the free market principles in place that you preach but if nobody wants to live there and theres nothing to do , maybe they are not as interested in your Worker Compensation policies your income tax rate if its a lame place to live and we found ourselves in the box in the early nineties so the call the maps on santa fes sales tax of four times. And i took office we were in the final stages of maps three project and i championed my first two years the path of the creation of adoption of map number four. That happened about three months before the commencement of the pandemic it is a 1 billiondollar package a qualityoflife project and so many other things that going to the growing and successful and dynamic city but if the city is investing in itself actively in a wellknown way, it not only makes a difference but encourages everybody makes you feel this is a place that is dynamic so that 1 billion of a rollout over the next decade gives me a lot of hope as we move beyond the pandemic because not only two up in their faces but i wish they had a 1 billion stimulus package that was approved payments before the start of the pandemic and that would be great as we move forward and hopefully completely recover and go beyond where we were before. Thats great. What kinds of things more specifically has that investment gone towards a what will it do cracks your point is interesting based on our survey we have found that there is a strong relationship between quality of life and the things that matter whether the kids going to the Grocery Store a little on the restaurant if they are things they are close to them people talk to their neighbors more frequently theres something about being out and about in a place that you enjoy and increases trust it says we dont have a lot of that in society but it turns out the way the environment is constructed is more to that than we have realized it seems like you discovered that yourself so what are you investing in . Your comments are right on point with our projects and those in the past and previous maps made possible where the arena where her sons play which is a great economic driver but also a Meeting Place weve never come together before as a Community Like that i got to cut the ribbon on the maps three project a 70acre park in the corridor downtown that brings people together like you described in maps number for which a champion has 16 projects and some of those are upgrade now everybody wants a park so we will upgrade every single park in our city we have 150 neighborhood parks. We have Youth Centers stateoftheart thinking like 25 milliondollar type of Youth Centers spread around the city. Those are the human things or neighborhood things we looked at a lot of previous maps for focused on downtown. That that needed to happen we had a dying downtown that most people here, im not saying anything different than that, most people say maps number four is focused on name is in the needs of our citizens and that is like what you are saying we did the downtown stefan we needed to now thats thriving now we need to look back into the daily life and how can we as a city invest in their happiness. We can do it all obviously people have to take responsibility for themselves but there is Core Infrastructure needs of the municipality provides that may not be appropriate for state or local government but the city needs to and if they dont people leave. They vote with their feet see have to build a city where people want to live if they want to live there there were scam live and create jobs and that has been our Success Story the last 25 years and why we feel we have the dynamic and have grown in population economically over this time. And why we think we will be in pretty good shape after the pandemic. Good thoughts. Mayor suarez is in a new place now with a different background placement to come back to mayor suarez because we lost you. At the best part. [laughter] i want to follow up with you you have been experiencing amazing growth nine. 5 percent population growth with 10 percent housing you are talking about inequality when we lost you. How are you keeping supply and demand up with each other . Silicon valley is that they dont have the dynamic with these Large Centers of commerce that are losing people people cannot afford to live there anymore. Now people are working remotely you capitalize but somehow miami is a boomtown but you are managing to read the needle differently. We have a code that allows us to grow in physical landscape we have tenex growth capacity which is a major constraint in cities like San Francisco that are maxed out in the growth that creates incredible upward pressure facing with supply and a tremendous demand even though i dont have 1 billion like my good friend as we do have a 400 milliondollar forever miami bond similar to what he is describing a 100 million is affordable housing. So we are leveraging the Government Land that is under his own with a 100 million getting 20 one or 25 one leverage way with the private sector we have 10 million for the projects 10 Million Investment and 200 million with the projects and 750 units of affordable housing. If you extrapolate that out at 100 million looking at the 7500 units with a tremendous amount of leverage was 2 million of leverage so for us we will continue to do that with 400 million of money that we can leverage at the same rate. With that Publicprivate Partnership and the public land and using public dollars that are a creation or public bond dollars to make sure we can keep prices at a rate to attract engineers like doctors and nurses that is becoming more and more expensive to see them or a portion the city and the country. There is a renaissance in the state where we have to do as the mirror said and i was