Speaker 1: Yeah, Welcome to the Bloomberg Surveillance Podcast. I'm Tom Keene
Speaker 1: with David Gura. Daily we bring you insight from the
Speaker 1: best of economics, finance, investment, and international relations. Find Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Surveillance on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Bloomberg dot com, and of course,
Speaker 1: on the Bloomberg in Washington. David Gurra, Tom, thank you
Speaker 1: very much. Joined here by the Mayor of Nashville, Tennessee.
Speaker 1: That is Megan Barry. She's here for a smart Cities
Speaker 1: event that our Bloomberg Government office is great to have you.
Speaker 1: Thank you with us. I'm a moderated panel with six mayors,
Speaker 1: so it's much to talk to you one. We'll see
Speaker 1: how that goes. Good luck. Help us with a definition
Speaker 1: for first of all, we talk about smart cities, what
Speaker 1: are we talking about, Well, you're talking about lots of
Speaker 1: different things. I mean, for us, it's about transit and
Speaker 1: how you build in that smart technology and all the
Speaker 1: transit that you have going on. So we're really becus
Speaker 1: right now on just the basic things like getting our
Speaker 1: signals timed. I mean, that makes the city smart. But
Speaker 1: it's the more comprehensive visionary stuff like a v uh
Speaker 1: you know, automated vehicles and and those. How we're all
Speaker 1: going to get around cities in the future. How much
Speaker 1: of that is elective? In other words, is there a
Speaker 1: need for Nashville to move in this direction or is
Speaker 1: it something you would like to see? No, we need
Speaker 1: to move. I mean we are so far behind in transit.
Speaker 1: I mean you walk around in New York and d C.
Speaker 1: And you see these incredible transit infrastructures. We don't have
Speaker 1: any of that. So we're we're really at the very
Speaker 1: beginning of building that infrastructure out. We've got bus systems,
Speaker 1: but we need light rail, we need uh passenger rail,
Speaker 1: we need a whole bunch of much more comprehensive infrastructure.
Speaker 1: How do you assess the appetite for that. You've got
Speaker 1: citizens who may want this, They're gonna have to pay
Speaker 1: for at least some of it, right, How do you
Speaker 1: know what's a good investment from Chapel Hill. And He's
Speaker 1: gonna talk for a long time about building light rail
Speaker 1: between Chapel Hill, Gerham and Raleigh. It's something that people
Speaker 1: maybe have their eye on, but then when they see
Speaker 1: the cost of it, they they blanched a little bit.
Speaker 1: How do you pick the projects that are worthwhile for
Speaker 1: for the citizens in natural So what we look at
Speaker 1: is where our act of riderships and where can we
Speaker 1: actually put trains it down on the line. And I
Speaker 1: will tell you right now, with the growth of Nashville,
Speaker 1: eighty one people a day are moving to Nashville. So
Speaker 1: you feel that crunch are our roads just can't take
Speaker 1: the capacity anymore. So we've got to be more creative
Speaker 1: and that's what being smart's all about. You're here in Washington,
Speaker 1: d C. Yes, we're gonna we're gonna do a panel.
Speaker 1: You're also going to be on Capitol Hill. What role
Speaker 1: do you see the federal government playing? We heard the
Speaker 1: President in the speech to a joint session of Congress
Speaker 1: saying he wants a trillion dollars in infrastructure spending, public
Speaker 1: private partnerships and the like. What role should the federal
Speaker 1: government playing and doing that? Well, I hope that that's
Speaker 1: the case. I'd love to see that trillion dollars make
Speaker 1: its way to Nashville. We'll take just a piece of it.
Speaker 1: Not you don't even need just a little to little piece. Um.
Speaker 1: I think the federal government has to be a critical partner.
Speaker 1: But I think that local municipalities can't wait anymore. Um.
Speaker 1: I think that there used to be a time when
Speaker 1: the Feds would say, hey, here's our here's a pot
Speaker 1: of money. I think now locals have to come and say,
Speaker 1: we've we've got this, We've got some money to put
Speaker 1: in ourselves. Let's find a way to make this all
Speaker 1: happen together. How much of a challenge is getting private
Speaker 1: sector investment into infrastructure? Church? Is that something that you're
Speaker 1: looking at, Is it's something that what's the case that
Speaker 1: you make to investors to to put money towards Nashville.
Speaker 1: So as we begin those conversations about how we're going
Speaker 1: to fund our six billion dollar transit plan, P three's
Speaker 1: are critical, and and I think that we are seeing
Speaker 1: other places where you've got private investment that wants to
Speaker 1: flow in. We are. Actually, my my vernacular is a
Speaker 1: little different. We call them private public. Yes, there's going
Speaker 1: to probably be a lot more private money in this
Speaker 1: in public still still three ps, yes, three ps. But
Speaker 1: the order matters. The dialogue here is between you and
Speaker 1: other mayors from around the country. How much of what
Speaker 1: you're doing is pulling stuff that's tried and true in
Speaker 1: other places, bring it to naturally, how much are you
Speaker 1: looking for things that are replicatable. We're looking for anything.
Speaker 1: We don't think that we have to have pride of ownership.
Speaker 1: We're all about trying to find something that's already worked
Speaker 1: and and taking it. And the good thing about local
Speaker 1: municipalities and mayors in particular as we want to share.
Speaker 1: So I was recently in Denver with the mayor of
Speaker 1: Mayor Hancock looking at their transit system and learning from
Speaker 1: what they've done. And the thing is those that have
Speaker 1: come before you can also learn from their mistakes. So
Speaker 1: we really want to share with each other. And I
Speaker 1: think that's really really create. You know, critical you mentioned
Speaker 1: the degree to which Nashville is growing. What's your vision
Speaker 1: for what that city looks like in ten twenty years time.
Speaker 1: It's going to be bigger, It's going to be bigger,
Speaker 1: it's going to be different just in terms of getting
Speaker 1: around or what's going to be there. Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think when you think about Nashville, one of our
Speaker 1: best pieces is that we are attracting incredible talent. We
Speaker 1: are attracting a diverse talent pool, and we want to
Speaker 1: be able to make sure that they want to stay
Speaker 1: and be able to get around really easily and not
Speaker 1: having that that that traffic that you know every day,
Speaker 1: and it's going to make a huge difference to their
Speaker 1: quality of life. I just ask you about legacy. I
Speaker 1: was talking with tom My co host a little while back,
Speaker 1: the mayor and Bedford's gonna be here. You think you Bedford,
Speaker 1: you think of fishing, I think of Nashurally, you think
Speaker 1: of music. As you look at the future of the city,
Speaker 1: how do you deal with that legacy being associated with
Speaker 1: something but wanting the city to stand for something more,
Speaker 1: have other industry come in for example, Well, you know
Speaker 1: music is a huge part of what Naville. You know, yeah,
Speaker 1: our our economy, but we're also a huge healthcare capital.
Speaker 1: I mean, we have a lot of One of the
Speaker 1: things that made us actually very strong through the recession
Speaker 1: was that we have a very diverse economic engine. So
Speaker 1: we you know, continuing to grow that, making sure we're
Speaker 1: not putting all of our eggs in one basket. But
Speaker 1: at the same time, music is what makes us special
Speaker 1: and you sure you never want to lose that. We
Speaker 1: have to get lastly here, we've got about thirty seconds left.
