Merced, Atwater mayors scheduled to attend White House meeting this week
Mayor Mike Murphy of Merced and Mayor Paul Creighton of Atwater are in Washington D.C. this week representing their cities for the annual United States Conference of Mayors winter meeting, which kicked off Wednesday.
This year is distinguished by a highly anticipated meeting set to conclude the conference.
An invitation by President Donald Trump to visit the White House on Friday wraps up the jam-packed three day agenda.
Mayors are invited to a three hour discussion of “Transforming America’s Communities.” Trump is expected to attend the meeting.
Senior administration officials and cabinet secretaries are anticipated to be present as well.
While this is Murphy’s fourth time at the conference, it is his first to feature an invite by the president.
“It’s a really great opportunity for me as the mayor of Merced to learn best practices from other mayors, to share some of the things we’re doing in the city and also to get the latest from policy makers in D.C in terms of where policy direction is heading,” Murphy said.
The meeting is the first for Creighton, who was contacted by the conference’s CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran.
“It takes skill and collaboration to make a positive community,” Creighton said. “There’s so much positive energy here.”
Nearly 300 mayors from cities with 30,000 or more residents are attending alongside other government officials. Democratic presidential candidate Mike Bloomberg gave remarks Wednesday, and Pete Buttigieg is scheduled to speak Thursday.
Main issues for local mayors
Homelessness and housing are at the forefront for both mayors, as they advocate for their cities this week.
“Certainly within our conference meetings, homelessness and housing are important topics,” Murphy said. Sessions on reduction of garbage rates and economic development are highlights as well, he said.
“Every year has been just a wealth of information, in terms of understanding what other cities are doing,” Murphy said.
Creighton echoed Murphy’s sentiments, saying networking with other mayors has been valuable.
“I’m collaborating with other mayors who’ve been struggling with homelessness on a much larger scale, and getting some pointers from them,” Creighton said. This includes issues of trespassing, homeless encampments, litter and environmental impact.
Creighton said meeting face-to-face with staff to seek federal funding opportunities for homelessness in Atwater is a goal of his.
Creighton also cited securing infrastructure funding for Atwater’s roads and water system as a main reason for his attending the conference. “There’s gotta be some modernization of our infrastructure,” he said.
Creighton said he met with representatives from the 2020 U.S Census as well. He emphasized the importance of an accurate count, which will determine the federal funding Atwater receives.
