12:00 P.M. EDT
Real Audio of Briefing
MR. BALLARD: (In progress) -- on the U.S. elections. Today, we're delighted to have a very different perspective on the U.S. elections and electoral processes, a perspective that is from outside of the Washington area, a perspective from two local leaders representing very different but very vibrant communities.
How vibrant they are can be measured by the fact that both gentlemen are here today to receive awards on behalf of their communities. I'll let them tell you a little bit about that award, but suffice it to say, that it is a very big honor, indeed, for the cities represented by Mayor Bill Baarsma of Tacoma, Washington, and Mayor David Miller of Elkhart, Indiana.
Those of you in the foreign media often think of Americans, I know, as living by the maxim that all politics is local. Well, that it something that is probably true in American history, and it's certainly an important part of all American politics and American political campaigns.
On the other hand, all politics is international because these mayors represent cities that are, in every way, fully integrated into the international community through the interests of their citizens, through the economics of their communities, and through the participation and contribution of citizens of their communities in work that involves international issues, international affairs, and important international priorities.
So without anything else, I will pass the microphone to our two mayors, who will each make short statements and then be available to answer any questions you have.
MAYOR BAARSMA: Thank you very much. I'll be first?
Okay, well, my name is Bill Baarsma. I'm the Mayor of the city of Tacoma. And it's most fortuitous, indeed, that I sit with the Mayor of Elkhart, Indiana, because, as it turns out, a few years ago, the Deputy Mayor of the city of Tacoma was from Elkhart, Indiana, so we do have that connection and I'm very pleased to meet with him.
We are here to receive the award from the Partnership for Livable Communities. We have both been selected as livable places, the most livable places in the country, and so we're very proud of that.
I thought I would say a word or two about the city of Tacoma. We are a city, a port city of about 197,000 people. We are the fifth largest container port in the North American -- on the North American continent. About 1.5 million containers go through the Port of Tacoma each and every year; nearly 2,000 -- 200,000 automobiles are imported through the Port of Tacoma each and every year; about 75 percent of all product that goes north to Alaska goes through the Port of Tacoma. The port is, indeed, an economic engine.
We have ten sister cities in which we have positive relationships with each. Many of those sister cities are among the Asian rim countries. As the mayor of the city of Tacoma, I am somewhat surprised. I never thought this was part of my job description, but I'm always delighted to meet and greet representatives from foreign lands.
A few months ago, I had breakfast with the Ambassador from Vietnam, who was in the area to actually buy some Boeing jets but came through the city of Tacoma because we are such a large port city. The port is booming, about $200 million of investment for expansion purposes, for the Evergreen shipping lines. We have five major shipping lines that go through the Port of Tacoma.
Over the last ten years, the city of Tacoma has changed in terms of its diversity. We have large numbers of individuals from Asia who -- and from Russia, who have moved into our community and have become partners in our success. We have a big event each and every year called Ethnic Fest, which is quite an extraordinary event, where we have people from our sister cities participating as well as people who live in the city of Tacoma.
The city of Tacoma has the largest municipally owned telecommunications system in the United States. We provide telecommunications systems to over 250,000 people. We have a number of Superfund sites, cleanup projects, that we are moving forward to address. Our philosophy is, and we share it with Elkhart, and that is the philosophy of collaboration and working through problems rather than litigation and confronting problems.
(Gap in proceedings.)
MAYOR BAARSMA: -- selected, really, because the Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, happened to be visiting, unbeknownst to me, the city of Tacoma, and walked along our waterway, which at one time had been a Superfund site, and was actually awestruck by the International Museum of Glass and the other museums and amenities in our downtown and nominated Tacoma and the region for consideration.
We have close working relationships with the port, which is a separate government. We have close working relationships with the county. We are a participant in an organization called the Pierce County Regional Council, which includes all 23 municipal corporations or cities within Pierce County, which we work closely together in terms of land use issues.
Collaboration and working together are important elements in our city. We also have neighborhood councils, active neighborhood councils that -- groups of citizens who work together to shape and form and develop a vision for their neighborhoods. And we're a city on the move. We're very excited to be honored. And we're very pleased and honored to be here with Elkhart and the other cities to be honored here today.
