On February 3, 4 and 5, I represented the City of Richmond at the 16th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference put on by the Local Government Commission in Saint Louis, MO. I have been a board member of the Local Government Commission for over a dozen years and served as chair for three years. I moderated a session on February 3 called “Silo-Busters; Promise Initiatives for Community Health and Economic Vitality” that featured presentations on Promise Programs form Kalamazoo, MI, Long Beach, CA and Richmond. Jessie Stewart, executive director of the Richmond Promise, organized the session and presented Richmond’s program. Also presenting was Bob Jorth, executive director of Kalamazoo Promise, Terri Carbaugh, associate vice-president of government and media relations of CSU Long Beach, and Angela Cammack, senior policy advisor, Civic Nation, College Promise Program.

These annual New Partners conferences are great opportunities to network with local elected officials from around the country, find out what is working in other cities and hear presentations from experts in many fields. I also took a field trip to East Saint Louis that was an eye-opener, making any of Richmond’s challenges pale in comparison. East Saint Louis went from a population of over 80,000 with a vibrant economy in 1960 to a shell of its former self with a population of under 30,000 today and the highest murder rate in America. “The strangest and most abandoned downtown in America.”

At the conference, there were great sessions on housing, use of data by cities, autonomous vehicles, marketing, promoting entrepreneurship in underserved communities and vibrant waterfronts.