sorry for cannibalizing the beginning of the interview mayor lincoln but you have to invest to the quality of life. Its wonderful is wonderful to have great weather you need to have parks and a tremendous art scene. With tremendous private galleries and only one or two cities in the us and 2022 with Major League Soccer and hopefully in miami in the next year so we have all of the major sports so we create a quality of life dynamic that makes us attractive so which is true in the Virtual World where everyone is working remotely you can live you want to live in now we have to move in miami has done very well and that competition with major city. Thank you. Those watching theres two ways to ask a question. Turning to you mayor lincoln congratulations on your recent victory you defeated someone who is the raising star in the party so back up a little bit about why you got into the race in the first place the most diversity in the country is a lot of headwinds during a crisis pandemic what was motivating you what did you hope to achieve and what are the voters expecting from you . Thank you for this opportunity to join you and participate in this forum but i would like to say that if i wouldve known back in october 2019 that 2020 would turn out the way that it did would have reconsidered running from a security standpoint but im glad that i did it. I look back it wouldnt change anything the things i always knew i would do at some. 1 is join the military, wind is serve in a fulltime capacity and serve at some level in Public Service so it was never a matter of if but when the timing is very important so october 3rd 2019 i just got done reading the book the power of habit they completely shifted my a paradigm. Went and spent seven years in ministry at that time to understand the need for should run for mayor one day then two days later sitting at a wedding reception with a mutual friend we had a conversation about the city and i said im thinking about running for mayor in 2024 he said really because everything how to approach you over the last nine months to run now. Thats when i made the decision to run for mayor from the 12th we were sprinting a marathon. I bet. It all happened very quickly im sure was quite a jolt to your family when you listen to them mayors talk about investing in and qualityofLife Initiatives in creating an urban environment want to be to work every day to raise their families how does that strike you . Its also going above the National Average also has some headwinds in terms of higher unemployment and similar challenges so what is your first 180 days approach to those sorts of things . Would you tackle first and why . Thats what we ran on i heard both talk about quality of life in the city that something we ran on locally with the quality of life in stockton and now leadership to be focused on addressing and to understand those fundamental needs of our communities so quality of life looks different for each city and community and municipalities over us where do you tackle first or how do you advertise that . When we find ourselves right now in the middle of this pandemic at the county and state level to have the impact on Small Businesses are those supports and with vaccines and things of those nature. But the one area from the quality of life standpoint that we have to focus on is the issue in and around homelessness. We all want a Safer Community is not a crime to be homeless obviously different people have different life circumstances we also understand what advice do not supersede so to find the balance that we have the support and the means necessary also improving the quality of life for the residents so 80 percent of our population is a number one issue. So we work really hard in the campaign to reach out to different municipalities to understand what is working and identify the solution that we can implement here in stockton but its about taking the next step. Not necessarily television but what is the practical next step and then to be transparent with the public with a Civic Engagement which was another opportunity as well in terms of improving the quality of life from a trust standpoint. So for me prioritizing Civic Engagement the public understands we are listening and we have those messages out heart and we expect the public to hold us accountable if we do everything we can to make sure the needs of our city are met. Coming back to the institution of trust but mayor, before we lose you, when it comes to the inequality problem that you talk about everybody has to deal with that in granular terms but for all of the growth and the dynamism you are fostering in miami for those on the lower income, how do they see miami right now . They are struggling with job losses and sickness and the light so when you are speaking to communities that are in a tough spot what do you hear from them and what is it you are doing that you find resonates with their aspirations . First of all no doubt they are suffering particularly because of the pandemic. No doubt people are going hungry. People are concerned about being evicted from their homes or foreclosing on their mortgages not the resources they are being given to address those issues that renaissance is about creating longterm opportunities has to begin with education if we are very serious about combating income inequality we have to give every child the chance to be prepared for the modernday economy giving every child the tools and access to immune from the end. Giving every child access to a curriculum to make them successful the coding should be taught in every Single School at the the elementary level all the way through high school. When i think those three ingredients are in place and they are not there yet, thats what i think we will be