DENVER — Mayors from more than 180 cities gathered this week for the annual Conference of American Mayors, where they discussed housing costs, immigration enforcement, federal grant delays and the weather, all of which they described as beyond their authority.
“We are here to coordinate our response to problems that are being handled elsewhere,” said Mayor Denise Caldwell of Dayton, Ohio. “It is important that we do this together.”
The conference’s closing statement called on federal and state governments to “act with urgency,” and pledged that cities would “continue to do what we can, which is not much.”
Panels included “Filling a Budget Hole With a Press Conference,” “Communicating Clearly About Things You Cannot Change,” and a well-attended session on federal reimbursement forms.
Several mayors noted that the conference had been productive. “I got three phone numbers and a new font for our website,” said Mayor Ray Ortega of Tucson. “That’s a good year.”