Nation's Cities - March 5, 2012

NATION’S CITIES WEEKLY 3
Constituency Group Speakers Confirmed for
Congressional City Conference

by Sandi Burtseva
Philadelphia Mayor Michael
Nutter and U.S. Small Business
Administration Deputy
Administrator Marie C. Johns
will be addressing local leaders
at NLC’s Congressional City
Conference in Washington,
D.C. Mayor Nutter will speak
at the Celebrate Diversity
Breakfast, sponsored by
National Black Caucus of
Local Elected Officials (NBC-
LEO), as well as other NLC
constituency groups. Deputy
Administrator Johns will
speak to Women in Municipal
Government (WIMG) members
at their Membership Luncheon.
Both events will take place on
Monday, March 12.

Michael Nutter
Marie Johns
Mayor Nutter

Reelected in 2011, Michael
Nutter is currently serving his
second term as the 98th mayor
of Philadelphia, the sixth largest
city in the U.S., and the larg-
est to ever elect a black mayor.
Mayor Nutter is committed to
sustainably growing the region-
al economy, improving public
safety and investing in education
and workforce development.
The mayor has pledged to
make Philadelphia the green-
est city in the U.S., launch-
ing Greenworks Philadelphia,
a forceful plan to reduce the
city’s carbon footprint, creating
and training residents for new
green collar jobs, from weath-
erization to solar panel instal-
lation. Mayor Nutter has also
renewed emphasis on thought-
ful city planning, preparing
Philadelphia for future devel-
opment. He reorganized the
city’s Commerce Department
to improve assistance for small
businesses and foster minority-
and women‐owned business.

vibrant neighborhoods, directing
them to local small businesses.
Deputy Administrator
Johns earned BS and MPA
degrees from Indiana
University’s School of Public
and Environmental Affairs. She
had received multiple awards
and honors, including “Leader
of the Year” from the Greater
Washington Board of Trade, one
the of “25 Most Influential Black
Women in Business” from the
Network Journal and one of the
“100 Most Powerful Women”
by Washingtonian Magazine.
In 2004, Johns was inducted
into the Greater Washington
Business Hall of Fame.

Congressional City
Conference
Deputy Administrator
Johns

President Obama nominated
Marie Johns for the position of
deputy administrator of the U.S.
Small Business Administration
in December 2009, and the
Senate unanimously confirmed
her in June 2010. As deputy
administrator, Johns contrib-
utes to managing the SBA and
developing its policies.

Anti-Eminent Domain Bill Passes House; Senate
Consideration Possible

by Mike Wallace
Seven years after the U.S.
Supreme Court affirmed the
right of cities to use eminent
domain to secure land for
proposed private commercial
development, and after more
than 40 States that have reas-
sessed and limited their own
state eminent domain laws in
response, a bipartisan group of
federal lawmakers is still seek-
ing to legislatively overturn the
decision in Kelo v. City of New
London.