Speaker 1: How you assess what works? So you invest in something
Speaker 1: you try something different, how much time do you give that,
Speaker 1: how much do you how do you look at the
Speaker 1: data and see what's working what's not. Well, first of all,
Speaker 1: you actually said the key word, which is data. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think in the past we've just thrown things down
Speaker 1: and said let's just cross our fingers. Now we actually
Speaker 1: have taken a long time to study and find out
Speaker 1: where the ridership is, especially for these mass transit projects,
Speaker 1: and we've got the data so it we're at least
Speaker 1: starting a little bit ahead now. The success will be
Speaker 1: if people write it. Maim Berry, thank you very much
Speaker 1: for joining us here at the bloom Reosmart Cities event
Speaker 1: that get started just a little way a little while here.
Speaker 1: How the mayor of Nashville joining me, David Garry here
Speaker 1: in Washington, as you said, with the Congressman Elizabeth st
Speaker 1: she's a Congressman from the fifth District in Connecticut. We're
Speaker 1: just talking with the Mayor of Nashville about her ambitions
Speaker 1: from making Nashville a smart city, and she talked a
Speaker 1: little bit about the degree to which she's relying on
Speaker 1: the federal government to help her in those efforts. You're
Speaker 1: on Capitol Hill. Uh, where there has been talk of
Speaker 1: infrastructure spending, a new infrastructure package. Where do things stand?
Speaker 1: Just give us the state of play at this point.
Speaker 1: Ifice to say it's a busy agenda on Capitol Hill.
Speaker 1: At this point, it's a busy agenda. And uh, you know,
Speaker 1: this is an area where there's enormous interest in bipartisan support.
Speaker 1: There isn't a district congressional district in America. There isn't
Speaker 1: a state that isn't in need of infrastructure, whether it's
Speaker 1: new infrastructure for growing cities. You take some I know
Speaker 1: you'd be talking to the mayor Charlotte soon or the
Speaker 1: industrial Northeast where where I live where I represent Waterbury,
Speaker 1: Connecticut and areas like that, or the industrial Midwest. We
Speaker 1: all need infrastructure and so that should to provide the pressure.
Speaker 1: The challenge that we're facing is how do we finance it?
Speaker 1: And that's really what we're looking at right now. Lots
Speaker 1: of different proposals. The presidents put a trillion dollar price
Speaker 1: tag of as truck schumer Um in the House. We've
Speaker 1: got i would say, more actionable plans that we put forward,
Speaker 1: and we're going to now try to move them forward.
Speaker 1: You know, we talked about tax reform, and the blueprint
Speaker 1: from which we're working is this, is this Ryan Brady blueprint?
Speaker 1: Is there something similar for infrastructure spending at this point?
Speaker 1: In other ways you have people making proposals, but is
Speaker 1: there a piece of legislation, no matter how in co
Speaker 1: it from which lawmakers are working at this point. Are
Speaker 1: we not there yet? We're not really there yet, although
Speaker 1: there are a couple of different proposals. Most folks think
Speaker 1: we're likely to see some form of repatriation of overseas profits,
Speaker 1: of which we're looking at trillions of dollars, which could
Speaker 1: provide the corpus from which we could then uh, you know,
Speaker 1: do a major infrastructure bank for example. Um, that needs
Speaker 1: to be part of the deal. But as you can imagine,
Speaker 1: other people have designs on that money too. Um. And
Speaker 1: so I don't think Chairman Brady is uh, nor Speaker
Speaker 1: Ryan my workout by Speaker Ryan are quite yet ready
Speaker 1: to agree to that. So so that's basically what we've got.
Speaker 1: The order we have we have first coming healthcare to
Speaker 1: free up money for tax reform, and only then are
Speaker 1: we going to get to infrastructure. So that's really the
Speaker 1: hang up right now is is that ordering is making
Speaker 1: it hard for us to come to an agreed upon deal.
Speaker 1: Here with Congressman st at the Bloomberg Smart Cities event
Speaker 1: and uh, it's a casual, freewheeling space. The Mayor of
Speaker 1: Columbus has just shown up and again choices here on
Speaker 1: Blomberg surveillance talking about the role that the federal government
Speaker 1: might play. Your city was a bona fide smart city,
Speaker 1: granted a lot of money by the federal government as
Speaker 1: part of a competition. How has that money helped you
Speaker 1: move your city forward? What? What what word work did
Speaker 1: that competition do to get you to where you want
Speaker 1: to be? Well, we're working on it there. Yeah, just
Speaker 1: awarded a year ago and very pleased with the way
Speaker 1: the community has responded. We started with a forty million
Speaker 1: dollar award from d O T ten million from Vulcan.
Speaker 1: At the time we were awarded, we had about ninety
Speaker 1: million dollars of local match public private entities locally that
Speaker 1: we're matched up into this acceleration fund. And now we're
Speaker 1: at three d and sixty seven million total and we've
Speaker 1: just said a goal of a billion dollars by So
Speaker 1: what you're really starting to see is some of the
Speaker 1: pilots that we had in place for our proposal really
Speaker 1: hitting the ground in neighborhoods like Lyndon, one of our
Speaker 1: neighborhoods with highest levels of incarceration, infant mortality, unemployment, and poverty. UH,
Speaker 1: to really start to open up more modes of safe,
Speaker 1: reliable transportation to jobs, affordable, high quality childcare, job training,
Speaker 1: workforce development. That's what this is all about. I really
Speaker 1: believe that mobility is the great equalizer of the twenty
Speaker 1: first century, and that's why it's so important. So to
Speaker 1: have allies with vision like Congressman here and and others. UH.
Speaker 1: We're spending some time here in Washington talking about what
Speaker 1: we're doing with Smart Columbus and asked for continued commitment
Speaker 1: and investment UH into intelligent transportation for the future. Of course, messy.
Speaker 1: How much of a dialogue is there between the federal
Speaker 1: government and the local government. How could you do more
Speaker 1: to understand what's working and what's not here in Washington. Well,
Speaker 1: I do a great deal with my own districts and
Speaker 1: and UH Neil O'Leary, who's mayor of Waterbury, is very
Speaker 1: involved in the Smart Cities. They've applied for a smart
Speaker 1: Cities Grant and I couldn't agree more with the mayor
Speaker 1: here about we really do need to have mobility. And
Speaker 1: sometimes this gets hung up about is a job's shovel ready,
Speaker 1: jobs right now, but it's jobs into the future. It's
Speaker 1: jobs right now and into the future. So I look
Speaker 1: at challenges we have, for example with access to community colleges, well,
Speaker 1: that is dependent on having a bus service. The folks
Speaker 1: who use community college need night buses and we've had
Speaker 1: struggles over that, and that's why I'm so enthusiastic about
Speaker 1: things like the Smart Cities projects. Sit these are places
Speaker 1: and having represented a local community, the rubber hits the road,
Speaker 1: you've got to fix the pothole. You have to deliver services.
