TO:City Council
FROM:Kevin McNamee, Mayor
Bob Engler, Councilmember
DATE:December 5, 2023
SUBJECT: 2023 National League of Cities City Summit Conference RECOMMENDATION:
1. Receive report.
2. Find that receiving said report is not a project as defined by the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
No Additional Funding Requested. Direct and indirect costs are included in the Adopted FY 2023-24 General Fund Budget.
BACKGROUND:
The National League of Cities (NLC) is the oldest and largest national organization representing municipal governments throughout the United States. Its mission is to strengthen and promote cities as centers of opportunity, leadership, and governance. Working in partnership with the 49 State municipal leagues, the National League of Cities serves as a resource to, and an advocate for, the more than 18,000 cities, villages, and towns it represents.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:
The NLC Annual City Summit Conference was held November 15-18, 2023, at the Atlanta Convention Center in Atlanta, GA. City officials gather annually for policy committee meetings and workshops to learn about current practices and programs for America’s cities and towns. At the Annual Business Meeting, policy committees present resolutions for adoption by member cities which serve as the NLC program platform and elect new officers. Mayor McNamee, Councilmember Engler, and Legislative Affairs Manager Layba attended this year’s conference.
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7 A. Pre-Conference Meeting
Councilmember Engler serves on the NLC Public Safety Crime Prevention Federal Advocacy Committee (PSCP). PSCP held their meeting on November 15, 2023, during a pre-conference day. The meeting convened as follows:
1. Partner Presentation: (A) Peregrine Technologies: The speaker demonstrated their data analytics platform that integrates real-time information with GIS technology, with live camera footage and written logs to help public safety respond to emergency calls for service. (B) Flock Safety: The representative shared their technology solutions with cameras, videos, and facial recognition to help deter crime, assist with criminal investigations, and protect the community.
2. 2023 Policy Resolutions: The committee reviewed and approved final changes to municipal policies and resolutions for adoption at the Annual Business Meeting:
National Municipal Policy:
· 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Resolutions:
· In Support of Federal Efforts to Recruit and Retain a Diverse Public Safety Workforce
· Urging the Federal Government to Provide Direct Funding and Assistance to Cities, Towns, and Villages to Support Violence Prevention Programs · On Transforming the Nation’s 9-1-1 System for Enhanced Crisis Response and Support
· On Enhancing Public Safety Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Operations Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) and Multiple UAS Deployment · Urging Federal Investment in Safe and Effective Counter UAS Technologies · Urging the Federal Government to Support Local Government Efforts to Prevent and Respond to Mass Shootings
· Support of Comprehensive Substance Use Disorder Solutions, Additional Resources for Law Enforcement, and Combating Fentanyl Trafficking Federal Advocacy Update: PSCP Legislative Director Yucel Ors shared news on the federal budget. The House of Representatives passed a Continuing Resolution to fund the federal government until January. The proposal is pending Senate approval. With Senate approval the next impending funding cliff is January/February. The continuing resolution is void of reauthorizations bills including the Federal Aviation Administration, National Flood Insurance Program, Farm Bill, and the FY 2023 budget resolution.
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7 New Speaker Mike Johnson continues to pass individual spending bills in the House. Several bills have deep cuts, including funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development affecting Community Development Block Grants. Public safety funding is not impacted.
NLC urges cities to obligate their American Rescue Plan Act funds before 2024. Many cities are at risk of losing their appropriation. NLC also has resources for cities available online including a bipartisan infrastructure law blog, bipartisan infrastructure law dashboard, and a listing of upcoming federal grants called Notice of Funding Opportunities or (NOFOs) as part of their “NOFOs to Know”. Finally, NLC is hosting another round of Infrastructure Hub grant training for small and medium size cities. Sign-ups are now open, and the program will begin in February.
3. NLC 2024 Public Safety Priorities: Committee discussed key policy issues they will focus on in 2024.
· Mental health specialists;
· Training for mental health screening for first responders; · Wildland fire fuel reduction;
· Medicare reimbursement for ambulance transport;
· Workforce training and staffing solutions for first responders; · Workforce housing for first responders.
