Councilors Jenni Tan & Thomas Frank joined more than 1,500 local elected officials and city leaders at the National League of Cities’ Congressional City Conference in Washington. The five-day conference is the nation’s largest gathering of city officials focused on advocating city priorities with members of Congress, the White House and federal agencies looking for solutions to addressing the nation’s most pressing challenges.
Councilors Frank and Tan participated in Capitol Hill visits, workshops, National League of Cities University, and general sessions designed to connect cities to Capitol Hill and build skills to better govern, serve and advocate for West Linn and cities across America.
“There are many different issues that effect our City. This conference gave us the opportunity to be part of the national dialog and advocate for our residents and City’s priorities” – Councilor Frank
“It was helpful to discuss solutions with other Cities, as well as to advocate on important issues to West Linn.” – Councilor Tan
The conference featured several important announcements, including the creation of the “Homeless Veterans Leadership Network,” which challenges cities to end veteran homelessness in their communities in 2015.
Featured speakers at the conference included:
- U.S. Education Sec. Arne Duncan
- U.S. Sec. of HUD Shaun Donovan
- US. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx
- EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy
- U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman
- Gov. Ed Rendell, former Governor of Pa.
- Dr. Freeman Hrabrowski, president, University of Maryland Baltimore County
- Gwen Ifill, PBS Newshour
- Michael Kercheval, president and CEO of International Council of Shopping Centers
The National League of Cities (NLC) is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans.