Speaker 1: You can't be an idea logue. Nobody cares what letters
Speaker 1: after your name. If you're a mayor, are you getting
Speaker 1: the job done? And I know that for my time
Speaker 1: doing that. That's why I want to see these laboratories
Speaker 1: not just to the States, but the laboratories of the cities,
Speaker 1: which where more people are living more and more in
Speaker 1: our cities. Let them use these projects, show what works,
Speaker 1: and then we do more of what works, unless of
Speaker 1: what doesn't coach, I see, thank you very much. Thanks
Speaker 1: to you American there as well. I'm gonna be on
Speaker 1: stage just a little while. Let you guys get breakfast
Speaker 1: first before I tackles some panels on stage. I'm here
Speaker 1: at the Bloomberg Government Smart Cities event in Washington, a
Speaker 1: DC too short of visit with with these two, I
Speaker 1: just want to get the statehood question out of the way,
Speaker 1: and Charlie, being from New York, had no idea, So
Speaker 1: I'm going to let you explain that. Sure. So we
Speaker 1: have been on a quest to make d C equal
Speaker 1: to every other state in America, and actually Washingtonians, who
Speaker 1: are taxpayers, equal to every other American. And that's what
Speaker 1: we've been focused on in the district. We are a city, county,
Speaker 1: and state all at once. EXCEP. We have no vote
Speaker 1: in the Congress of the United States, the only capital
Speaker 1: in the world where it's citizens UH don't have representatives
Speaker 1: in UH in the Congress. UH. So we have presented
Speaker 1: a bill to the Congress to change that. Last year,
Speaker 1: over eight percent of Washingtonians voted to become the fifty
Speaker 1: first state UH. And the Congress can make this change
Speaker 1: by a simple vote. A large percentage of DC residents
Speaker 1: also voted for Hillary Clinton to be president and Donald
Speaker 1: Trump is our president. Historically, d C does not fare
Speaker 1: as well for local control under Republican administration. So given
Speaker 1: this is DC statehood right now with pipe dream, Well,
Speaker 1: actually that's not the case. UH. In the district, our
Speaker 1: congresswoman and leaders of the District of Columbia have worked
Speaker 1: with Republicans and Democrats alike UH to advanced issues that
Speaker 1: help Washingtonians. We have had Republicans, including the Vice President
Speaker 1: of the United States, UM, Mike pens vote U to
Speaker 1: have Washingtonians to have a vote in the Congress, to
Speaker 1: have a delegate have a vote. UM. So for us,
Speaker 1: this has not a Republican or Democratic issue. UH is
Speaker 1: an issue of that's very central to our American democracy.
Speaker 1: If you pay taxes, UH, you get a vote in
Speaker 1: representation in the in the Congress. Now, you were here
Speaker 1: because of smart cities and to talk about infrastructure. UM.
Speaker 1: I wanted to get an idea about that, particularly when
Speaker 1: you think about Metro and all of the problems that
Speaker 1: it's have had of late. What are some of the
Speaker 1: best practices that you're able to take away from this
Speaker 1: and to present to this conference. Um, well, it's I
Speaker 1: always like to be with other mayors to see, um,
Speaker 1: what what they're working on. We had a great conversation
Speaker 1: about how U as d O T can be involved.
Speaker 1: There's a discussion about on the need for the reauthorization
Speaker 1: of a federal Transportation Act, which we're very focused on
Speaker 1: as well. Uh in the district, of course, we function
Speaker 1: as city, county, and state, so we have all of
Speaker 1: those roles, and we worked with the region with Maryland
Speaker 1: and Virginia because we're Metro funders, so we like to
Speaker 1: see a big move. The President promised for a big
Speaker 1: infrastructure bill and hopefully the money to go with it
Speaker 1: to make the necessary investments because we have them too.
Speaker 1: We have them been transit, we have them the roads,
Speaker 1: and we have them in bridges. You and Amy both
Speaker 1: make the point that this is a cross state issue
Speaker 1: in terms of being a smart city. As d C,
Speaker 1: what are the some of the challenges and working with
Speaker 1: your neighbors to make sure that you're all pursuing these
Speaker 1: goals mutually. Well, I think that the biggest issue that
Speaker 1: we have is is Metro because it is by a
Speaker 1: compact operated by Maryland d C and Virginia at SET
Speaker 1: when it was created more than forty years ago. Now,
Speaker 1: there was not a regional funding mechanism put in place,
Speaker 1: and there's no other transit system like ours in the
Speaker 1: United States UM that doesn't all of those systems have
Speaker 1: a dedicated funding source, and that's what we're We're very
Speaker 1: focused on. Other parts of infrastructure, could include anything from
Speaker 1: cyber to UH handling UH the homeless. What are some
Speaker 1: of the big initiatives that's facing DC right now? Well, housing,
Speaker 1: We include housing certainly in UH all of our infrastructure
Speaker 1: ask UM. The federal government has a role. They have
Speaker 1: some public housing in Washington, UM, but we are also
Speaker 1: making a hundred million dollar investment in our Housing Production
Speaker 1: Trust Fund each and every year UH, and that puts
Speaker 1: US in tops across the country. In the amount that
Speaker 1: we're investing in affordable housing. We are particularly concerned about
Speaker 1: some housing to have affordability covenants now UM that will
Speaker 1: expire over the next several years, So part of our
Speaker 1: efforts are around preservation of those eight thousand units. One
Speaker 1: of the issues that a lot of mayors are struggling
Speaker 1: with where you have had medical or recreational marijuana initiatives
Speaker 1: is federal state city jurisdiction. How is DC's marijuana recreational
Speaker 1: marijuana use allowance faring under the Jeff Sessions Justice Department. Well,
Speaker 1: we uh, per se don't have a legalization of recreational marajuana.
Speaker 1: Um and it's just confusing, So let me explain. Uh.
Speaker 1: First of all, we do have a medical marijuana regime
Speaker 1: that's been in place for a number of years, which
Speaker 1: I understand people are also questioning the use of medical marijuana.
Speaker 1: A couple of years ago, our voters approved a measure
Speaker 1: to allow for the use of marijuana by adults UM
Speaker 1: in the possession of marijuana in their private homes for
Speaker 1: recreational use for non medical use. Part of your function
Speaker 1: is different, though, and the reason why I point this
Speaker 1: out is in Stay, it's where marijuana is legalized. Uh,
Speaker 1: they have a regime that allows for the growing and
Speaker 1: procurement and sell of marijuana. That's not the case in it.
Speaker 1: So how does that How does that mesh with the
Speaker 1: federal government's position illegal? According to it is part of
Speaker 1: the m forget the word that they use, but the
Speaker 1: medical use of marijuana is not approved on the federal schedule.
Speaker 1: So any uh, any marijuana regime where whether it's medical
Speaker 1: or recreational, if there's a change in federal policy to
Speaker 1: enforce those crimes, that will have an effect on any
Speaker 1: state that has a medical or recreational program. As we
Speaker 1: are talking about the smart cities and the infrastructure, how
Speaker 1: fast is DC growing and where do you see the
Speaker 1: district in the next ten to twenty years. Well, we
Speaker 1: grow about a nine hundred people per month. Um. We've
Speaker 1: been on that pace for I think the last five years. Sustainable. Uh, yes,
Speaker 1: it is, um, but we have to make a lot
Speaker 1: of investments in transportation and housing. UM. Where the biggest
Speaker 1: pinch that we have is on housing. Uh. And we're
Speaker 1: starting to see it in other and other things that
Speaker 1: people need associated with housing, like childcare. And who are
Speaker 1: those people. How are the demograt effects of the city changing? Um,
Speaker 1: well they've changed. I think that the part ofly the
Speaker 1: biggest changes that they're very young. Uh. You heard one
Speaker 1: of the mayors say a little bit earlier than her
Speaker 1: city is half of the people that her city UM
Speaker 1: grows by our millennials. I will say it's much significantly
Speaker 1: higher for for d C. That most of the people
Speaker 1: moving here are under the age of thirty five. UM.
