Subject: U.S. Conference of Mayors

• Dallas to Lose $4 Billion in 2008? Man, That Sounds Bad.

  November 27, 2007

• And, Dallas, What Do You Want for Christmas? Why, Everything!

  For weeks, the United States Conference of Mayors has been touting its Main Street Economic Recovery Plan, which would, if enacted, involve putting federal funds into local projects. To that end, mayors from all across the country provided the Conference with a wish list of project they'd like the feds to fund -- because as far as the mayors' group is concerned, it's far more sensible to invest in tangible projects that provide actual jobs than it is to throw the banks bailout billions that aren

  December 8, 2008

• Playing With The Convention Center Hotel Numbers, And ... Wait. What? Someone Wanted To Build This Thing With Their Own Money?

  When Mayor Tom Leppert brought his Christmas list to Capitol Hill yesterday, he wasn't shy about asking for $386 million from the government to pay for a shiny convention center hotel. After taking a look at our story, Becky Mayad, spokesperson for Build the Hotel, sent an e-mail to Robert correcting the cost at $356 million, claiming "every $30 million counts!" Indeed, 30 mil is a lot of dough. But, as Robert pointed out to Mayad, he grabbed the number from page 374 of the official release by

  December 9, 2008

• In Dallas, a Rise in Homelessness and Hunger Due to "Bleak" Economy

  This morning, outside a rescue mission in Miami, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released a study concerning homelessness and hunger in 25 major cities, with Dallas among those participating in the survey. The section dealing specifically with the city can be found on Page 30 of the 85-page report, but according to the study, which says that 21.1 percent of Dallas residents live below the poverty line, "Dallas has experienced a 14 percent increase in people experiencing homelessness" in the last y

  December 12, 2008

• Oh, Say, Can You D.C.: Ron Kirk and Tom Leppert at the U.S. Conference of Mayors

  Dallas mayors former and current were in D.C. over the weekend for the U.S. Conference of Mayors annual winter meeting: Tom Leppert, to once more make Dallas's case for stimulus dough-re-mi; Ron Kirk, to calm mayors' fears concerning his unpopular position on free trade. Leppert, like every other in mayor in the country, has his hand out in expectation of scratching off a piece of that $825 billion stimulus plan. But he's worried the money will go elsewhere: Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said the pla

  January 19, 2009

• Will the Issuance of Bonds for the Convention Center Hotel Affect the City's Credit? We're Going With Maybe.

  Patrick MichelsMayor Leppert is this close to landing the interest rate he wants for the hotel.When Mayor Tom Leppert testified last week on behalf of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, he conveniently failed to mention his own agenda while lobbying the U.S. House Financial Services Committee to loosen the municipal bond market. Instead of arguing the merits of the convention center hotel, he mentioned "building and repairing schools, firehouses, highways and water systems" as examples of projects

  May 29, 2009