creating a pipeline unless and until we get there as we are still creating high paying jobs in the city, but to truly deal with income inequality to be successful government cannot mandate that. Thank you very much, mayor. I wanted to ask you i know when we were in the middle of a lot of unrest after the george floyd kelling i believe you met with community protesters and black lives matter and listened to people in the community. What kind of things did you do to maintain an environment that seemed to be relatively peaceful and stable and draw some attention to your self i think people noticed things were going well. Thank you. The government is nonpartisan and may be that lends itself to being better at listening and being more responsive to the needs of Public Policy<\/a> and the future of our cities but let me do a quick round of introductions. The mayor of miami was selected in 2017 i guess the longestserving mayor of firstterm mayors and previously served as the commissioner for district four at the age of 431 of the youngest in the country the first miami born mayor of the city and has a lot going on we look forward to hearing from you mayor also serving as mayor of Oklahoma City<\/a> since april 2018 the youngest since 1923 congratulations on that the first native with more than 500,000 residents and he served eight years in the senate and oklahoma the newest member to the Merrill Lynch<\/a> on branch to the most diverse city in america january 2021 he famously served in the marine corps during that time has worked for one of the top security countries yall have diverse backgrounds and are grappling with what we are dealing with right now in our cities and we look forward to diving right in. Hearing about why you ran in the first place so i got you interested in this job to begin with, you can address that when you have a chance but i thought i would start with you mayor, mayor suarez will have to leave at 230 well try to get you first and deal with questions after the fact after he lives we could get back to you but so to talk what it is like to pursue that dynamism agenda in the middle of a pandemic. You made some new ways in december going up on twitter inviting Silicon Valley<\/a> to miami and resulted in a lot of activity is insecure taking advantage of the fact people are mobile right now in those places i got an expensive and the new alternatives i wanted to hear about that we are so used to hearing about grim news about the pandemic that you are utilizing the Current Situation<\/a> to pursue goals on the schools you had for miami anyway. Thank you for the opportunity to share the stage with other long time friends and recently elected new friend to the college of mayors its an honor to be with you and aei. Building a Technology Ecosystem<\/a> is something the city of miami and i have been intending to do and this is a startup that has not received the first infusion of Venture Capital<\/a> so at this moment what if we made miami the next Silicon Valley<\/a> and i said how can i help . That was lightning in a bottle sometimes there is a confluence of factors that come together and conspire in your favor but as you said the cost of living was a major issue of tax policy. But there is a fair issue that is understated and doesnt have enough importance in my opinion which is being welcome and receptive treating people with dignity those that are creators and innovators to understand they need to build companies that change the way we live and the decisions that we make for the better. But they are not necessarily required to cure all of societys ills they are not responsible for the things that are wrong any city so from my perspective we take a hospitality approach to make sure people feel welcome in that issue of my generation of income inequality but its difficult so thats one of the essential tenets to create upward mobility then you have to create as close to an educational Playing Field<\/a> to make sure the children of your Community Every<\/a> child no matter their station in life can occupy one of those jobs and thats a secondary challenge. But i think people are. [inaudible] we may have lost the mayor as he is mobile. They are on the move. [laughter] he is frozen up the let him rejoin and come back when we can. So mayor, can you pick up on some of this . I want to talk about what you experienced in Oklahoma City<\/a> just in terms of protest from last summer because you pursue that in and intentional way to go before we talk about that, you can you talk about what you have been doing to create that dynamism the city has become known for . Because unlike miami you have been experience quite a bit of Significant Growth<\/a> lately over the last ten years the citys at 12 percent role above the National Average<\/a> so tell us what it has been like to pursue that dynamism agenda to grow the city during a time of crisis. First of all thank you for the invitation i appreciate your organization very much and like mayor suarez it is an honor to be on the panel with he and the other mayors. In Oklahoma City<\/a> i inherited great momentum the key to success over the last 25 years it is well documented here in Oklahoma City<\/a> that we started to invest in ourselves and passing the temporary one cent sales tax to build qualityofLife Initiative<\/a>s not necessarily Core Infrastructure<\/a>. We have those needs as well and mechanisms in place but we found 25 years ago that it was very important to have a lot of the free market principles in place that you preach but if nobody wants to live there and theres nothing to do , maybe they are not as interested in your Worker Compensation<\/a> policies your income tax rate if its a lame place to live and we found ourselves in the box in the early nineties so the