Fattah: Cities won't be forgotten by Obama

Although President-elect Ba-rack Obama didn't mention aid to cities in his economic address yesterday, local leaders say that Philadelphia shouldn't panic.

Mayor Nutter, who traveled to George Mason University in Virginia to hear the speech at the invitation of Obama's transition team, said that during a briefing before the address, an Obama staffer said that they were working on direct support to cities.

Nutter said that he'd continue to argue that the best way to create new jobs is "primarily by investing in cities."

During his economic address, Obama outlined an ambitious list of goals - creating jobs, increasing production of alternative energy, putting computers in schools and investing in infrastructure projects.

But he was vague on how, specifically, he would deliver the money - estimated to be more than $800 billion in tax cuts and spending - and where it would go.

Obama did promise aid to states, saying that "government at every level will have to tighten its belt, but we'll help struggling states avoid harmful budget cuts, as long as they take responsibility and use the money to maintain essential services like police, fire, education and health care."

Above all, Obama urged Congress to move swiftly on the plan, which Nutter applauded.

"The president-elect clearly laid out a case for a sense of urgency," Nutter said. "This is a dire circumstance and is going to get worse."

Nutter, who is wrestling with a more than $1 billion budget deficit, has lobbied for cities to be included in Obama's stimulus package. Many mayors fear that if all the stimulus funding goes to state governments, they may not see much locally.

Last month, Nutter traveled to Chicago with other mayors to meet with Obama's transition team to talk about urban funding. And Nutter has submitted a "wish list" of $2.6 billion in local infrastructure projects as part of a U.S. Conference of Mayors appeal for funding.

U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah said that he was confident that Obama would support cities, noting Obama's pledge to create an office of urban policy in the White House.

"I do think that he has an affinity to the challenges facing cities," said Fattah. "I was with the president-elect when we went to Miami to speak to the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He laid out his urban agenda and his desire to work with mayors."

Fattah also said that stimulus funding will likely come through grant programs that typically aid cities, like the Community Development Block Grant program.

"In the Community Development Block Grant, these are dollars going to local government," Fattah said.

Of course, Fattah noted, these are tough times for people across the country.

"The problem is the storm clouds are gathering over cities, suburbs and rural areas alike," Fattah said. *