Speaker 1: We are also see people who are downsizing that are
Speaker 1: moving from the suburbs to the district. Mayor. I know
Speaker 1: that your time is short. I know we have to
Speaker 1: let you go. UM. I just want to talk to
Speaker 1: you about priorities. How do you prioritize and how do
Speaker 1: you figure out how to pay for it as you
Speaker 1: get into the infrastructure of the nation's capital. Well, we've
Speaker 1: actually I'm just gonna talk to you about one new
Speaker 1: effort we have and that around uh. Of course, we're
Speaker 1: making the necessary investments in metro, and we're seeking to
Speaker 1: get a dedicated funding source, and we're encouraging our neighbors
Speaker 1: in Maryland and Virginia to join us. UM. But we're
Speaker 1: also doing some back to the basics things in our city.
Speaker 1: When it comes to infrastructure, I am. I have a
Speaker 1: state of good repair plan in my current budget for
Speaker 1: all residential streets in d C. We do pretty well
Speaker 1: on our main arterials, only seven percent of them are
Speaker 1: in poor condition, but that number goes up to thirty
Speaker 1: where you're talking about residential streets. So I have a
Speaker 1: five year plan to get rid of poorly rated roads
Speaker 1: UH in in the district and and that's very important.
Speaker 1: We're also very focused on UH as you've heard on
Speaker 1: making our city more resilient when it comes to to
Speaker 1: flooding in the likes, I would say transportation and housing
Speaker 1: are a top two infrastructure issues. So Mayor Roberts were
Speaker 1: at this Smart Cities meeting. UM, you hear about smartness
Speaker 1: and smart that all the time. How do you use
Speaker 1: data and transparency, which are themes of this conference to
Speaker 1: create a smart city. Well, you can have data usage
Speaker 1: in many different areas of what cities worry about and
Speaker 1: what they focus on every day. UM, what we've really
Speaker 1: looked at in Charlotte is how do we use data
Speaker 1: to make sure that we're serving everyone, that we're being
Speaker 1: equitable in our infrastructure, and that we're connecting people UM
Speaker 1: two jobs, to healthcare, to even healthy food as part
Speaker 1: of UM the inequalities we see in our communities. And
Speaker 1: so when you have data where you know where people
Speaker 1: are working, UM, where they're living, which bus routes connect
Speaker 1: them to, those bus routes work, those transit connections work,
Speaker 1: how do the roadways work. When you have that accurate data,
Speaker 1: you can make sure that not just is the government
Speaker 1: operating efficiently, but also individual folks who are just living
Speaker 1: their lives in your community are operating efficiently as well,
Speaker 1: and that helps with the quality of life and also
Speaker 1: helps UM to eliminate some of the disparities in income
Speaker 1: and access other challenges that rapidly growing cities face all
Speaker 1: across America. And when you're talking about transit infrastructure in particular,
Speaker 1: I know you were specifically speaking about bus routes. UM.
Speaker 1: Are there other issues transit infrastructure issues or possibilities that
Speaker 1: Charlotte's looking toward, And what are your priorities and how
Speaker 1: will you pay for them? That's all packed in one
Speaker 1: package right there, and I only get three minutes tonto
Speaker 1: that as long as you want. Well, UM, the funding
Speaker 1: is a challenge, and I think what we we look at.
Speaker 1: We have a very successful light rail UM that we're
Speaker 1: extending to our university, which is great because it will
Speaker 1: connect to UNC Charlotte to our downtown. UM. We have
Speaker 1: that's gonna be ten miles added to the ten miles
Speaker 1: already there. And we have a streetcar system and we
Speaker 1: have three more lines that are under study that we
Speaker 1: know where those quarters are going to be. But that
Speaker 1: additional total is going to be about six billion dollars
Speaker 1: and right now we don't have funding and place we're
Speaker 1: waiting to hear from the federal government to whether they're
Speaker 1: going to continue the Tiger program and other things that
Speaker 1: we have used successfully UH to start that that light
Speaker 1: rail system that we have going. And what we find
Speaker 1: is it's not just about transportation. It's also about land use,
Speaker 1: and it's about how you grow your city and how
Speaker 1: you plan your city so that when you can put
Speaker 1: density along those quarters, you're much more efficient getting people
Speaker 1: to work, getting people to the doctor, etcetera. And also
Speaker 1: leaving room for some open space for those big parks
Speaker 1: and those green ways and things that you need to
Speaker 1: help that balance in that quality of life and to
Speaker 1: help your environment. And so so funding is a key
Speaker 1: part of that. But we're also looking at the range
Speaker 1: of options because we know that half the folks moving
Speaker 1: to Charlotte every day or under age thirty five. We
Speaker 1: know they don't like cars. So I've heard them many
Speaker 1: forums and many community meetings. They want to bike, they
Speaker 1: want to go transit, they want to uber. So we
Speaker 1: want to make sure that we're expanding our bike pass.
Speaker 1: We want to make sure that we're doing mixed mixed
Speaker 1: use development so they can actually walk a lot of places.
Speaker 1: We see a lot of folks walking to breweries we have.
Speaker 1: That's another, you know, big booming industry in Charlotte. The
Speaker 1: micro breweries really absolutely we have like twenty one of
Speaker 1: them within a mile of uptown. It's incredible, and people
Speaker 1: want to walk to those. They don't They don't want
Speaker 1: to have to worry about driving after that, so they
Speaker 1: also want to have the social life that goes with that,
Speaker 1: and um, people being out. We had this whole group
Speaker 1: of cyclists who meet on every Tuesday night, like a
Speaker 1: hundred of them, and they just take the streets over
Speaker 1: and they have these routes that are neighborhoods and they
Speaker 1: have their lights on and they have a great, big
Speaker 1: social thing out of it. And so it's about looking
Speaker 1: at a full range of cycling, walking safely, um, making
Speaker 1: sure that traffic is rounded the right way, to make
Speaker 1: safe crossings, etcetera. And having a bus and transit system
Speaker 1: that overlays that that helps connect people and again reduces
Speaker 1: those transportation costs as well as helping the environment. One
Speaker 1: issue involving your city that of course just had a
Speaker 1: lot of national attention is HB two, which is known
Speaker 1: as the bathroom Bill in shorthand. UM, you're in a
Speaker 1: tough re election fight right now, and that's become part
Speaker 1: of the campaign. UM, there is a constituency in Charlotte,
Speaker 1: in North Carolina that had concerns about what the Human
Speaker 1: Rights Commission had recommended originally for your policy. Is there
Speaker 1: a way that that your original provision, which the Bathroom
Speaker 1: Bill was meant to combat, could have been rolled out
Speaker 1: to get greater broader support and not prompted the state
Speaker 1: legislature to intervene. First of all, I have to correct
Speaker 1: anyone who calls it what you just called it. It
Speaker 1: was a bill about discrimination or non discrimination. It is
Speaker 1: what it is commonly known as exactly. But what it
Speaker 1: was but the challenges that people really think that was
Speaker 1: all it was about. And what it was about was
Speaker 1: Charlotte standing up to say we don't believe discrimination against
Speaker 1: the LGBT community is right, and that we believe in
Speaker 1: public accommodations you should have some ability to take a
Speaker 1: complaint to a local committee if you finally discriminated against. UM,
Speaker 1: we wanted our restaurants, our hotels, in our taxis to
Speaker 1: be inclusive and by and large they are, but there
Speaker 1: are still isolated incidents of discrimination. So it was really
Speaker 1: all about non discrimination for the LGBT community community. UM,
Speaker 1: the word bathroom was never in our original ordinance. It
Speaker 1: was in HB two, So I always want to correct
Speaker 1: folks on that. Uh. And in terms of could we
Speaker 1: work better with the state, UM, we had a whole
Speaker 1: year of campaigns based around because this is a vote
Speaker 1: that happened three times in the city of Charlotte, so
Speaker 1: it was our two votes a year before I got
Speaker 1: elected mayor. And again open public legislature knew about it.