call the maps on santa fes sales tax of four times. And i took office we were in the final stages of maps three project and i championed my first two years the path of the creation of adoption of map number four. That happened about three months before the commencement of the pandemic it is a 1 billiondollar package a qualityoflife project and so many other things that going to the growing and successful and dynamic city but if the city is investing in itself actively in a wellknown way, it not only makes a difference but encourages everybody makes you feel this is a place that is dynamic so that 1 billion of a rollout over the next decade gives me a lot of hope as we move beyond the pandemic because not only two up in their faces but i wish they had a 1 billion stimulus package that was approved payments before the start of the pandemic and that would be great as we move forward and hopefully completely recover and go beyond where we were before. Thats great. What kinds of things more specifically has that investment gone towards a what will it do cracks your point is interesting based on our survey we have found that there is a strong relationship between quality of life and the things that matter whether the kids going to the Grocery Store<\/a> a little on the restaurant if they are things they are close to them people talk to their neighbors more frequently theres something about being out and about in a place that you enjoy and increases trust it says we dont have a lot of that in society but it turns out the way the environment is constructed is more to that than we have realized it seems like you discovered that yourself so what are you investing in . Your comments are right on point with our projects and those in the past and previous maps made possible where the arena where her sons play which is a great economic driver but also a Meeting Place<\/a> weve never come together before as a Community Like<\/a> that i got to cut the ribbon on the maps three project a 70acre park in the corridor downtown that brings people together like you described in maps number for which a champion has 16 projects and some of those are upgrade now everybody wants a park so we will upgrade every single park in our city we have 150 neighborhood parks. We have Youth Centers<\/a> stateoftheart thinking like 25 milliondollar type of Youth Centers<\/a> spread around the city. Those are the human things or neighborhood things we looked at a lot of previous maps for focused on downtown. That that needed to happen we had a dying downtown that most people here, im not saying anything different than that, most people say maps number four is focused on name is in the needs of our citizens and that is like what you are saying we did the downtown stefan we needed to now thats thriving now we need to look back into the daily life and how can we as a city invest in their happiness. We can do it all obviously people have to take responsibility for themselves but there is Core Infrastructure<\/a> needs of the municipality provides that may not be appropriate for state or local government but the city needs to and if they dont people leave. They vote with their feet see have to build a city where people want to live if they want to live there there were scam live and create jobs and that has been our Success Story<\/a> the last 25 years and why we feel we have the dynamic and have grown in population economically over this time. And why we think we will be in pretty good shape after the pandemic. Good thoughts. Mayor suarez is in a new place now with a different background placement to come back to mayor suarez because we lost you. At the best part. [laughter] i want to follow up with you you have been experiencing amazing growth nine. 5 percent population growth with 10 percent housing you are talking about inequality when we lost you. How are you keeping supply and demand up with each other . Silicon valley is that they dont have the dynamic with these Large Centers<\/a> of commerce that are losing people people cannot afford to live there anymore. Now people are working remotely you capitalize but somehow miami is a boomtown but you are managing to read the needle differently. We have a code that allows us to grow in physical landscape we have tenex growth capacity which is a major constraint in cities like San Francisco<\/a> that are maxed out in the growth that creates incredible upward pressure facing with supply and a tremendous demand even though i dont have 1 billion like my good friend as we do have a 400 milliondollar forever miami bond similar to what he is describing a 100 million is affordable housing. So we are leveraging the Government Land<\/a> that is under his own with a 100 million getting 20 one or 25 one leverage way with the private sector we have 10 million for the projects 10 Million Investment<\/a> and 200 million with the projects and 750 units of affordable housing. If you extrapolate that out at 100 million looking at the 7500 units with a tremendous amount of leverage was 2 million of leverage so for us we will continue to do that with 400 million of money that we can leverage at the same rate. With that Publicprivate Partnership<\/a> and the public land and using public dollars that are a creation or public bond dollars to make sure we can keep prices at a rate to attract engineers like doctors and nurses that is becoming more and more expensive to see them or a portion the city and the country. There is a renaissance in the state where we have to do as the mirror said and i was sorry for cannibalizing the beginning of the interview mayor lincoln but you have to invest to the quality of life. Its wonderful is wonderful to have great weather you need to have parks and a tremendous art scene. With tremendous