MAYOR MILLER: Well, thank you, David, for inviting Bill and I to join you this afternoon. And it's a privilege for Elkhart, Indiana, to be represented here.
I think that most of the product that comes through the port at Tacoma probably passes through the railroads of Elkhart. Elkhart, Indiana, for those of you who may not be familiar with it, is in the very center of the state of Indiana, though at the very northern edge, and just a few miles to the east of Notre Dame University, and maybe 100 miles to the east of Chicago.
So we're a beltway, right on a beltway receiving a lot of product through our community on one of the busiest freight rail corridors in the world. But that wasn't exactly why they chose to name Elkhart a most livable city, but instead looked at where is our community going and let -- Elkhart, like every other community in the nation, is facing considerable challenges.
Many of those challenges come from overseas, as we've had to reshape our manufacturing bases to compete. And though we may not be able to compete on the weighed scales, we have to compete with technology and infrastructure to make it -- enable for us to keep our Americans working.
So we work very hard to find ways to keep our communities attractive and businesses vibrant. And part of the way you do that is you have to recast what your community used to be into what it can become. And so we've worked on our downtown. We've worked on building a riverwalk and a riverwalk commons, which is essentially a central park area.
Europe is famous for central parks and they have them all over the place. We have two sister cities that we're officially aligned with, one in Kurdzhali, Bulgaria, and the other in East Staffordshire, England, a town called Burton upon Trent. And so I've had the privilege of joining those mayors and they come for our festival, jazz festival, that we host every year in our town.
But as we experience our international relationships, we learn better how the world works and gain ideas from other communities. It's always fascinating for me to stay in a hotel that's older than our whole country, which is about true for every building in -- outside the United States. But the wonderful people that have grown up in those communities, many of them live in our communities, too. And we have a strong Latino population, as well as an African American population, and about 36 other languages are spoken in our public schools.
So as we attempt to make Elkhart a home for all those different nationalities and languages and cultures, we find a way to bring the people together around the things that everybody likes. And they like to have a place that's suitable for their families to grow up and for their businesses to prosper.
So I know I speak for the Mayor of Tacoma that we do everything we can to take away the barriers from those people so that they can enjoy a successful life here.
MR. BALLARD: Okay, thanks very much, and now we'll open the floor to any questions. Why don't you all go ahead and call on people or, if you'd like, I can.
MAYOR BAARSMA: You can.
MR. BALLARD: Okay. Let's start. Anybody have a question? In the back, sir.
Oh, would you please state your name and your media affiliation when you ask the question?
QUESTION: Sure. Frank Coller from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Can you talk about to what extent both of you are using smart growth approaches to dealing with -- I would assume both your communities are rapidly growing in population and encroaching on what's left of the urban -- or rather, rural environment around you. Can you talk about how you guys are dealing with that or using those ideas?
MAYOR BAARSMA: Very good. I guess maybe I can take a crack at it.
QUESTION: Sure. The State of Washington has what is called a Growth Management Act, which essentially requires each of our communities to engage in smart growth. And, you know, we have attempted to do that through densification. Obviously, the issue of sprawl is one of -- is of concern. Transportation is of concern. We have invested heavily in sound transit to move people off the highways and onto public transit, which is an important element of, I think, smart growth.
I mentioned the Pierce County Regional Council, which is a group of local governments that meet on a regular basis to develop land use strategies and plans that focus on smart growth and sustainable growth.
We are embarking in Tacoma in the largest residential redevelopment project in the city's history, and it is through a Hope VI federal grant to transform a public housing area in Tacoma of homes that were built temporarily during the Second World War and to transform over 200 acres of residential properties into mixed use, focusing on sustainable growth principles in so doing.
So we're very much committed to that. And along with smart growth, of course, comes environmental cleanup and smart environmental cleanup. And as I indicated early on, we have a number of Superfund sites that we are concerned with and working on. The City of Tacoma, for example, purchased a 27-acre Superfund site, literally purchased that Superfund site, took on the liability of cleaning it up, and we are in the midst of a $90 million cleanup.
But, as a result of that, we've generated about $200 million of private sector investment along the waterway in so doing.
So, like I say, we're very much -- very much committed to it, very concerned about sprawl and gridlock on our highways, and the issues related to sustainable development and growth, as you suggested.
