This weekend, Mayor Dave Cieslewicz heads to Washington, D.C. to attend the twice-annual New Cities Project meeting. The mission of that organization, according to its website, is:
Our goal is to put cities on the "high road" -- a path of prosperity, inclusiveness, environmental responsibility, sound management, and democratic accountability. In doing so, we aim to prove that cities are not the source of America's economic and social problems, but are instead the crucible in which many of the best ideas and strategies for solving these problems are tested. In recent years, federal and state policies towards cities have not recognized this value and, while we hope to change this, our focus is on developing innovative policies that help cities achieve "high road" goals now, regardless of what's happening in state and federal politics.
According to UW Prof. Joel Rogers, director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, a city on the "high road" fosters...
Competition based on quality and performance, requiring ...
- Continuous improvement/invention
- Better trained and equipped workers
- More varied and abundant public goods
and producing...
- Higher worker incomes & profits
- Reduced environmental damage
- Greater firm commitment to place
As opposed to the "low road," which fosters:
Competition based on commodity price, resulting in ...
- Economic insecurity
- Rising inequality
- Poisonous labor relations
- Little firm commitment to place
- Environmental damage
For more information, see the New Cities Project site and/or the COWS site dedicated to the project.
MAYOR CIESLEWICZ WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Monday, January 22, 2007
10:00 a.m. Policy staff meeting
11:00 a.m. Plan Commission agenda review
12:00 noon Lunch with Katie McGlynn, Taste of Asia
1:30 p.m. Larry Nelson
3:00 p.m. Taping of "The Mayor's Report," MMB 260
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
9:00 a.m. Tour of UW Comprehensive Cancer Center, 600 Highland Avenue
12:00 noon Brown bag lunch with City Assessor's Office, CCB 103A
2:00 p.m. Chief Noble Wray, Asst. Chief Randy Gaber, Mario Mendoza, and Enis Ragland
3:30 p.m. Joel Plant quarterly meeting
4:30 p.m. Taping of Web video for www.whatifitwereyou.org
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
8:30 a.m. Breakfast with Joe Sensenbrenner
10:00 a.m. Staff meeting
12:00 noon Ald. Judy Olson
1:00 p.m. Phone calls
2:30 p.m. Correspondence
5:30 p.m. Wisconsin Council on Children and Families 125 year celebration, Monona Terrace
Thursday, January 25, 2007
9:00 a.m. Work time and phone calls
11:00 a.m. Dean Brasser
1:00 p.m. Senator Fred Risser, State Capitol
2:00 p.m. George Meyer
3:30 p.m. Jeanne Hoffman
Friday, January 26, 2007 through Saturday, January 27, 2007
New Cities Project (Mayors Innovation Project) meeting, Washington, D.C.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
1:00 p.m. Speak at Sequoya Branch Library fundraising kick-off, Sequoya Library