private galleries and only one or two cities in the us and 2022 with Major League Soccer<\/a> and hopefully in miami in the next year so we have all of the major sports so we create a quality of life dynamic that makes us attractive so which is true in the Virtual World<\/a> where everyone is working remotely you can live you want to live in now we have to move in miami has done very well and that competition with major city. Thank you. Those watching theres two ways to ask a question. Turning to you mayor lincoln congratulations on your recent victory you defeated someone who is the raising star in the party so back up a little bit about why you got into the race in the first place the most diversity in the country is a lot of headwinds during a crisis pandemic what was motivating you what did you hope to achieve and what are the voters expecting from you . Thank you for this opportunity to join you and participate in this forum but i would like to say that if i wouldve known back in october 2019 that 2020 would turn out the way that it did would have reconsidered running from a security standpoint but im glad that i did it. I look back it wouldnt change anything the things i always knew i would do at some. 1 is join the military, wind is serve in a fulltime capacity and serve at some level in Public Service<\/a> so it was never a matter of if but when the timing is very important so october 3rd 2019 i just got done reading the book the power of habit they completely shifted my a paradigm. Went and spent seven years in ministry at that time to understand the need for should run for mayor one day then two days later sitting at a wedding reception with a mutual friend we had a conversation about the city and i said im thinking about running for mayor in 2024 he said really because everything how to approach you over the last nine months to run now. Thats when i made the decision to run for mayor from the 12th we were sprinting a marathon. I bet. It all happened very quickly im sure was quite a jolt to your family when you listen to them mayors talk about investing in and qualityofLife Initiative<\/a>s in creating an urban environment want to be to work every day to raise their families how does that strike you . Its also going above the National Average<\/a> also has some headwinds in terms of higher unemployment and similar challenges so what is your first 180 days approach to those sorts of things . Would you tackle first and why . Thats what we ran on i heard both talk about quality of life in the city that something we ran on locally with the quality of life in stockton and now leadership to be focused on addressing and to understand those fundamental needs of our communities so quality of life looks different for each city and community and municipalities over us where do you tackle first or how do you advertise that . When we find ourselves right now in the middle of this pandemic at the county and state level to have the impact on Small Businesses<\/a> are those supports and with vaccines and things of those nature. But the one area from the quality of life standpoint that we have to focus on is the issue in and around homelessness. We all want a Safer Community<\/a> is not a crime to be homeless obviously different people have different life circumstances we also understand what advice do not supersede so to find the balance that we have the support and the means necessary also improving the quality of life for the residents so 80 percent of our population is a number one issue. So we work really hard in the campaign to reach out to different municipalities to understand what is working and identify the solution that we can implement here in stockton but its about taking the next step. Not necessarily television but what is the practical next step and then to be transparent with the public with a Civic Engagement<\/a> which was another opportunity as well in terms of improving the quality of life from a trust standpoint. So for me prioritizing Civic Engagement<\/a> the public understands we are listening and we have those messages out heart and we expect the public to hold us accountable if we do everything we can to make sure the needs of our city are met. Coming back to the institution of trust but mayor, before we lose you, when it comes to the inequality problem that you talk about everybody has to deal with that in granular terms but for all of the growth and the dynamism you are fostering in miami for those on the lower income, how do they see miami right now . They are struggling with job losses and sickness and the light so when you are speaking to communities that are in a tough spot what do you hear from them and what is it you are doing that you find resonates with their aspirations . First of all no doubt they are suffering particularly because of the pandemic. No doubt people are going hungry. People are concerned about being evicted from their homes or foreclosing on their mortgages not the resources they are being given to address those issues that renaissance is about creating longterm opportunities has to begin with education if we are very serious about combating income inequality we have to give every child the chance to be prepared for the modernday economy giving every child the tools and access to immune from the end. Giving every child access to a curriculum to make them successful the coding should be taught in every Single School<\/a> at the the elementary level all the way through high school. When i think those three ingredients are in place and they are not there yet, thats what i think we will be creating a pipeline unless and until we get there as we are still creating high paying jobs in the city, but to truly deal with income inequality to be successful government cannot mandate