Speaker 1: We had a whole year of campaigning. Legislature knew about it,
Speaker 1: and we did not hear anything. And looking at the
Speaker 1: two hundred other cities across America that had noniscrimination ordinances,
Speaker 1: including Columbia, South Carolina are neighbor to the south, um
Speaker 1: merle Beach, Atlanta, et cetera, many cities we compete with.
Speaker 1: We didn't hear anything from legislation during that whole year
Speaker 1: about any retribution, any backlash that would happen, and so
Speaker 1: it was unexpected and I think, UM, we did what
Speaker 1: we could in terms of projecting what we were gonna do,
Speaker 1: talking about being equal, you know, inclusive city. We will
Speaker 1: continue to um express those values in Charlotte. We were
Speaker 1: very successful and still getting UM conventions and businesses, etcetera
Speaker 1: coming to Charlotte because they knew that Charlotte was a
Speaker 1: city that stood up UH and said we do not
Speaker 1: believe in discrimination. And so we had over eleven thousand
Speaker 1: new jobs created in Charlotte, over a thousand companies expanded
Speaker 1: or came to Charlotte in in spite of what the
Speaker 1: state did. And so we continue to express those values.
Speaker 1: We continue to talk about all the great things Charlotte
Speaker 1: has and all the ways that we do include and
Speaker 1: welcome folks. UM. We are incredibly diverse city and we
Speaker 1: will continue to um be that. We're working very closely
Speaker 1: with the pride IT sector to do what we can
Speaker 1: within the constraints of what our state legislation has UM
Speaker 1: prohibited us from doing, but they did not UM monitor
Speaker 1: the private sector in that so we are working very
Speaker 1: closely with them. We've always been a collaborative city and
Speaker 1: we're going to continue to thrive and prosper based on
Speaker 1: being equal, inclusive, fostering innovation, celebrating creativity. Let's take that
Speaker 1: a step further and expanded out to Capitol Hill into
Speaker 1: the federal government in the relationship between the municipalities, Charlotte specifically,
Speaker 1: and the federal government. UM, that's why you're here, You're
Speaker 1: in the Capitol c You're in the nation's capital. You're
Speaker 1: gonna be on Capitol Hill soon. What is that relationship
Speaker 1: like and what role can the federal government play when
Speaker 1: it comes to Charlotte being a smart city, improving infrastructure
Speaker 1: and some of the other is shooes that you've brought up.
Speaker 1: We actually have worked pretty well with our congressional delegation
Speaker 1: around a number of things. And one of the things
Speaker 1: that we're trying to get as a Doppler weather radar,
Speaker 1: which we don't have in Charlotte. UM. I think we're
Speaker 1: the largest. I know, we're the largest municipality doesn't have
Speaker 1: one that we we used South Carolina. UH and Robert Pittinger,
Speaker 1: who's a Republican congressman UM from our area, has helped
Speaker 1: to champion that. So UM we look at energy infrastructure
Speaker 1: and the things we've done UM around alternative energy, around
Speaker 1: um UH energy conservation, etcetera. We've worked close to a
Speaker 1: Senator bor on that. UH. There are many things that UM,
Speaker 1: we have actually had success with our federal government. What
Speaker 1: we're interested in physically around infrastructure is to continue some
Speaker 1: of the programs that have been so successful, like the
Speaker 1: Tiger grants UM so much that has supported transportation infrastructure.
Speaker 1: You know, we are a sort of non traditional transit city, UM.
Speaker 1: You know, unlike the older cities that have had transit
Speaker 1: for years. Charlotte was one of the first ones that
Speaker 1: wasn't a coastal city and wasn't one of the you know,
Speaker 1: top ten that had a very successful light round developed
Speaker 1: development and that was really based on the portion of
Speaker 1: the federal government was was able to fund UH and
Speaker 1: that has spurred incredible private sexual development has really been
Speaker 1: UM the leverage that we've used to get that collaboration
Speaker 1: to really grow our city in a smart way, in
Speaker 1: a way that's more effective and efficient and provides opportunity
Speaker 1: to more people. And so that's really where we're looking
Speaker 1: to the federal government is to continue some of those
Speaker 1: successful programs that we have proven our successful that we
Speaker 1: can point to the dollars that we saved and the
Speaker 1: dollars we've generated based on that investment. I wanted to
Speaker 1: ask a little bit about, Um, what reaction you would
Speaker 1: have to the Supreme Court's decision not to listen to
Speaker 1: the appeal to the lower court Voter I D ruling.
Speaker 1: Last of all, that the plan that had been approved
Speaker 1: was called by the lower court and almost surgical precision
Speaker 1: attempt to disenfranchise African American voters. Looks like, Um, that
Speaker 1: law is not going to come back for the time being.
Speaker 1: How is that affecting voters in Charlotte. That has a
Speaker 1: tremendous impact. And I have to say I was glad
Speaker 1: to see the Supreme Court's decision. And I actually looked
Speaker 1: very closely at that Voter I D built when it
Speaker 1: was first passed at our state, and I looked at,
Speaker 1: um where they made it harder for African Americans to vote,
Speaker 1: and where there were districts that were packed. And that also, UM,
Speaker 1: we're you know, our districts are unconstitutional, and so they
Speaker 1: are required to redraw our state legislative districts. UM before
Speaker 1: next year's elections. They had to redraw the congressional districts
Speaker 1: as well. But if you look at the forms of
Speaker 1: I D and they they found the conversation that went on, Uh,
Speaker 1: they targeted forms of id that African Americans don't have
Speaker 1: in the same proportions as UM white folks have, and
Speaker 1: that UM is distressing to people who want to have
Speaker 1: a voice in their government and who have also unfortunately
Speaker 1: seen decades of discrimination and earlier attempts to disenfranchise whole
Speaker 1: segments of our population. We are all about making sure
Speaker 1: everyone in Charlotte has a voice, that everyone feels empowered.
Speaker 1: We welcome citizen input all the time. We have a
Speaker 1: budgeting process where we put our budget online. We asked
Speaker 1: citizens to go in and show us what you would
Speaker 1: add us subtract you know, how do you think it's
Speaker 1: impact your neighborhood. Tell us what you feel. We have
Speaker 1: town hall meetings all over our city with all of
Speaker 1: our eleven um THIS representatives on the city Council and
Speaker 1: and I'm going to have one in June. We want
Speaker 1: people to feel like they're part of their future. And
Speaker 1: when we have a bill that is disenfranchising the whole segments,
Speaker 1: that is not helpful. So UM we're glad to see
Speaker 1: the Supreme Court cares about that aspect of democracy. Wanted
Speaker 1: to ask also about UM housing part of the infrastructure issue.
