TO:City Council
FROM:David Newman, Mayor
Bob Engler, Councilmember
DATE:August 26, 2025
SUBJECT: National League of Cities Summer Board and Leadership Meeting, Columbus, OH - July 16-18, 2025
RECOMMENDATION:
1. Receive report.
2. Find that this action is not a project as defined under the California Environmental Quality Act.
LEVINE ACT ITEM: No
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
No Additional Funding Requested. Direct and indirect costs are included in the Adopted FY 2025-26 General Fund Budget.
BACKGROUND:
The National League of Cities (NLC) hosts a Summer Board and Leadership Meeting each year. The purpose of the summer session is to bring together the organization’s leadership with members of five Federal Advocacy Committees to hear federal policy updates and develop policy positions for consideration.
Councilmember Bob Engler, who serves on the Public Safety Crime Prevention Federal Advocacy Committee; Mayor David Newman and Legislative Affairs Manager Mina Layba, who serve on both Energy Environment and Natural Resources Federal Advocacy Committee, attended. The Summer Board and Leadership Meeting was held at the Hilton Columbus Downtown, in Columbus, Ohio.
NLC Summer Board and Leadership Meeting, Columbus, OH - July 16-18 August 26, 2025
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DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:
The Summer Board and Leadership Meeting is as follows:
A. Mobile Workshop
The City of Columbus coordinated a mobile workshop called “Innovation in Affordable Housing.” The mobile tour featured a visit to the factory of Connect Housing Blocks, a modular home builder, and a tour of a recently constructed apartment building in the downtown Columbus area.
B. Special Presentations/Sessions
1. Group Session: Cities on the Front Lines: Maintaining Community Cohesion in Times of Crisis- Councilmembers from the cities of Cincinnati, Chicago, Tacoma, and Vancouver shared their experiences in dealing with hate incidents, immigration raids, attacks on social media, and police involved shootings, and how they responded to them.
2. Press Conference: NLC leaders held a press conference on the release of its 12th annual State of the Cities Report. Board President/Mayor of Athens, OH, Steve Patterson, and Mayors Angela Birney from Redmond, WA, and Riakos Adams of Killeen, TX shared findings based on surveys and a review of mayoral addresses. The top municipal issues identified are economic development, infrastructure, public health, and public safety.
3. NLC Town Hall: Delegates participated in a moderated town hall to discuss the recent findings of the State of the Cities Report and recent polling on public trust of local leaders, housing, resiliency, and civic engagement.
Delegates reported that their communities are grappling with new challenges outside traditional municipal roles, including cultural tensions stemming from the Middle East conflict and immigration enforcement.
Housing affordability and homelessness, though not historically city responsibilities, are also pervasive issues residents now perceive as local.
A general consensus emerged that residents often lack a clear understanding of local governance. Enhancing civic education through leadership academies and fostering safe spaces for civic engagement could better define city roles, responsibilities, and limitations.
NLC Summer Board and Leadership Meeting, Columbus, OH - July 16-18 August 26, 2025
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C. Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy Committee (PSCP) Meeting Councilmember Engler attended the PSCP Committee meetings:
1. Showcase of City of Athens Fire Department: Chief Robert Rymer shared the history and operations of the department. The department not only serves the City of Athens but also Ohio University. Chief Rymer shared highlights of their two 50-year-old fire stations, personnel, and response to fires, vehicle crashes, emergency medical response, hazardous materials, search & rescue, and water rescue.
2. Joint Discussion Local Impacts on Federal Immigration Actions: The Human Development Committee and Public Safety and Crime Prevention Committee held a joint moderated conversation to share local impacts of recent federal immigration actions. Participants shared immigration enforcement actions in their communities and their impact on residents and businesses.
3. Federal Policy Update: NLC Public Safety and Crime Prevention Policy Director Yucel Ors reviewed policy updates from the recently adopted One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R.1). The bill includes a significant increase of $10 billion for immigration control and border enforcement, including billions for building new detention centers and hiring more Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents. An additional $500 million in grants will be dedicated to improving local capabilities to detect threats from unmanned aerial systems, while $625 million will be allocated for security planning related to the 2026 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup, and $1 billion for the 2028 Olympics.
4. Review of Public Safety Resolutions: The Committee examined, edited, and adopted public safety resolutions that will be presented to the NLC's General Assembly during the annual City Summit Conference in Salt Lake City, UT:
New Resolutions:
•Urging Federal Action to Expedite Delivery of Fire and Emergency Medical Apparatus.
•Calling for Reforms to the Federal Consent Decree Process and the Development of Alternative, Cost-Effective Approaches to Police Reform.
NLC Summer Board and Leadership Meeting, Columbus, OH - July 16-18 August 26, 2025
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Ongoing 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.