that. Thank you very much, mayor. I wanted to ask you i know when we were in the middle of a lot of unrest after the george floyd kelling i believe you met with community protesters and black lives matter and listened to people in the community. What kind of things did you do to maintain an environment that seemed to be relatively peaceful and stable and draw some attention to your self i think people noticed things were going well. Thank you. The government is nonpartisan and may be that lends itself to being better at listening and being more responsive to the needs of Diverse Communities<\/a> or maybe its just my Natural Inclination<\/a> or a mix of both but whatever the case, i came in talking about it as one of my issues. The leadership and decisions had been disproportionately dominated by guys who look like me. I am native american but all ultimately it resonated with of thethings ive been talking abot and i dont need people marching in the streets to listen. One or two days of that and i recognize that theres something going on and we need to talk. So it was the third day that i did sit down and i met with the leadership and this may be more so for several hours into the night we are an ally we dont have one ive certainly been hopefully leading the way on this in talking about all the issues that resolve the challenges and in putting everything on the table but the outcomes are unequal century after century and decade after decade that is the reckoning that we all face they will have statistically better educational outcomes, better economic outcomes, a longer life than an africanamerican kid who grows up just about 10 miles away from that point and how many decades do we let that go on before we finally say may be what we did in the 60s wasnt enough and we should stop patting ourselves on the back for that and we need to go a little deeper so those are the conversations that certainly accelerated. Its going to be the work of a lifetime but you see in my community and i suspect others as well people who had previously put blinders on to some of these issues were willing to have Uncomfortable Conversations<\/a> and it went far beyond Police Policy<\/a> and to very deep and unfortunate inequalities so that is the work we are about. It was nice when you said it introducing me on the topic. I dont think weve got it all figured out what we are trying and committed and listening and not just performing empathy but actually feeling it. Thats great. I know you are still listening to what people have to say about when it comes to the exclusion before and after those events is there anything on your policy agenda more than it was a year or year and a half ago . We are looking at Police Policy<\/a> and when you look at an economic agenda i think we were already a little bit on that path. I have a hard time remembering that i would refer people if they are interested that are about crossing these cabins we have economically in the city. There is a Small Business<\/a> support facility for the minority owned businesses and theres also things that are there to help people. Economics was the last thing on their mind but theyve got to get there somehow so im talking about Mental Health<\/a> Crisis Centers<\/a> and people interacting with the criminal justice system. These are things that are hit on Different Levels<\/a> and maybe weve been looking at in the past so i would like to think these are the kind of things we would be talking about in the wake of what happened in 2020 but we were facing them in late 2019. Also on the economic front it isnt necessarily a Public Policy<\/a> but certainly a conversation im a part of as mayor you are seeing a Business Community<\/a> rallying and i am leading with some great folks leading a dialogue with ceos we have been meeting with and sharing about diversity and inclusion. The chamber of commerce and having seminars and sessions all virtual of course but with the understanding that entrepreneurship and wealth isnt going to grow in a community when they dont even have access to the kind of jobs ive always felt i had access to and thats a world i could move in and out of but you look at the white collar jobs and they dont look like Oklahoma City<\/a> and that needs to change. That may or may not be something i can fix by passing an ordinance or a law they are working on that as well. You mentioned the need to continue to rebuild trust with public leaders and when you look at the situation youve inherited and what people are kind of hoping for what are the most important things that you can do aside from Economic Growth<\/a> and development to actually restore that trust. What it seemed like was coming out as people were just exasperated that they hadnt been heard or the inability to afford a place you like or send your kid to school it all came together and blew the lid off but we learned some things from that but it seems like the very first thing that needs to be done and you are kind of putting your hands out to restore trust. What does that look like, how do you do that . We cant forget as elected officials we are Public Servants<\/a> first. When i become mayor the message is i work for you and as the mayor mentioned earlier, this is a nonpartisan. The people just want a leader that can focus on and prioritize the fundamental need. There were a few words, one key one was being intentional and we know everything rises and falls on leadership so when it comes to Civic Engagement<\/a>, it is critical identifying the innovative ways to build that trust and engage the constituents whether its through social media or campaigns and partnerships with our School Districts<\/a> and just identifying what the needs are and figuring out strategic ways to meet the people where they are at