So, good question.
MR. BALLARD: Mayor Miller, do you have --
MAYOR MILLER: Elkhart grew about 25 percent since the last census, just over 10 years, so we're experiencing some of the same pressures that I'm sure Tacoma and a lot of other communities are. Elkhart has an exceedingly strong manufacturing base. We're an entrepreneurial community and people have taken their ideas from their garages and built whole empires around them, which is -- it's unlike any place I've ever been to see that type of transition happen.
But those new businesses attract new workers and we've got to find a place for them to live. And so we have to work and partner with our adjoining jurisdictional governments to be sure that the things that happen are, as your term, smart. And sometimes they aren't, unfortunately, because things will happen outside of the control of one community or another.
And so we are working on creating agreements with our adjoining municipalities and working on overcoming the relationship barriers and the political barriers so as to make it possible for us to do this stuff together, because we're all in this together and that the people who work in one city may live in another and they cross each other's boundaries in order to get to those places.
So we celebrate each other's successes and we're sad when one or the other loses. And in the hopes by trying to build those partnerships we can actually end up with a community that overcomes the challenges that not participating in smart growth would create.
MAYOR BAARSMA: I might just add one real quick footnote. We were able to get through the state legislature -- the City of Tacoma was -- a provision that will allow for a 10-year property tax abatement on any value of a multi -- multi-family development in the center of the city so -- or in mixed use areas that are connected with public transit.
And this has resulted in -- just the most recent -- a $21 million decision on the part of a developer to build townhouses and loft apartments and retail in the center of the city. So that's an inducement or an incentive for greater densification where it should occur within the city's boundaries, and as well, at the same time, maintaining the importance of our single family residential neighborhoods, which is a real balancing act in terms of this question of densification.
MR. BALLARD: Any other questions?
(No response.)
MR. BALLARD: Let me ask a question, if might, based on the subject of elections. Are either of you gentlemen up for reelection this year? And if so, what do you think about that? If not, or in general, if you could characterize your communities' attitudes towards the coming elections, both in terms of what's important in your community, but also what you think aspirations are for the national level.
MAYOR MILLER: Well, I don't have any aspirations for the national level, if that's what your question was. I like living where I live.
But, in fact, I just won my election last November, so I'm beginning my second term as Mayor of the City of Elkhart. And we have partisan elections, where it's Republican or Democrat, that challenges one another.
But at the local level, there is no elected officer, I don't think, that affects people's day-to-day lives more than the mayor. And I have the opportunity to speak to schoolchildren about what goes on in a mayor's life, and all the things that he and I touch on a day-to-day basis, from trash pickup to the condition of streets to police and fire and 911 dispatch services and airports and parks and everything in between, water and sewer, we touch their lives and are responsible for the things that touch their lives probably more than the President, more than senators, more than governors, more than any other elected officer.
So it brings our responsibility right to their front door. And because we live in those folks' neighborhoods, we see them all the time. And they see me at the gas station, at the grocery store. My wife won't take me grocery shopping anymore because she can't get through the store without us being stopped multiple times in the aisle ways, and she can't stand waiting in the car for me to finish my last conversation, so she goes without me.
But those types of things mean that we mayors -- there isn't a Republican or a Democrat way to plow a street or to pick up trash or to respond to a police call or put out a fire. And so the partisan politics that people may see on the national level generally don't exist much, or at least not with the same steam, at the local levels.
And so we have to find ways to work with people to take care of their problems without respect to their party politics.
MAYOR BAARSMA: In the case of the City of Tacoma and most of the Western states, we have what is called nonpartisan elections, so we don't run on the party label. In my case, I was on the city council for eight years, left the council, came back, ran for mayor in 2001, was elected over two very formidable foes, including one -- including Clare Petrich, by the way, who was with us this morning. It was a good friend running against good friends.
And then I'm serving in my first term as mayor. If I decide to run for reelection -- it looks as if I will -- it will be in 2005, I would share the sentiments of the Mayor in that all politics, indeed, is local when it comes to city politics, the rubber hits the roads, and so things that are of immediate concern to citizens are shared. The big issues generally are not. You know, issues relative to picking up the refuse and making sure that the street lights stay on and repairing sidewalks and making sure that police respond appropriately and the fire service responds appropriately, and struggling with the budget and providing those basic services are a part of our charge.