Speaker 1: We talked a little bit with DC Mayor Muriel Bowser
Speaker 1: about the issue of homelessness in the city and she
Speaker 1: says that's a big part of her infrastructure plan. Is
Speaker 1: that a problem in Charlotte And does that dovetail at
Speaker 1: all with the concept of a sanctuary city. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure if Charlotte is a sanctuary city at all. Okay,
Speaker 1: to separate issue, So how can cheeze those apart completely?
Speaker 1: Very good? So, housing and affordable housing is a huge
Speaker 1: challenge because our rents are rising faster than wages. As
Speaker 1: our city grows, obviously property that's close in it has
Speaker 1: a lower lesser commute becomes much more valuable. And so
Speaker 1: what we are struggling with is about thirty four thousand
Speaker 1: units that we are short of affordable housing. And this
Speaker 1: is for hourly workers, It's for our hotel workers, for
Speaker 1: our teachers, for our police officers. Uh, folks who are
Speaker 1: you know, middle class but um but in the lower
Speaker 1: level of that that income bracket and really trying to
Speaker 1: find a place that they can afford to live that's
Speaker 1: not thirty miles outside of the city. And so we
Speaker 1: are working very hard to increase the amount of money
Speaker 1: that we put into subsidized housing. UM. Actually, we advocated
Speaker 1: to keep the Community Development Block grants that are federal
Speaker 1: grants that we've used for housing projects, and so whether
Speaker 1: it is new housing, whether it's renovating existing home so
Speaker 1: seniors can stay in their homes and not get gentrified
Speaker 1: out of their neighborhood US, they can do those essential repairs, etcetera.
Speaker 1: We advocate to keep those and they're in the current budget.
Speaker 1: We hope they're in uh physically or eighteen as well. UM.
Speaker 1: So that's something where the federal government has been been
Speaker 1: very helpful in our housing situation. One of the challenges
Speaker 1: we have is that we are not allowed to require
Speaker 1: a new construction a certain percentage to be affordable. So
Speaker 1: even though we're doing more mixed income housing, it's voluntary.
Speaker 1: We encourage it, we try to work with developers to
Speaker 1: do it. UM. We try to UM show how it
Speaker 1: benefits everyone. But again we have to help subsidize with
Speaker 1: public money to really get to happen the speed that
Speaker 1: we need. So that's a challenge. Housing continues to be
Speaker 1: a challenge, but we've we've got some great projects underway
Speaker 1: on the sanctuary city issue that is an immigration issue,
Speaker 1: and that is really UM cities that are trying to
Speaker 1: um not defy federal law, but to limit uh federal
Speaker 1: reach in terms of their communities in deportations. We are
Speaker 1: not a sanctuary city. We are a welcoming city. We
Speaker 1: have many immigrants. But we also have a TUITI, V
Speaker 1: and G program, which is a federal program that allows
Speaker 1: local sharff's deputies to actually UM start deportation proceedings for folks. Now,
Speaker 1: they only encounter that program if they are arrested for
Speaker 1: some kind of offense, and so it is really targeting
Speaker 1: violent criminals. Sometimes we're concerned that it's not necessarily targeting
Speaker 1: violent criminals. UM. We don't want to use for traffic
Speaker 1: incidents that sort of thing. UM, but we do want
Speaker 1: to be a city that supports immigrants. We have an
Speaker 1: Immigrant Integration Task Force. It's looking at how do we
Speaker 1: support immigrants, small business, how do we help more legal
Speaker 1: residents become citizens UH. That's something that we're actively working
Speaker 1: with some nonprofits to to encourage because then you have
Speaker 1: the full rights and privilege of the citizenship. UH. And
Speaker 1: sometimes the housing and the immigrant issue do overlap when
Speaker 1: immigrants are part of that UM that lower income Ralley
Speaker 1: workforce that has a hard time finding housing. But they're
Speaker 1: really two separate issues. My final question, and for you,
Speaker 1: Mayor Roberts, deals with some of the divisions that we
Speaker 1: see in politics today. If you are looking at North
Speaker 1: Carolina from a national stage, you see cities like Charlotte
Speaker 1: that are heavily democratic college towns. Of course you're Raley Durham's,
Speaker 1: those tend to be blue. And then there's the seas
Speaker 1: of deep red all over the state now in North
Speaker 1: Carolina that combines to make the whole thing pretty purple,
Speaker 1: pretty competitive, and I'm sure you'll have no shortage of
Speaker 1: presidential attention in But in the meantime, as the mayor
Speaker 1: of a major city, is there's something you can do
Speaker 1: um within your own state, your own region to sort
Speaker 1: of bridge some of these political divides that we see
Speaker 1: between demographic groups, urban rural, the divisions we see in
Speaker 1: politics today. Well, the first thing to remember is that, um,
Speaker 1: we have gerrymandering that again has been declared unconstitutional in
Speaker 1: our state. And so the first thing I'm doing is
Speaker 1: advocating very strongly for an independent rediscertain Commission. And they're
Speaker 1: actually bills in the House and Senate that would support that,
Speaker 1: but they haven't gotten out of committee. UM. We're hoping
Speaker 1: that that is going to change before the next census.
Speaker 1: But that is a challenge because what we find is
Speaker 1: that even though a very purple um, the state as
Speaker 1: a whole is about in terms of registrations, we have
Speaker 1: ten Republican and three Democratic congressional representatives, so and that
Speaker 1: is also married in our state House and Senate. It's
Speaker 1: a veto proof majority. So what we find is that
Speaker 1: redistriarching with the Independent Commission would help restore balance. So
Speaker 1: that's one of the first things I'm doing. But the
Speaker 1: second thing I want to do is help bridge the
Speaker 1: rural urban divide. And what we find is a lot
Speaker 1: of legislatures now and conservative areas are from rural districts.
Speaker 1: We want them to prosper to we want to make
Speaker 1: sure that our cities connecting to those rural areas around us,
Speaker 1: and we have a whole farm to fork movements so
Speaker 1: that we have fancy restaurants in Charlotte that that pick
Speaker 1: local farms and highlight them and talk about them on
Speaker 1: their menu and really help them survive and help them
Speaker 1: be UM publicized. As part of supporting that rural area
Speaker 1: that is just outside our borders. We have UM farmers
Speaker 1: markets that do the same thing. We have UM some
Speaker 1: tourist attractions in surrounding areas that are in rural areas
Speaker 1: where a lot of people from Charlotte go and spend
Speaker 1: money and spend time. We want to continue to build
Speaker 1: and looking at ourselves as a region and look at
Speaker 1: economic development as a region. And so even if there's
Speaker 1: a large company that wants to create a new factory
Speaker 1: or a new manufacturing facility, we want them to look regionally.
Speaker 1: And there's a whole regional partnership that markets us that
Speaker 1: way because some as they don't fit in a very
Speaker 1: densely developed Charlotte, but they might fit across the border.
Speaker 1: And we know, again they're gonna live, they're gonna shop,
Speaker 1: they're gonna entertain in Charlotte. Everybody's gonna benefit. So we
Speaker 1: want to continue to do that. One thing I did
Speaker 1: recently is we have a regional coalition of mayors um
Speaker 1: some very small towns along with Charlotte and some bigger towns.