and not expecting the public to come to us but actively engage in something as simple as inviting the residents to a city Council Meeting<\/a>. Making that process a little bit more seamless as opposed to having it jump through hoops. These are the Little Things<\/a> as we focus on that would help to bridge those. One of the things i wanted to do early on was a listening tour throughout the Community Engaging<\/a> Different Community<\/a> stakeholders. Theres a lot of disinformation out there so we can break down those of trust and move our communities forward so that is at the forefront and the heart of everything we do in our administration. There is nothing that you can do to just replace that impact of being there and being with people to hear what they have to say which is something a lot of leaders think that they are doing but they dont know what its like to be a mayor. That was the dynamic over the past year certain groups you cant necessarily get to for certain reasons but coming out of the election to prioritize as well. But that engagement is important. [inaudible] you have to be organized in a civil and to show up at the city hall and we will talk to you and state your demands more clearly but it works well listening over this past year i talk about talked aboutCivic Engagement<\/a> any predecessor moved to the back of the Council Meeting<\/a> so if they wanted to make a comment they would have to wait a couple of hours. Not only listening but having some sort of action as well it lays the foundation for whats to come because for me this past year it was the interview of a lifetime, thats what i treated it as. They are going to make a decision whether or not to hire me and so how i ran the campaign and engaged i wanted that to be an indicator so that when we step into the office then we are that much further along to be able to collaborate coming together to move the city forward now and for the foreseeable future. Something we havent talked about yet and i realize sometimes its different depending on how they are structured than may be the average citizen but the question is how you are viewing the environment of schooling with contention and keeping them closed or open and so forth and then experimentation with learning how do you see things changing, the question is is there an opportunity for more reform than would have been possible otherwise. I was just going to say any anytime you are navigating through a crisis often times weve seen that take place through the end of next and with more Distance Learning<\/a> which is already a movement. You cant take away the social aspect of just that community and the way the students learn in the classroom setting as well. So here it has been a challenge for many of our young people going on almost two school years of Distance Learning<\/a>. I had this conversation with my wife the other day. Shes only had two semesters of school in person so it is a priority for us as a city in bay county to get our students back into the classroom safely and as quickly as possible but we are going to have to make sure that we have the support mechanisms in place for our families and students as well. One of the challenges we have had is ensuring that our students not only have access to networks and wifi but also we have a Large Population<\/a> within our community of Migrant Workers<\/a> and farmworkers and so its assisting those parents to make sure they have the knowledge and resources to ensure their students are successful navigating this pandemic as well, so very complex. Its important as a mayor and a city that we partner with our School Districts<\/a> as well with the different initiatives and Marketing Campaigns<\/a> and things like that to move forward because we have a shared interest and thats or students which is the future of our city. Very good. Mayor, i think you have something to say as well. You eluded to we are one of those places where the city governments are completely different universes but its never a question that your Public Education<\/a> offerings in the city are one of the key elements so ive talked a lot about that first as a candidate and then as mayor that i want to be a partner of creating a new vision for Public Education<\/a>. Somewhat ironically a few weeks before the pandemic a lot of it was devoted to kind of ramping up this idea that it was going to be the year that i brought together the Business Leaders<\/a> and philanthropic we are going to get around a table and spend a year or so and emerge out of that with a vision for Public Education<\/a>. As you can imagine that is completely the back burner and we never had that conversation. Its hard to have these conversations when you are in kind of triage mode. These are the times when youre moving into a new phase to maybe have those conversations, so we will see where it all goes. But to the questioners main complaint, to this time of disruption and also a time of innovation, i think absolutely. But we are still 1 foot in triage and its hard to think about that stuff right now when youve got people in the hospitals for covid19 and you feel like you cant get your head above water. But i think that is in the mind of a lot of education leaders because they see their enrollments decline and moving over to virtual offerings or private schools or other creative disruptions. Something different is going to come out of it but i dont think anyone has seen the moment to try to start speaking to what that is yet. But as the mayor of a city i think i definitely intend to be part of the conversation and we are always sort of in the middle of everything even when it isnt our job. I think i will probably play a role in that regard. Theres been quite a bit of evidence that traditional job creation