•Transforming the Nation’s 9-1-1 System for Enhanced Crisis Response and Support Services.
•Enhancing Public Safety Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Operations Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) and Multiple UAS Deployments. •Urging Federal Investment in Safe and Effective Counter-UAS Technologies.
•Urging the Federal Government to Support Local Efforts to Prevent and Respond to Mass Shootings.
•Supporting Comprehensive Solutions for Substance Use Disorders, Additional Resources for Law Enforcement, and Combating Fentanyl and Xylazine Trafficking.
•Urging Congress to Pass Legislation Providing Increased Support to Local Governments for Wildfire Prevention, Response, and Recovery Efforts.
•Urging Congress to Enact Legislation to Reform the Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Program.
5. Next PSCP Meetings: The next PSCP meeting will be virtual in September and an in-person meeting at the annual City Summit Conference in Salt Lake City, UT in November. The PSCP meeting at City Summit will take place as a pre-conference session on November 19, 2025.
NLC Summer Board and Leadership Meeting, Columbus, OH - July 16-18 August 26, 2025
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D. Energy, Environment and Natural Resources (EENR) Policy Committee Meeting
Mayor Newman and Legislative Affairs Manager Layba attended the EENR Committee meeting:
1. Committee Roundtable: EENR Committee members shared current sustainability projects their cities are implementing, including electric vehicle charging stations, solar-energy projects, and water reclamation.
2. Showcase of City of Athens Sustainability in Action: Deputy Service-Safety Director Andrew Chiki presented information on two renewable energy projects. The wastewater treatment plant solar field and the Athens solar carport. He also shared the City’s recent Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant award in partnership with Sustainable Ohio Public Energy Council for 224 Level 2 chargers and 38 fast chargers.
3. Matt Stephens-Rich, Director of Programs for Electrification Coalition: He provided resources and opportunities to continue to deploy and finance electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. He gave a status update on the bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, and new accelerated deadlines under the One Big Beautiful Bill.
4. Kyle Funk - Senior Program Specialist, Infrastructure, Transportations and Solutions, Center of Municipal Practice, NLC: An overview was provided of the Rebuilding America Dashboard, a valuable tool that tracks federal funding allocated to cities and towns. Looking ahead, NLC will publish a report in October that specifically examines the amount of local funding cities received from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. A new brief focusing on Elevating Complete Streets Policies with Green Infrastructure has just been released. Lastly, NLC is hosting a new round of Infrastructure bootcamps starting in the fall. Bootcamps will offer tracks in grant management/compliance, brownfields, direct pay, railroad crossings, Safe Streets and Roads for All.
5. Federal Update: EENR Legislative Director Carolyn Berndt provided status updates on the FY25 Budget Reconciliation Bill, Recissions Package, and FY26 Appropriations. She announced that the recently adopted One Big Beautiful Bill (H.R.1) has clawback provisions on unobligated Emissions Reduction grant and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
NLC Summer Board and Leadership Meeting, Columbus, OH - July 16-18 August 26, 2025
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6. Host City Showcase: Kristen Atha, Director of Columbus Water and Power, gave an overview of the city’s water resources. She shared key Columbus water projects such as the Home Road Water Plant, the Enhanced Meter Project, Lead Service Lines, and major tunnel projects for the Combined Sewer Overflow. The City of Columbus is also researching ways to address Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) drinking water contamination.
7. EENR Resolutions: The Committee examined and edited ongoing policy resolutions that will be presented to the NLC's General Assembly during the annual City Summit Conference in Salt Lake City, UT. The following resolutions were adopted:
•Supporting and Advancing Resilient Communities to Prepare for Changing Climate and Extreme Weather Events.
•Support for the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership Program and the Outdoors for All Act.
Two subcommittees were formed to develop new resolution language on (1) natural resources/protected watersheds/wildfire protection, and (2) protecting science and weather data.
8. Next EENR Meetings: Two virtual meetings will be scheduled in September and October. The next in-person meeting will be at the annual City Summit Conference in Salt Lake City, UT. The EENR meeting at City Summit will take place as a pre-conference session on November 19, 2025.
COUNCIL GOAL COMPLIANCE:
Meets the following City Council goal:
B. Provide municipal government leadership which is open and responsive to residents, and is characterized by ethical behavior, stability, promoting public trust, transparency, confidence in the future, and cooperative interaction among civic leaders, residents, business representatives, and staff, while recognizing and respecting legitimate differences of opinion on critical issues facing the City.
PREPARED BY: Mina Layba, Legislative Affairs Manager
CMO:150-20\H: COMMON\\Council Items\2025 Staff Reports\082625\ NLC Summer Leadership Forum Staff Report.docx