SDWP CEO Peter Callstrom attended the 82nd Annual Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) in Dallas last month. A broad range of issues were addressed, including the economic health of the nation’s cities, the minimum wage, immigration, early childhood education and school governance, municipal bonds, energy efficiency, transportation and infrastructure investment, housing, help for returning veterans, and the intersection among sports, race and politics in America.
The USCM is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are nearly 1,400 such cities in the country today, and each city is represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the mayor. In 1977 the USCM established the Workforce Development Council (WDC), a forum for mayors and their employment and training administrators to examine workforce development issues and to strengthen the ability of cities to meet the needs of their citizens, particularly economically disadvantaged individuals, those with serious skill deficiencies, dislocated workers and others with special barriers to employment, including youth.
Callstrom represented the San Diego region at the WDC annual meeting, which was held in conjunction with the USCM conference. Topics included community college partnerships, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) update, apprenticeships and workforce system best practices.
“The WDC is an invaluable group of leaders in workforce development throughout the nation,” Callstrom said. “Learning from others, networking and sharing best practices leads to new opportunities for job seekers and employers in our region.”
USCM President Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson consistently reminded mayors that in order to keep up in the modern era, they must be innovative. “If cities are going to drive the revitalization of this nation, then we need to become the laboratories and incubators of change,” he said. “We must be the engines driving the local and national economy. We have to have a resilient economy, able to weather the storms of recessions and depressions. We accomplish this by adopting an aggressive, pro-growth agenda comprised of new ways of thinking about infrastructure investment, sustainability, income-inequality, trade and education.”