Official Publication of the National League of Cities OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES
NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY
Volume 34, Number 38 | october 10, 2011
IN THIS ISSUE
www.nlc.org
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Mid-Atlantic Mayors Address Youth
Employment Crisis at NLC Institute
PAGE 3
NLC Files Reply Comments Reiterating
Support for Broadband Deployment
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Nashville at Center of City-School
Partnerships for Smarter Youth Services
Author, Actor Hill Harper to Speak at Congress of Cities
by Michael Karpman and
Cyndy Liedtke Hogan
Hill Harper, a men-
tor, author, actor and activ-
ist, has joined the lineup for
the opening general session
at the Congress of Cities and
Exposition the afternoon of
November 10 in Phoenix.
lies is so vitally important.
Harper, who appears on
the television show “CSI:
New York,” discovered early
on that education was the key
to unlocking potential and
opening doors. He graduat-
ed Magna Cum Laude from
Brown University and earned
graduate degrees in law and
public administration from
Harvard.
Hill Harper, an author, actor and activist, will speak during the Congress of
Cities and Exposition in Phoenix next month.
A volunteer and spokesman
for Big Brothers Big Sisters,
Harper understands that youth
don’t always have the tools to
do the right thing even when
they want to. In 2006, he
wrote The New York Times
bestselling book “Letters to a
Young Brother,” in an effort
to provide encouragement and
guidance to young African
American men who are still try-
ing to find their way. The book
provides examples of persever-
ance in the face of struggle and
hope for a better future.
Following the success of the
first book, Harper wrote the
companion book, “Letters to
a Young Sister,” also a New
York Times bestseller, engaging
strong female voices to help
him convey a message of hope,
education and commitment for
young sisters. Harper’s new-
est book, “The Conversation,”
explores the nature of love
across generations and offers
practical solutions on how to
improve communication across
gender and age.
In addition to the gen-
eral session, Harper will also
speak at a luncheon during
the National Summit on Your
City’s Families, one of four
concurrent conferences at the
Congress of Cities. At the sum-
mit, Harper will discuss the
importance of education and
how to motivate youth to be
the architects of their lives.
see page 8, column 1
NLC Bond Insurer Proposal Advances
by Cathy Spain
Newspaper Handling
Since the fall of 2008, NLC has
been working to find a mechanism that
would fulfill the needs of NLC members
for credit enhancement and to restore
stability to the public finance market.
NLC has played a lead role in the effort
to meet the insurance needs of munici-
pal bond issuers since it convened a
Blue Ribbon Commission on Municipal
Credit Enhancement that issued a report
in 2009 urging NLC to investigate the
feasibility of creating a mutual bond
insurance company.
NLC recently announced an agree-
ment with Radian Asset Assurance Inc.,
(Radian) to explore the formation of a
new public finance mutual bond insur-
ance company. This development repre-
sents an important next step in creating
a new company to insure bonds issued
by state and local governmental entities
that will be owned by the issuers.
see page 8, column 1