4. Next PSCP meeting will be held at the NLC Congressional Cities Conference in Washington D.C. in March 9-13, 2024.
B. Conference Program
1. Welcome: First Vice President David Sander, Mayor of the City of Rancho Cordova, CA, welcomed delegates and provided a rundown of the conference schedule.
Mayor Andre Dickens provided an official welcome to the City of Atlanta, GA. He acknowledged sponsors and the host committee. He encouraged delegates to take advantage of educational sessions and opportunities for sharing among city officials.
2. Speakers: NLC’s conference featured several speakers, presentations, and panels during General Sessions.
· Jose Andres, Restauranteur and Humanitarian: During an interview conducted by NLC CEO Clarence Anthony, the speaker shared his drive to end hunger with the creation of a non-profit, World Central Kitchen (WCK). The organization has grown to provide meals during major disasters and even wars around the 2023 National League of Cities City Summit Conference
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7 world. WCK is operating in Lahaina, Maui, after the wildfires, and wars in Ukraine and Gaza. He questions why post-disaster recovery does not include operations for food and water distribution. He shared that the secret to responding to catastrophes is to adapt to every environment and involve local residents. No one community or kitchen is the same. WCK brings a spirit of optimism and hope when cooking and distributing food to help people heal.
· Atlanta’s Year of the Youth Initiative: 2023 is the Year of the Youth. The mayor’s office raised $30 million to support early childhood grants, childcare grants, and childcare education. The city hosted a summer youth employment program to help youth learn skills, create sellable crafts, and even participate in exercise and self- defense classes.
· Artificial Intelligence (AI) Panel: Panelists from the cities of Chattanooga, TN, and Atlanta, and a Professor from Georgia Tech discussed ways that AI can support local government. There is a fear that AI will take away jobs. Some cities are forming investigatory committees on AI. One concept is to investigate AI for jobs that are undesirable. Some other ideas were to use AI to help residents sort through City codes or assist public works in monitoring water. · Civility in Local Government Panel: Former Mayor of Atlanta Shirley Franklin and Mayor of Mount Vernon, NY, Shawn Paterson Howard, shared personal stories of how incivility has impacted their service. Social media has been the culprit for discord. City officials can agree without being disagreeable. There is a lot more misinformation being shared. The public expects officials to know everything.
Officials need to show vulnerability and grace, even with unrealistic expectations of the public.
· Local Infrastructure Hub Panel: Mayors from New Martinsville, WV, and Sausalito, CA, discussed their challenges in seeking infrastructure grants for small cities. They explained how the Local Infrastructure Hub program assisted with helping federal infrastructure grants, especially as their cities do not have the expertise to do so.
· Housing Accelerator Panel with the Mayors of Redmond, WA, Clearfield, UT, and Tacoma, WA: This past year, elect cities held four discussions with developers, the Mortgage Bankers Association, National Association of Realtors, American Planners Association, and corporate partners to address the housing crisis.
Panelists shared major takeaways from the discussions. Housing cannot be done by cities alone. All stakeholders need to work together. Cities need to engage with residents to discuss the importance of housing projects and consider streamlining their permitting processes. There is a need for financing and credit to help developers build affordable housing. Leverage resources and funding (non-profit, land trusts, state, and federal grants) to develop affordable housing projects in 2023 National League of Cities City Summit Conference
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7 underserved areas. Cities need more direct funding from the federal government and do not need mandates.
· Hakeem Oluseyi, Astrophysicist and NASA Scientist: The speaker shared his life story of growing up in tough neighborhoods of New Orleans, Los Angeles, and Houston, and discovered his love of science. During each step of his journey, he named individuals who helped him overcome educational and financial challenges that inspired his pursuit of a Ph.D. in physics, professorships at universities around the world, and eventually his career at NASA. He shared how adversity led him to strive for greater accomplishments such as a featured television personality on the Science Channel, and author on the cosmos and space.
