by Lesley-Ann Rennie and Cathy Spain

As part of the National Small Cities and Towns Day on June 10, Greenbelt and College Park, Md., were welcomed as new members of the Partnership for Working Toward Inclusive Communities ? the initiative set by NLC President Jim Hunt, councilmember of Clarksburg, W.Va.

The small cities and towns celebration, an annual event sponsored by NLC?s Small Cities Council (SCC) ? a member-networking group for officials from cities with populations less than 50,000 ? took place in Greenbelt. The city was also the same venue for this year?s SCC steering committee summer meeting, which took place June 8-10. Greenbelt Councilmember Ed Putens, chair of the SCC, hosted both events.

During the celebration, Hunt talked about his inclusive communities agenda.

?Cities that are becoming more inclusive are the ones that are succeeding,? Hunt said. ?Here in Greenbelt, the words ?We the People? are inscribed on this beautiful community center. It doesn?t say we the white people or we the black people, it says ?we? ? all the people together.?

Hunt added that ?Cities that join the inclusive communities partnership must not only be willing to pass proclamations, they must be willing to do something toward building inclusiveness.? Hunt asked those in attendance to ?join arms with those communities around us and bring them into the inclusive communities project.?

Putens told the crowd that gathered for the ceremony about the partnership that Greenbelt and three other neighboring communities have formed the ?4 Cities Coalition.? The Maryland cities ? Greenbelt, College Park, New Carrollton and Berwyn Heights ? meet regularly and work in an inclusive fashion to solve local problems. Putens noted that they are particularly proud of their joint purchase of a street sweeper, which has benefited all of the coalition partners.

Mayor Judith Davis of Greenbelt said, ?We have more power with four; we can talk together to work out issues before they get too far along.? Mayor Stephen A. Brayman of College Park and Mayor Andrew Hanko of New Carrollton also praised the work of the coalition.

During a half-day meeting leading up to the National Small Cities and Towns Day celebration, SCC steering committee members tackled some challenging issues including promoting economic vitality in small cities, the role municipal officials should play in improving educational outcomes, the development of community preparedness programs and how to encourage the participation of small cities in NLC.

An important outcome of the meeting was the group?s decision to expand the size of SCC by opening up membership to at-large members. Presently, there is a limit of two members per state appointed by state league directors.

At the request of the NLC Advisory Council, SCC leaders sought to identify ways that their communities can promote economic vitality and respond to the impacts of globalization and shifts in the economy from a manufacturing economy to a service economy to a knowledge economy.

William Dodge, a consultant specializing in regional cooperation, facilitated the discussion during which committee members outlined possible strategies related to education, citizen engagement, workforce development and other topics. A written report will be submitted to the Advisory Council.

A demonstration was given on Community Emergency Responsiveness Training (CERT), a process three small Maryland cities have used to establish community preparedness programs including training for citizens and citizen volunteers who give critical support to local agencies. CERT members are trained to respond in emergencies when no other first responders are on site.

A highlight of the meeting was the sharing of best practices: Rod Hardin, councilor, Hermiston, Ore., talked about the transformation of his city into a high-performance organization; Margaret Finlay, councilmember, Duarte, Calif., showcased her city?s Student Internship Program for high school students; and William Bo Perkinson, vice mayor, Athens, Tenn., described a new Park Exercise Really Keeps You in Shape (P.E.R.K.S.) program that is designed to promote health and wellness in his city.

As a councilmember of a small town, Hunt connected with the crowd in Greenbelt on a personal level as the small cities meeting and festivities came to an end.

He said that, ?Small cities are under attack in many ways, particularly as our budgets get tight. But we seem to have the formula to make things happen.?

?Many of the large city mayors are successful because they are able to connect with their communities like we do in small cities,? he observed. ?Small cities are successful because they are all about connecting person-to-person and solving problems on the street.?

Small Cities Council Endorses Strong Families Platform

by Michael Karpman

Signifying the vital role that cities of all sizes play in helping children and families thrive, the Small Cities Council (SCC) steering committee has endorsed NLC?s ?City Platform for Strengthening Families and Improving Outcomes for Children and Youth.?

The committee encouraged other small cities to formally adopt the platform, as five members represented on the Small Cities Council ? Brighton, Colo., Duarte, Calif., Hastings, Neb., Ottawa, Kan., and Tualatin, Ore. ? have already done, mainly via city council resolution and mayoral proclamation.

The endorsement took place earlier this month at the SCC Steering Committee Summer Meeting in Greenbelt, Md., after a presentation by Tualatin Mayor Lou Ogden, who is both a steering committee member, as well as vice chair of NLC?s Council on Youth, Education, and Families (YEF Council).

Ogden admitted he was at first reluctant to bring the platform before his own city council out of concern for the city?s already stretched fiscal and staff capacity. However, according to Mayor Ogden, the platform can serve as a framework for assessing progress that a city has already made, and to identify further opportunities.

When presented as a tool to help guide efforts on behalf of children and families rather than a list of new programs to create, the platform was enthusiastically adopted by the Tualatin city council.

SCC steering committee members recognized its potential to help guide their cities? initiatives as well.

?I wish to thank the SCC steering committee for endorsing the platform and for their interest to promote it among the small city members of the National League of Cities,? said Mayor Ogden.

The platform, developed by the YEF Council and endorsed by the NLC Board of Directors last year, urges communities nationwide to create the ?essential infrastructure? that will help strengthen families and promote sustained progress over time and offers concrete steps that can be taken by cities of any size.

?The platform clearly is a useful tool for cities of all sizes, and it is exciting to see cities across the country adopt the platform as a working document in assisting their efforts to support children and families in their communities,? said Ogden.

Details: For more information on the platform, visit www.nlc.org/iyef or contact Michael Karpman at (202) 626-3072 or karpman@nlc.org.