Speaker 1: I gave them all a tour of our airport. It's
Speaker 1: a regional facility. They got the behind the scenes tour
Speaker 1: of all the construction and the growth that we have
Speaker 1: in our airport, and they saw how things worked and
Speaker 1: that helped them feel this is part of their growth.
Speaker 1: It's an asset they use all the time. We want
Speaker 1: them to feel included. We are at the Bloomberg Smart
Speaker 1: Cities meeting with many mayors, including Mayor John Mitchell of
Speaker 1: New Bedford, Massachusetts, the state's sixth largest city, part of
Speaker 1: the Providence Metropolitan Statistical Area, but definitely a place with
Speaker 1: its own spirit and soul. You come from a long
Speaker 1: time fishing family. I do. I do as a matter
Speaker 1: of fact. Yes, my parents were public school teachers, but
Speaker 1: my family, especially on my father's side, was in the
Speaker 1: commercial fishing industry, which is a big thing in New Bedford,
Speaker 1: where the largest commercial fishing port in America and uh
Speaker 1: In are growing in terms of market share. Most of
Speaker 1: a lot of the fishing industry on the East Coast
Speaker 1: is actually gravitating toward New Bedford, UM and so it's
Speaker 1: a big, big part of not only are regional economy,
Speaker 1: but also a big part of our culture. You also
Speaker 1: have a large manufacturing presence, and you're here learning about
Speaker 1: smart cities and infrastructure issues as you are trying to
Speaker 1: harness big data and information toward improving your city. How
Speaker 1: does that interface with some of the workforce challenges you
Speaker 1: have in an inevitably transitioning economy. Yeah, so things are
Speaker 1: complex right now, and and you know, we're in a
Speaker 1: sort of a unique situation, at least for us, in
Speaker 1: the sense that um our unemployment rate has dropped precipitously,
Speaker 1: labor participation has gone up, but we still have sort
Speaker 1: of a pesky cohort of folks who are remain outside
Speaker 1: the labor market. And the lament of most employers these
Speaker 1: days is I've you know, I am hiring up, I've
Speaker 1: got help wanted science, which is a rare sight in
Speaker 1: New Bedford historically, but I can't find the people who
Speaker 1: have the basic basic math and English skills and more
Speaker 1: importantly soft skills to do the jobs. So so you know,
Speaker 1: what we're trying to do is, uh, to to deal
Speaker 1: with that is, among other things, to enhance our transportation infrastructure.
Speaker 1: We want we we believe that are like as other
Speaker 1: mayors do that Uh that uh facilitating the ability of
Speaker 1: people to go from home to their place of employment. Uh,
Speaker 1: it makes us more competitive and sort of the state
Speaker 1: the obvious. But you know, what we've tried to do
Speaker 1: is to integrate smart cities, technology sensors and other data
Speaker 1: gathering measures into our transportation system to allow us to
Speaker 1: figure out where people are living where uh, you know,
Speaker 1: where migration patterns are are heading and and we're in
Speaker 1: the employment growth is so that we can adjust on
Speaker 1: the fly. Data with context is knowledge. When you are
Speaker 1: able to apply that knowledge, then you can move on
Speaker 1: to the next step. What would the next step be?
Speaker 1: And does the federal government or maybe the private sector
Speaker 1: have a role in that. Well, the private sector, I
Speaker 1: think does have a role in helping identify their needs
Speaker 1: and and uh and so I think these days just
Speaker 1: given um, the the back of apparent backing off of
Speaker 1: the federal government from uh from the life of the
Speaker 1: cities in this country at least, that's I think what
Speaker 1: we should assume until until it's proven otherwise. And the
Speaker 1: continuing resource constraints at the local level, you know, more
Speaker 1: has to be expected of the private sector, so not
Speaker 1: only in the way of identifying needs, but also pooning
Speaker 1: up funding to to to actually activate projects that might
Speaker 1: be in the public good, whether they are in our
Speaker 1: case port facilities or whether they are um surface transportation projects,
Speaker 1: whatever it is. But you know what we try to
Speaker 1: do is work in and glove with business so that
Speaker 1: you know, we have a sense of where their needs
Speaker 1: are heart not just presently but a year from now,
Speaker 1: five years from now, and so forth. Your city has
Speaker 1: the highest bond rating ever in its history, which is
Speaker 1: saying something when it starts in the seventeenth century, How
Speaker 1: does smart city innovation play into that? Yeah, I don't think. Uh,
Speaker 1: I don't think S and P was around back then,
Speaker 1: so it might not be a valid marker. But but
Speaker 1: in any event, uh, you know what we we are,
Speaker 1: even though we're two thousand seventeen and not two thousand
Speaker 1: and eight anymore. We still manage the city government with
Speaker 1: a u a an air of austerity as though it
Speaker 1: were two thousand and in the sense that we're not
Speaker 1: parsimonious about every last penny we do. We do look
Speaker 1: for opportunities to invest, but we've got to get more
Speaker 1: efficient all the time because we still our resource constraint um.
Speaker 1: So we we've we have championed a number of efficiency
Speaker 1: initiatives that have freed up capital public capital to invest
Speaker 1: in critical infrastructure whether it's broadband, whether it's port facilities
Speaker 1: and so forth. And we do that by, um, you know,
Speaker 1: by by being more data driven. When I got into office, UH,
Speaker 1: there was nothing in the way of a performance management
Speaker 1: mechanism and city government. We we have one. Now. We
Speaker 1: measured all the things that I think, at least for now,
Speaker 1: that are relevant to our continuing to deliver important services
Speaker 1: but also to save taxpayer dollars. UH. And we've also
Speaker 1: seized opportunities for UH in certain discrete areas. Energy is
Speaker 1: a good example where we've been very aggressive in building
Speaker 1: out our solar capacity. According to the Wall Street Journal,
Speaker 1: we have uh more installed municipal solar capacity than any
Speaker 1: any city in the United States. Actually in the continental
Speaker 1: United States. Honolulu has we're told more installed a capacity
Speaker 1: per capita. But obviously honolul has a slight advantage when
Speaker 1: it comes to sun so so. But but anyway, it's
Speaker 1: just one example of the kinds of the kinds of energy,
Speaker 1: the kinds of initiatives that we were we've been aggressively
Speaker 1: pursuing because you know, when you step back and think
Speaker 1: about our position, your befords a city of a hundred thousand,
Speaker 1: it's an older industrial city. And even though we've we've
Speaker 1: seen a lot of growth of late, we're one of
Speaker 1: these places that historically has lag behind the business cycle,
Speaker 1: right where one of the we're usually late to emerge
Speaker 1: from a recession and quick to go back into the
Speaker 1: next one. And what I'm trying to do is to
Speaker 1: make the right kinds of adjustments along the way and
Speaker 1: right kinds of investments that allow us to flatten that
Speaker 1: out and remain on a on a steadier growth trajectory.
