Integration, Education, Capitalization Make Mayors' Housing Agenda

WASHINGTON, DC-An assault on Capitol Hill occurred yesterday as members of the US Conference of Mayors presented to Congress their program of housing needs. The 54 initiatives, crafted as part of the Conference’s National Housing Forum, focused on five key areas and included such points as a call for $250 million to modernize special-needs housing for seniors and HIV/AIDS patients. Also part of the package was the need for exit-tax relief for owners wishing to sell their affordable housing assets. The relief would come to those who sold to entities that maintain the properties’ affordable status. Congressional members on hand to receive the mayoral delegation included Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-VT).

Virtually all participants in the Tuesday preparatory sessions–when the initiatives were drafted–praised newly elected Conference president Tom Menino (Boston’s mayor), for pulling the session together on such short notice. He took the lead post in the organization only two weeks prior.

But GlobeSt.com asked Menino what he had planned in order to keep the momentum going once the proposals were out of his hands and on the sometimes slow-to-respond Congressional agenda. “Now we start an intensive lobbying effort,” he responded. “These proposals may not see the light of day for weeks or months or even sometime next year. It’s our intent to keep these issues on the front burner.”