Advisory Council calls for leadership on economy.

"Right now in tiffs country, the kind of leadership we need to address our economic challenges is in short supply," said Advisory Council Chair Bruce Tobey, council president, Gloucester, Mass. Tobey spoke as the members of the NLC Advisory Council gathered in Boston last week to refine themes and plans for the group's Future of Cities and the Nation initiative.

After two days of back-and-forth with prominent experts on the economy and democratic governance, the Advisory Council affirmed plans to issue a "call-to-action" this fall to political leaders at all levels. The focus of the council's appeal on behalf of NLC and the nation's municipal leaders: the need for new approaches to leadership and governance to strengthen local and regional economies. Tobey continued in his opening remarks, "We need a shared understanding of what is happening in the economy and a shared commitment to fixing our political and intergovernmental systems so we can build a better future for our communities and the nation."

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino keynoted the meeting with a stimulating call for visionary action by local officials. He applauded NLC's efforts to think longer-term and deeper on current issues and to focus attention on leadership roles on key issues. He chronicled examples of efforts in Boston around housing, education and work force development

To help them get a better sense of today's economic challenges and what they mean for dries and towns, Advisory Council members heard from Edward W. (Ned) Hill, vice president for economic development, Cleveland State University.

"The world is not flat, it's small," Hill said, citing the title of New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman's bestselling book. He added that the job of local elected officials as they try and steer their communities to economic success in today's global economy is to "create something unique." Ensuring a high quality-of-life is crucial, but cities also need to encourage a culture of entrepreneurship and opportunity, which will allow them to continually "reload" their economies as markets and industries change.

"Leadership is an economic variable," Hill told the Advisory Council, pointing out how elected leaders in cities such as Charlotte, N.C., and Seattle changed the economic and political dynamics in their cities for decades. Hill added that the strongest city leaders tend to promote an optimistic "transforming vision" of their cities and towns, changing how they are perceived by residents and outsiders alike and harnessing the support of individuals and institutions that can act as catalysts for the community's economic success.

Taking Hill's comments a step further was Barry Bluestone, dean of the School of Social Science, Urban Affairs and Public Policy at Northeastern University. Bluestone argued that local elected officials are the "key actors" in economic development in today's global economy. "The economic development of your community and the nation's economic destiny are a function of what you do," he told the Advisory Council members.

Citing the results of a survey of 230 corporate location specialists, Bluestone listed some of the key "deal makers" and "deal breakers" that influence business decisions Among the key "deal breakers" that require the leadership of local elected officials to resolve are "out-of-date cognitive maps"--negative perceptions of a city or region that persist despite recent changes that make it a good place to live and work and locate a business. Another deal breaker: "site deficiencies" that add to the costs of doing business in a specific city or town. These include a lack of transportation or parking, an inappropriate labor force and onerous permitting processes.

"All of these are things you can change in your capacity as local elected leaders," Bluestone said. "What you want to do is minimize your deal breakers and maximize your deal makers."

In addition to the discussions about the economy, the Advisory Council heard from two experts on democratic governance. Carolyn Lukensmeyer, founder and president of America Speaks, set out to debunk the conventional wisdom that Americans are unwilling to support large-scale policy changes in areas from health care and education funding to climate change. Building public will for change, she said, requires elected officials to create engagement processes that involve a broad cross-section of residents

"People, in the end, are willing to put their money where their mouths are," Lukensmeyer said. She added that the onus is on local elected officials and other leaders to restore public trust by making certain that residents' tax dollars are used effectively to achieve a common set of goals.

Stuart Comstock-Gay, director of the Democracy Program at Demos, warned that elected leaders at all levels should discourage a "vending machine" view of government among residents A better approach, he said, is to emphasize the "public structures" that are needed to allow individuals and communities to thrive. Comstock-Gay applauded the Advisory Council's emphasis on restoring a common-good framework to discussions of the economy and other issues

"We need to rebuild the social contract and restore people's faith and confidence in government as an agent for collective stewardship of our communities," he said.

Charleta Tavares, council member, Columbus, Ohio, and Stan Finkelstein, executive director, Association of Washington Cities, serve as vice chairs of the Advisory Council.

The Advisory Council's discussions in Boston built on the group's recent "futuring" work identifying key trends and changes affecting America's cities and towns today and in the years to come. In the fall, the Advisory Council will be issuing its first report under the "Future of Cities and the Nation" initiative. The report will call on political leaders at all levels to embrace new leadership and governance strategies as they work together to promote economic vitality for cities and the nation.