strategy with district tax credits and those sort of things maybe are not as effective as we use to think. Do you think that there is a role for that or what do you think the future of the Economic Development<\/a> policy should be . Digging a bit deeper do you have a kind of view or theory of what the Economic Development<\/a> strategy should be . One is the Regulatory Environment<\/a> that is usually most relevant at the state level when we think about the tax policies those are things that are addressed at the state level but it certainly has an effect on the city. Thats one perspective. Second is what we talked about earlier. We bought big time into that strategy a quarter century ago. We have to create the macro environment where stuff is happening. We have cool entertainment districts. Life isnt just what happens in the office between nine to five, we have to create a place thats interesting and fun and feels like it is a part of american pop culture. All these things sound really superficial but people make decisions and much of it through Public Policy<\/a> and successfully so. We are on that path. The third thing though you have to think about is Public Education<\/a> and that is a huge deal and i think here we struggle with people moving to the suburbs and we have to work on that for sure. I dont even remember where the question was. You are doing a great job answering it. The basic approach to development. That was the third thing. Subsidies and incentives. So, look. Every mayor in america will tell you this same thing i suspect. We hate those things, we dont like any of that stuff but until we figure out some sort of mutual disarmament across the country all of those job creators will come here with their hands out if we all say no mutually then i guess it will work but nobodys going to try to put together that effort. Maybe there needs to be a federal law but the reality is that is the game and i kind of hate when very smart Public Policy<\/a> people in washington as if we enjoy it or want to do that. The voters actually approved them and they give us an account we can draw upon so when they want to build a major Distribution Center<\/a> weve got Economic Development<\/a> people that have a conversation with them and they care about the Regulatory Environment<\/a> and the city and the employees but at some point along the way 1. 5 million and we better have an answer to that question. The advantage they provide theres probably no particular advantage we will keep having them as long as it is a part of the necessary conversation to have all the time we are coming up against the end of the time and i have a question here i wont be able to get to everyone i will let you both respond to this which is what is the appeal for you being outside of National Politics<\/a> and what advice would you want to give to people in Public Service<\/a>. In my view one of the most important political jobs is to be mayor. What advice from your experience would you give to people that want to get involved in Public Service<\/a> . I would say just look at the opportunity before you whether you are in middle school, elementary school, high school, college or you just gen genuinely want to make an impact, make that next step to getting involved in getting engaged. For me it was very important as a next generation to understand they do have a seat at the table. My policy advisor will be 21 next year, next month. Hes a junior at stanford and so for me that was a great opportunity not only to realize that opportunity for him but this is your city just as much as it is anybody elses so just take the next step, take a risk to see how you can get involved and make a difference in your community. Thats why all of us got into that to help people and be a part of something that is bigger than ourselves and improve the lives of ones neighbors and family members and descendents and for those reasons it is very on rewarding will never look back on Public Service<\/a> with any regret you will be glad that you did was if you have good character in a good moral compass because we need you. People are getting attracted that seem to be very perverse reasons and wreaking havoc across the country we have to get back to electing good people. I really dont care where you are not ideological spectrum looking for good people with good intentions and find some Common Ground<\/a> but we have to get good people back and then i thank you will find interestingly enough that the mirrors are disproportionately good people regardless of republicans or democrats or independents they are really close to the ground and doing this for the right reasons and theres this reason so many Public Policy<\/a> people love mirrors because we are in it for the right reasons and getting things done and pragmatic than those of the ideological spectrum you will have a lot more fun there i worked in washington and the us capital and stay capital the this is by far the most fun as mayor of a big city. And the most amount of change can be affected at the local level. A great new to and on. Thank you so much thank you for taking time out of your day and the future we like to talk about job creation and housing in the future of quality of Life Initiative<\/a> will be doing were those and we will welcome you back to these discussions at aei. Thank you again and those who submitted questions check the events page for those we have in the coming weeks and months","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia803407.us.archive.org\/8\/items\/CSPAN2_20210128_050300_AEI_Discussion_with_Mayors\/CSPAN2_20210128_050300_AEI_Discussion_with_Mayors.thumbs\/CSPAN2_20210128_050300_AEI_Discussion_with_Mayors_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240716T12:35:10+00:00"}