Nation's Cities - April 4, 2011

2 NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
April 4, 2011

MESSAGE FROM NLC’S PRESIDENT

NLC Family,
Thanks to all of you who
made the trip to Washington,
D.C., last month for the
Congressional City Conference.
We were over 1500 people
strong and had an amazing line
up of workshops and speakers,
including First Lady Michelle
Obama.

I was especially pleased with
the strong show of support for
the Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) that we
made on Wednesday, March
16, during City Lobby Day.
Additional thanks go out to
those who joined the NLC
crowd at the media event held
that morning with the National
Association of Counties and the
U.S. Conference of Mayors.
With your continued work
in communicating with your
congressional members about
CDBG, I know we will be able
to preserve this critical federal
funding program that supports
jobs and economic growth in
our communities.
While in D.C., I had the
chance to tape an interview
on CDBG with Comcast’s
Newsmakers program. The
interview was aired in Comcast
homes in most major media
markets between March 21 and
April 3, giving us great exposure
on this very important issue.
Thanks also to all the cor-
porate representatives and city
leaders who participated in our
“ASK a Corporate Partner” ses-
sions. The true measure of this
new initiative will be a success-
ful expansion of the interac-
tion between NLC members
and our corporate partners at
our upcoming conference in
Phoenix.
As a follow up to the great
presentation at the conference
from Erskine Bowles, co-chair,
The National Commission
on Fiscal Responsibility and
Reform, NLC will be host-
ing a series of webinars starting
in May on federal efforts to
address the nation’s fiscal chal-
lenges. We hope you will join
us for these important conver-
sations.
On a final note, start watch-
ing your mailbox because at
the end of April a new NLC
Calendar will be coming your
way, highlighting upcom-
ing NLC events and meetings
and featuring photos of NLC
member cities from across the

country. This just one more
way NLC is working hard to
showcase cities and bring your
city value for its membership.
Have a great April!
James E. Mitchell Jr.
COLUMNIST
As Big Disasters Proliferate: ‘What of Small is Beautiful’?

by Neal Peirce
“Man is small, and, therefore, small is
beautiful.”
Think about the emergencies roiling
worldwide and the words of the late
economist E.F. Schumacher ring truer
than ever.

in fact, was nuclear fission and its perils.
Alive today (he died in 1977),
Schumacher would doubtless be stressing
climate change too. Although a gruesome
competitor is now heaving into view: the
possibility that food shortages could trig-
ger economic turmoil, wars, even waves
of death by starvation.
World food prices are spiking for the
second time in three years, exacerbated
this time by floods in Australia and last
summer’s blistering drought in Russia.
Food demand is certain to continue a
rapid rise as world population soars from
today’s 6.9 billion to an estimated 9.5
billion in 2050.
Climate change, eroding topsoil and
declining water tables — plus major
diversion of croplands to biofuel produc-
tion — pose real threats. Plus, newly
affluent nations are shifting to meats and
other protein-rich foods, requiring dra-
matically expanded grain crops to feed
the livestock.

see page 7, column 1
Nation’s Cities Weekly
Volume 34 Number 13 | ISSN 0164-5935 | April 4, 2011

Official publication of the National League of Cities
Helping City Leaders Build Better Communities
Donald J. Borut, Executive Director
Publisher: Donald J. Borut; Editor: Amy Elsbree; Managing Editor:
Cyndy Liedtke Hogan; Coordinator, Editorial Services: Laura Turner
Advertising Information: Contact Laura Turner at the National League
of Cities; Phone: 202-626-3040;