· Beth Macy, Award-winning writer and journalist: The speaker shared her impressions on America’s fentanyl overdose crisis based on her books Dope Sick and Raising Lazarus. The epidemic has claimed the lives of 1 million people. The book offers solutions. Current solutions do not work. There is a treatment gap of 87 percent. Treatment for $1 spent saves $12 in criminal justice and healthcare costs. It takes at least eight attempts at rehab for an addicted person to meet success. Patience and Medical Assisted Training (MAT) have proven successful in treating addiction. Treatment consists of needle exchanges, counseling, low- barrier treatment/testing, and Narcan/harm reduction. Political leadership in implementing MAT programs will help reduce the overdose crisis.
3. Corporate Partners Presentations
· Yael Maguire, Vice President of Sustainability for corporate partner Google: The speaker shared the company’s ambitious climate goals by 2030 such as becoming net-zero from carbon, using carbon-free energy, and reducing emissions by one gigaton a year. He demonstrated how online applications such as Google Maps, environmental insights explorer, and artificial intelligence provide data to help reduce carbon emissions.
· David Steel, UL Standards and Engagement: The speaker discussed the dangers of lithium-ion batteries. Electric bicycles and cars are of growing use. The company has grown from building safety and expanding to standards to make electric products safer including EV charging stations. · Laxman Narasimhan, Starbucks CEO: The speaker shared that Starbucks is evolving their format beyond just coffee. They are expanding to support their communities by providing grants for youth, fighting hunger, and environmental stewardship. They are connecting to veterans, and the disabled by offering jobs.
They are also looking to invest in arts in the future.
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7 · Public Private Partnership Discussion with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Brian Kenner, Community Engagement-Amazon: Mayor Dickens discussed Amazon’s sponsorship of Atlanta’s youth programs, workforce development, and college partnerships.
4. Distinguished Awards:
· The Corporate Stewardship Award was presented to CGI Digital for their partnership with NLC and service to cities.
· The Public Leadership in the Arts Award was presented to Councilmember Omar Narvaez from the City of Dallas, TX, for raising hotel occupancy tax to help develop arts programs and expanding Latino arts programs in the community. · The All American City Award was presented to ten cities for their work in meeting the 2023 theme of engaging youth.
5. Workshops attended by City Representatives include:
· Revitalizing Main Street: Transforming Downtown Spaces · Housing Stability: New Ideas for a Persistent Challenge · Local Actions to Accelerate Housing Supply
· Parks & Water: Westside Park Capacity Relief Project & Water Reservoir and Pumping Station
· Atlanta Civil Rights Leader
· Delivery Robots, Electric Fleets, and Sensors: The Municipal Role and the Environmental Opportunity
· The Future of Home Rule Reform
· Youth and Young Adult Violence, Myth, Facts, and Prevention Intervention · Council on Youth, Education and Families Meeting
· Furthering Municipal Priorities through Afterschool Programs · Governance Strategies to Improve Local Homelessness Response · Peer Learning Discussions for Cities Under 150,000 on Workforce and Innovation
6. President’s Address:
President Victoria Woodards, Mayor of Tacoma, WA, recapped her term in service.
As part of her leadership motto, “People plus partnerships create endless possibilities,” she shared her experiences as she traveled to state leagues and cities across the country and met with elected officials. She also provided an update on her key presidential goals for addressing housing and job creation. She launched the housing supply acceleration partnership with the American Planning Association. NLC hosted four convenings to deal with the housing crisis and come up with solutions. Cities, housing developers, and housing advocates from different 2023 National League of Cities City Summit Conference
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7 regions discussed ways to address housing. She also launched the academy with the Siemens Corporations to discuss how to create more employment opportunities in tech jobs. Developing housing and good jobs will strengthen cities. She thanked the membership for their support during her year in office and urged elected officials to stay hopeful in trying times.