Now, part of my responsibility, too, as the mayor of the second largest city in the State of Washington and the largest -- and the city with the largest container port, is to maintain a good working relationship with our congressional delegation. Now, it turns out they all happen to be Democrats, which is of the other party, but, again, they are all very talented. It's a good mix of talent.
It's interesting that one member of Congress happens to be a constituent of mine, but I'm not a constituent of his because I live in a different congressional district. But I have a good working relationship with our two members of Congress as well as our two U.S. senators. In fact, the brother of one of the -- one of our senators, the senior senator, lives a block away, and so I see him now and again.
So we have to maintain the relationships at the national level and the state -- and the other part of it is the mayors are also advocates of city interests at the state capital, and even though I'm a nonpartisan elected official, I, of course, enter the partisan realm of state politics as well. So there is that interaction. Local government is dependent, to a large degree, on decisions that are made in the capital, hopefully decisions that aren't adverse to the interests of cities as well as decisions that are made in the national capital as well.
So I come back here from time to time to advocate for certain interests as far as they relate to the City of Tacoma.
MR. BALLARD: Okay, let's go to the front row for the next question, and then in the back there next to Barbara.
QUESTION: Deon Lamprecht of Media 24 News based in South Africa.
I'd like to ask you both, if you follow the newspapers and television here in Washington, it's easy to believe that Iraq and terrorism are the only issues in this election year. But what are the important issues for you as city managers and for your voters?
MAYOR BAARSMA: Do you want to go first?
MAYOR MILLER: You may.
MAYOR BAARSMA: Well, let me just say, first off, we have a sister city in South Africa, George.
QUESTION: George?
MAYOR BAARSMA: Yes, and it's a great place. And as a matter of fact, we just sent a delegation there. It's one of our 10 sister cities. And I think the City of Tacoma was the second city to develop a sister city relationship with a free South Africa. We're very proud of that relationship.
Now, I think your question was: Are we kind of tuned in to what happens internationally? Do we read the newspapers? Are we sensitive to events and how they affect --
QUESTION: Sorry, not quite. I was just -- I was saying here in Washington, you know, if you follow the news here, it's easy to believe that Iraq and terrorism are the only real issues in this election. But for you out there, city managers and to your voters out there, you know, outside the beltway, what are the important issues in this year?
MAYOR BAARSMA: Well, we have a strategic plan in the City of Tacoma, and obviously economic development is a part of it. We are strongly working toward a balanced and vibrant economy in the City of Tacoma. Job creation, working closely with the port. So economic development is important.
Now, given that we're a port city, obviously security is of paramount concern, so there is that relationship between economic development and the growth of the port and the threat, the terrorist threat.
The second issue in our strategic plan is to provide a safe, secure and livable environment within our neighborhoods, and this relates back to the smart growth issue that we're very cognizant of and very, very aware of, and to make sure that the infrastructure of our city is provided for.
And our third goal is the goal of government by results. Since our resources are constrained, and in the State of Washington we have what is called citizen-led initiatives which have constrained our tax base, we're going to have to begin to do things smarter and be more effective and more efficient in terms of service delivery. And so we're focusing on government by results, as a result.
So those are the three issues that are part of our strategic plan.
Now, one final comment. We are surrounded by military reservations in the City of Tacoma -- Fort Lewis. In fact, just a few short weeks ago, 3,500 members of the National Guard were assembled in the Tacoma Dome, the 81st Brigade. It was the largest debarkation of National Guard members since the Second World War. So, obviously, we're very concerned about the relationship between the city and the military reservations that surround us and very cognizant of that. And I have a good working relationship with the generals and the leaders of those bases.
Mayor.
MAYOR MILLER: Well, every community in the nation has sent soldiers overseas and therefore knows firsthand from the families that we touch what's going on in Iraq. But terrorism and the strikes against the United States showed us that it can happen here and that they could bring their atrocities to our nation, and therefore it made Tacoma and Elkhart and other communities potential targets.
So we've had to kind of assess the risk and take additional measures just to try to take us off their radar screen, or at least make sure that if they attempt to do something they can't succeed.