Speaker 1: Being in an event like this one with the Smart
Speaker 1: Cities event and the other mayors in the nation's capital
Speaker 1: and the other things that you guys are gonna be
Speaker 1: doing today, do you find that you are providing some
Speaker 1: best practices to other mayors or you're able to take
Speaker 1: away best practices from them? And I asked that because
Speaker 1: everybody else has been talking about housing and infrastructure, as
Speaker 1: far as transportation, You're the first one I've talked to
Speaker 1: is talked about solar energy and renewable energy. Yeah. So
Speaker 1: we so we try to um through organizations like he
Speaker 1: as Conference of Mayors and others try to share idea
Speaker 1: and I think there is you know, there's this, there's
Speaker 1: this mindset that I think has taken hold among the
Speaker 1: nation's mayors that is all about self sufficiency and not
Speaker 1: you know, waiting for the federal government to initiate something new,
Speaker 1: whether it's an investment, whether it's new social programs, because
Speaker 1: I think there is it's some among most mayors, some
Speaker 1: level of skepticism that the federal government is actually going
Speaker 1: to deliver. And I think that skepticism is probably pretty
Speaker 1: well founded. Um. And and so what we've done, and
Speaker 1: certainly I do this in my city is try to
Speaker 1: preach uh an ethic of self sufficiency. We're going to
Speaker 1: determine our own fate. And yeah, we might need to
Speaker 1: have a good partnership with the state and federal government,
Speaker 1: but but at the end of the day, Uh, it's
Speaker 1: a it's a partnership, but we're driving the action you
Speaker 1: were talking about. Two thousand and eight. Would like to
Speaker 1: take a moment to talk about two thousand seven March
Speaker 1: was the tenure anniversary of the immigration raid that netted
Speaker 1: three sixty one textile workers and the people who hired them. Um,
Speaker 1: how did that change the city and what did it
Speaker 1: learned from the experience. Yeah, so that was the so
Speaker 1: called Michael Bianco Raid, which Michael Bianco was a factory
Speaker 1: in the south end of our city that made um
Speaker 1: rut sacks for for the Department of Defense and it
Speaker 1: employed a large number of undocumented workers. The ICE went
Speaker 1: in and as part in connection with a criminal investigation
Speaker 1: of the employers of the of the bosses as it were,
Speaker 1: um UH rounded up a very large number of of
Speaker 1: the workers who didn't have immigration status. And it was
Speaker 1: it was a shock, I think, not only to the city,
Speaker 1: um for I think obvious reasons and sort of the
Speaker 1: disruption and focuses the lives not only the workers but
Speaker 1: their families, including the school children, was was something that
Speaker 1: people don't forget. But I think it also at least
Speaker 1: through the end of the Bush administration and the Obama
Speaker 1: administration changed the way that inmigration UM law is enforced
Speaker 1: in this country. Um that was perhaps the last of
Speaker 1: the large immigration raids in the country until whatever happens
Speaker 1: next now and I think so we we do continue
Speaker 1: to have a large undocumented worker population, especially in our
Speaker 1: fish houses, not only where they are were the largest
Speaker 1: commercial fishing port where also the large we also have
Speaker 1: the largest fish processing base in the country and in
Speaker 1: our fish processors UM do employ a number of undocumented workers.
Speaker 1: So there are a lot of folks who are on
Speaker 1: on edge about what might happen next, Will there be
Speaker 1: a return to Michael Bianco style enforcement, and so you
Speaker 1: know what we've tried to do. UM. You know, we
Speaker 1: are not a sanctuary city because I think we've taken
Speaker 1: I've taken the position that because that term is undefined
Speaker 1: in federal law, because there's no sort of settled definition
Speaker 1: that by by taking a hard position, we're only in
Speaker 1: flame aiming the division UH that we're seeing in lots
Speaker 1: of cities around the country. And you know, Frankly, as
Speaker 1: a as a leader of my city, I don't want
Speaker 1: that to be a distraction to all the hard work
Speaker 1: we're doing. All that said, we we take pains to
Speaker 1: help folks in our community know what their legal rights are.
Speaker 1: We take pains to remind folks or what a welcoming
Speaker 1: city New Bedford is. And we're a place that has
Speaker 1: been traditionally hospitable to UH to new immigrants wherever they're from,
Speaker 1: and we'll that will continue to approach it that way.
Speaker 1: Then we've looked at twenty o eight, We've looked at seven,
Speaker 1: let's look at what's your city going to look like
Speaker 1: in the next ten years. Yeah, great question. So what
Speaker 1: I hope from my city is that, you know, we
Speaker 1: continue to cement our status as the UH not only
Speaker 1: the center of the southern part of Massachusetts, but one
Speaker 1: of the leading cities in the Northeast that has a
Speaker 1: more diversified economy, that is a place that people are
Speaker 1: moving into because the school system is has has gotten
Speaker 1: a lot better in doing right by by children. And
Speaker 1: as a place that is competitive and continues to be
Speaker 1: competitive in maritime industries because that's our bread and butter
Speaker 1: with it's our port. Is the reason why New Bedford
Speaker 1: exists and why it will continue to exist in the
Speaker 1: years ahead. That will be a leader not only fishing,
Speaker 1: but an offshore wind which is the next big industry
Speaker 1: for us. It's all coming to the United States and
Speaker 1: the years ahead. UH. And that we have a more
Speaker 1: knowledge based economy that you know, we're one of these
Speaker 1: places in the Northeast that doesn't have much of a
Speaker 1: tech sector, but we're starting to develop the seeds of
Speaker 1: one now. And where we hope is that, UM, we
Speaker 1: we're banking on the idea that technology companies can can
Speaker 1: take root anywhere. It doesn't have to be in East
Speaker 1: Cambridge or in Palalto, and can be in places like
Speaker 1: New Bedford that that offer that are a place where
Speaker 1: ideas can be freely exchanged and where people can have
Speaker 1: a high quality of life and and grow their business.
Speaker 1: So that's that's the idea for us. UM and UM,
Speaker 1: I think we're making progress in that direction. And because
Speaker 1: we don't know how this is all going to be edited,
Speaker 1: I will ask and about UM. You are a Democratic
Speaker 1: mayor of a working class city. You have a Harvard degree,
Speaker 1: but you worked your way through school and the factories
Speaker 1: in the warehouses. How does a Democrat connect with working
Speaker 1: class voters. It's a big question being asked in Washington
Speaker 1: these days. Yeah, I think we So, I think mayor's
Speaker 1: Democratic mayors have a pretty good handle on that because uh,
Speaker 1: and I include myself in this mix, because you know,
Speaker 1: we don't have the luxury of being ideological, um, at
Speaker 1: least overtly ideological, and we don't have the the luxury
Speaker 1: of being partisan. We have to get stuff done. And
Speaker 1: so the way I look at it is if people
Speaker 1: want the same things regardless of their political stripe, they
Speaker 1: they really, as mundane as it might sound, they want
Speaker 1: their streets plow, they want they they want their kids
Speaker 1: to go to a good school. They want their blocked
Speaker 1: to be safe and Democrat or Republican. If you're delivering
Speaker 1: on that, people will you will gain the respect and
Speaker 1: the good will of of of folks. Um That's the
Speaker 1: way I approach it, which is decidedly nonpartisan. It's more executive,
Speaker 1: and I think that's what's attractive to me about about
Speaker 1: my job, and I suspect it's true of a lot
Speaker 1: of other mayors around the country. People are demanding results,
Speaker 1: and as mayor, you're you're in a position to do that.
Speaker 1: If that's if that's truly your focus. All right, John Mitchell,
Speaker 1: A Mare of New Bedford, Massachusetts, thank you so much
Speaker 1: for joining us, Thanks for having me, Thank you, Thanks
Speaker 1: for listening to the Bloomberg Surveillance podcast. Subscribe and listen
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