7. CEO Address:
NLC Executive Director Clarence Anthony shared his annual CEO Address. This year City Summit had 700 new attendees, the largest number of delegates to attend. Using the theme “Meeting the Moment,” he shared his experience as a former council member, and how solving a local issue propelled him to run for office. He shared how elected officials are often doing a thankless job but wondered why so many continue to run for office. This year NLC launched a podcast he hosts called “Cities Speak.” After interviewing officials from across the country he learned what drives each of them to run for office and find their purpose.
8. Annual Business Meeting:
State of the Organization: NLC Executive Director Clarence Anthony reported that the budget surpassed a record $50 million which demonstrates substantial growth. NLC now has 2,800 member cities and a total of 24 new partnerships. The key issues of advocacy for the year were housing and employment. As part of the President’s platform, programs were launched via the Housing Accelerator Program and an academy to discuss ways to grow technical jobs and training for communities. 2024 will mark the organization’s 100 th Anniversary. An election task force will be convened in time for the presidential election so that local issues can be presented to candidates. NLC will also do a traveling road show across the country to visit cities. The next City Summit will take place in Tampa, FL, in November 2024.
Election of NLC Officers for 2024: The 2024 Officers were elected and sworn in:
· President: David Sander, Mayor, Rancho Cordova, CA
· First Vice Chair: Sharon Westin Broome, Mayor, Baton Rouge, LA · Second Vice Chair: Steve Patterson, Mayor, Athens, OH Address by Incoming President Sander: President-Elect Sander shared information on the incorporation of his City Rancho Cordova (CRC) which led to the City’s involvement in NLC. This led to their participation in First Tier Suburbs to support the creation of his city from the ground up. CRC has recently celebrated 20 years of cityhood. As a virologist, he knew that experimenting and learning helped his city to develop and grow.
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7 In his presidential platform, he sees cities as laboratories of democracy: (1) Partnerships: work with stakeholders to help them grow their common interests and succeed in supporting the community; (2) Service: elected officials have a common call to service and actively deliver results. Officials need to be non- partisan and NLC will launch a task force to assure cities have a seat in the presidential election via NLC.org/2024; and (3) Innovate: cities innovate with strategies to change how cities govern and serve. NLC will collect best practices from cities to help share new ideas for communities.
Adoption of 2023 Resolutions: New policy resolutions were reviewed and adopted by the NLC Member Cities at the Annual Business Meeting for inclusion as National Municipal Policy. The National Municipal Policy is a living document that codifies all policy positions that the organization supports and advocates for on Capitol Hill.
Thirty-two existing resolutions were amended or renewed. The delegation unanimously approved eleven new resolutions:
· Transforming the Nation’s 9-1-1 System for Enhanced Crisis Response and Support
· Enhancing Public Safety Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Operations Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) And Multiple UAS Deployment · Urging Federal Investment in Safe and Effective Counter UAS Technologies · Urging the Federal Government to Support Local Government Efforts to Prevent and Respond to Mass Shootings
· Support of Comprehensive Substance Use Disorder Solutions, Additional Resources for Law Enforcement, and Combating Fentanyl Trafficking · Support for Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program and the Outdoors for All Act
· Support for Voter Protections and Promoting Access to the Ballot Box · Urging Congress to Enable Housing Vouchers for Homeownership Opportunities and Local Innovation in Attainable Housing
· Support Resources for Community Navigators to Assist Local Entrepreneurs in Accessing Credit
· Local Principles for the Governance of Generative Artificial Intelligence · Local Principles for Modernization of the Universal Service Fund
9. NLC Congressional Cities Conference: The next NLC convening will take place in Washington, D.C. March 9-13, 2024.
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7 COUNCIL GOAL COMPLIANCE:
Meets the following City Council goal:
C. Operate City government in a fiscally and managerially responsible and prudent manner to ensure that the City of Thousand Oaks remains one of California's most desirable places to live, work, visit, recreate, and raise a family.
PREPARED BY: Mina Layba, Legislative Affairs Manager
CMO: 150-20\wl\H:\COMMON\City Council\Council Items\2023 Staff Reports\120523\120523 NLC City Summit Conf Report.docx