And we're a major thoroughfare through rail and truck traffic and a distribution point, so we have to watch those things, too. But the best benefit that Washington can give to communities like ours is to be sure that the national security is intact and that their economic conditions are as strong as possible so that our businesses can survive and thrive in our communities.
And so we go to Washington to address those issues that are important to cities in hopes that whatever things that they're being -- that are considered here will be beneficial at the same time, and the outcome of the election, therefore, will have some impact on our ability to prosper in the future.
MR. BALLARD: Yes, sir, in the back.
QUESTION: Hi, Frank Coller -- sorry -- Frank Coller, again, from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
When you're stationed here in Washington, you do have the sense that the machinery of the government here, at the Federal level, has inexorably moved to do all war, all terrorism, all of the time.
Putting aside the appropriateness of that, and I don't want to get into that question, as you sit in urban environments, to what sense -- extent do you sense that the machinery of the Federal government, to a certain extent, is neglecting the urban environments across the country, simply because it is -- the government here in Washington is spending, broadly defined, so much time on issues of terrorism and international issues, and of course, the war.
What's being neglected, putting aside -- I don't want you to -- I don't want it -- I don't need to draw you into the politics of that. But as you sit, dealing with problems, is the Federal government not doing things that, up until September the 10th, it was probably doing for you and with you?
MAYOR MILLER: Well, our relationship and the city's relationship with Washington has not changed as a result of the terrorists. It is harder to travel now, but that's nationwide, globally even, thanks to Usama bin Laden and his team. They've stolen from everybody who travels and everybody who tries to do business, tens of thousands of dollars and extra wasted lives, waiting in lines and going through security checkpoints that before his atrocities weren't a requirement of our life.
So it certainly has brought a huge economic burden on us, and the economic burden that was imposed because of the insurance catastrophic claims have risen everybody's cost of living in the United States and maybe even overseas as well. But they're not neglecting us or ignoring us. They're focusing their attention where it rightly needs to be focused, on ensuring the safety and tranquility of the United States in general.
We're about doing our business of which takes care of our various communities, and we work with the Federal government where we need to in the overlapping partnerships. But they pretty much let us run the cities, and we let the President run the country.
MAYOR BAARSMA: I am concerned about this particular issue. We've recently done an inventory in the city of Tacoma, as to the basic needs, in terms of our infrastructure. We have about $800 million in needs. Now this includes bridges, roads, sidewalks, lights, and so on. And a portion of what we have been able to accomplish in the past has been through federal assistance in the infrastructure, building a stronger country.
We're also concerned about other funding sources that are important in terms of social and human services. We have gone through a period of what's called evolution, in which the responsibilities of dealing with those that are on the edge of safety -- safety net have fallen to state and local governments. And at the same time, we find ourselves, in the state of Washington, constrained as a result of citizen-led initiatives in terms of our resource space.
So we do have a concern. My feeling in the long run is that if our infrastructure crumbles and we can't rebuild our bridges and maintain our roads, and so on, that it's going to have a long-term economic effect. So I'm concerned about that. I share the concerns of the mayor about terrorism and addressing the issues. Since 9/11, everything has changed, but at the same time, we can't neglect or forget the basic infrastructure of our own country. And --
QUESTION: Just a simple example. Has your relationships with a department like HUD changed, because they don't have as much time because they're off -- I don't know what it would be -- but doing things related to war or security?
MAYOR BAARSMA: Well, yeah. There is, you know, declining resources. We are still very hopeful and our fingers are crossed that the HOPE VI Program will move forward. There is a $34 million authorized grant to kind of jump start that project for the city of Tacoma, and, you know, we're still very hopeful that that will stay in place, and that we will receive that assistance, and that we'll maintain that safety net for those people who need affordable housing, which, by the way, is a very big issue in the city of Tacoma, affordable housing. It's something that we're working very hard.
Now we're going to go to the people of the city and request assistance through a vote of the people to provide a levy to assist us in terms of affordable housing. But, you know, since the 1940s, the Federal government has been committed to the notion of providing funds for safe, sanitary and decent housing for those people in need. That's part of our basic safety net. And if people start falling through the safety net, and if our infrastructure starts to crumble, we're going to be, I think, in the long run in a world of hurt.
MAYOR MILLER: The challenge comes from the fact that, he mentioned it, that there are declining resources. And so our HUD grant has been reduced some. Our ability to receive certain Federal appropriations has been -- has decreased. And I come to Washington asking for assistance, like probably most other mayors, community leaders do, too. And we've been fortunate to receive some, but it's a matter of how do we due with what we have and still move our cities forward, despite the laws of gravity, which bring everything down.
And so it just makes more challenges for we, in local leadership, to figure out how to replace our streets when there is less federal money, and replace our sewers when there is less assistance to do those things. Well, I'm confident, though, in the spirit of America that we'll be able to find a way to do that and still continue to make Tacoma and Elkhart, and all of the other cities livable for the future.
MR. BALLARD: Yes, sir.
QUESTION: Hi, Kaguo Nagana, Yomuri Shimbun in Japan. Let me ask two different questions. One, the presidential election is six months away, but there are a lot of TV ads and many activities, I suppose, are going on in your community, but the full issue, if the election is held today, which -- who do you think will take your -- on this in your own communities, either Mr. Bush or Mr. Kerry?
And two is rather specific. But I'm not sure how strong agriculture is in your community. But do you feel any impact of the fact that Japan has shut down the beef market, U.S. import of beef for -- now for four or five months?
MAYOR BAARSMA: To answer your -- by the way, our sister city in Japan is Kitakyushu.
QUESTION: Oh, yeah?
MAYOR BAARSMA: And I've also visited Hachinohe, Japan, as well. I've been to -- and my daughter-in-law is Japanese. So we have a real connection with Japan.
As far as the city of Tacoma is concerned, the city is pretty strongly democratic, and so I would expect the democratic candidate to carry the city. Right now, the polls show that the Democratic candidate is leading in the state of Washington. But this is a state-by-state election, as we well know. It's not a popular vote election. And so there are many, many months to come before the election is held, and a lot of events will occur between now and then.
But at this point in the state of Washington, from what I understand, the polls are trending toward the Democrat candidate. I might add that the Democrat candidate won the state of Washington four years ago. So that's not to be unexpected.
Now on the other side, this could be a very, very close election for governor with the Republicans nominating -- going to nominate a very strong opponent, and we could have the first Republican governor in some time. It's possible. That could have some affect on the dynamics.
Washington State is very interesting in that at the national level, the state level usually votes Democrat, but at the legislative level, it's a jump ball, the Democrats or Republicans could win either the Senate or the House. It's an interesting state, very unpredictable. But right now, it's trending Democratic.
I'm not sure what impact -- on your second question, I really can't answer that, as to the found impact of the export of beef in Japan through the port of Tacoma. I just don't have those figures. I imagine it's had some affect, but I can't give you specifics on that one.
By the way, Japan happens to be our major trading partner, too, through the port of Tacoma by tonnage.
MAYOR MILLER: Well, I would be a little bit, I'd go out on a limb to speak for the citizens of Elkhart, and probably can't do that. Based upon local elections, it may be a fairly even split, though we tend toward Republican in our community. And so, I would imagine that the Republican candidate will edge out the other candidate.
But aside from the agricultural issue, we're surrounded by agriculture. Indiana is a large agricultural state. We even have agricultural communities that use horses, horse drawn plows and live in homes without electricity, as part of their -- part of their lifestyle. And that's right next door to us. It's a fun place to visit, and you ought to come over there sometime.
But the beef industry, we're not so much into cattle. We raise mostly soy beans and seed corn, those types of -- those types of product in our area, and then it's all exported out. So that hasn't -- I don't know what the impact is on Elkhart.
MR. BALLARD: Okay. If there are no other questions, I would like you all to join me in thanking our two guests who took time from their schedule today to come talk to us. I think it provided an interesting-- and certainly refreshing for this room-- perspective on American life, American communities, and American politics.
So, once again, I'd like to thank Mayor Bill Baarsma and Mayor David Miller for their time. And I know that their words will be useful to those in our embassies overseas, who are seeking to explain this election year and the dynamics of local communities to the countries in which they live, and I hope it was useful to all of you.
Thank you very much.
# # #
