US Mayor Magazine Articles_BuolMayors Explore Opportunities for Cities to Work Smarter
Using Technology
By Jim Welley
After celebrating its 100 year anni-
versary, IBM sponsored Building a
Smarter City Through Leadership and
Information, a forum at the 79th Annu-
al Conference of Mayors that brought
mayors together to discuss how they can
lead "Smarter Cities" through the strate-
gic use of technology.
"Being smarter about how we pro-
vide services to our citizens and how we
spend their taxpayer dollars is no longer
a lofty objective," said Baltimore Mayor
Stephanie - Rawlings Blake, moderator
for the forum. "It's an absolute necessity
for all of us as mayors."
Washington (DC) Mayor Vincent C.
Gray, St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay
and Dubuque Mayor Roy D. Buol joined
IBM Industry Solutions Software Vice
President Chris O'Connor as panelists for
the forum. The mayors each described
what they believe a "Smarter City" is,
what they are doing in their city to help
make it work smarter, and some of the
challenges they face when implementing
new technology -based initiatives.
Gray believes a "Smarter City" is a
city where "...we capture more informa-
tion than we otherwise would, connect it
to what citizens want and measure and
show the results in an efficient way."
Gray then illustrated how technology
is making an impact on his city and help-
ing DC become smarter. By streamlining
small business processes, closing the
digital divide and working with IBM to
track and preclude water infrastructure
issues, the city is harnessing technology
Leff to right, St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay, Washington (DC) Mayor
Vincent C. Gray, forum moderator Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings -
Blake, Dubuque Mayor Roy D. Buol, and IBM Industry Solutions Software
Vice President Chris O'Connor.
to save resources and provide services
under challenging conditions. The mayor
explained that the city faced a $322 mil-
lion budget deficit yet is unable to tax
50 -60 percent of its property, runs its
own $2 billion Medicaid program and its
budget must be approved by Congress.
"I say all this because working harder
is probably not the answer in our situa-
tion," he said. "Working smarter is."
In Dubuque, Buol detailed how a
partnership with IBM has allowed the city
to maintain its focus on sustainability by
creating a system that allows citizens to
monitor their water usage using real time
data. Since implementing the system,
there has been an eight -fold increase in
water leaks found while the citizens have
cut water use by 6.6 percent, all equat-
ing to a savings of 65 million gallons of
water per year. Buol credits the data for
changing citizen behavior.
"The value [of the data] to citizens is
obvious," said Buol. "It changed how
they used energy and resources. Further,
this is generational planning, as their
children will learn to conserve the same
way. We are now focusing on electricity
and are looking for big ways to save."
Slay reports that, in St. Louis, a small
number of people are committing a dis-
proportionate number of crimes. To help
track these individuals, the mayor part-
nered with IBM to create a system that
is coordinating the appropriate jurisdic-
tions, law enforcement organizations
and personnel to create a collective plan
and catch repeat offenders.
"Many people work in silos, so it is
difficult getting everyone at the table to
tackle an overall objective," said Slay.
"But, generally, more and more technol-
ogy is a tool to finding solutions to very
challenging issues we have in our cities,
particularly with tighter budgets."
O'Connor believes overcoming these
obstacles begins with the leadership of
our nation's mayors. "Most successful
harmonization of technology and con-
stituent value is the result of passion of
leadership," said O'Connor. "It trans-
lates through to wanting change and
taking advantage of technology."
The forum also touched on social
media, with the panelists agreeing that
it is an essential component of future
policy making.
"We are more accessible to people
than we've ever been before," said Slay.
"We mayors today communicate with
more people in a given day than all our
predecessors put together."
Added Gray, social media will play "a
vital, inherent role" in the future of gover-
nance, with the evolution of the workforce
helping to ensure it will happen.
"Some nod in room [when discussing
technology] then go back and do what
they were doing before," he said. "But
evolution will change this. Young people
use technology like a pencil or pen."
Republican Mayors and Local
Officials (RMLO)
Republican Mayors and Local Officials President Oklahoma City
Mayor Mick Cornett, center, is joined by his fellow Republican may-
ors during their meeting in Baltimore on June 19.
Page 24 U.S. MAYOR
usmayors.org
July 4, 2011
Houston, Evanston Win 2011 Mayors
Climate Protection Awards
By Kevin McCarty
Houston Mayor Annise Parker and
Evanston (IL) Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl
were honored June 17 during the the
opening plenary session of the Confer-
ence's 79th Annual Meeting in Balti-
more, winning this year's Mayors Cli-
mate Protection Awards in their respec-
tive population categories.
In praising the mayors, Conference
of Mayors President Burnsville (MN)
Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz said, "Parker's
efforts to improve the efficiency of the
city's building stock, both city -owned
and privately- owned, is a very broad
and bold undertaking, one that will sub-
stantially reduce energy use and associ-
ated carbon emissions. Under Tisdahl's
leadership, the city has embraced an
ambitious plan to reduce carbon emis-
sions in city operations by 13 percent
by 2013. Both mayors are showing that
both leadership and results matter."
Evanston Mayor Cites
Mayoral Leadership
"Our citizens do insist on a greener
Evanston, and that is what we are trying
to give them," Tisdahl said.
"It [the award] affirmed our work in
Evanston and by mayors throughout
the nation to reduce our carbon foot-
print. One thousand and 53 mayors
have signed the Mayors Climate Protec-
tion Agreement. Mayors are not wait-
ing for the federal government to solve
this problem for us. Mayors have given
national and international leadership on
this issue, and I am proud to be one of
the 1,053 mayors," she said in accept-
ing the first place award for cities under
100,000 in population.
Evanston Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl.
"I believe it was Mayor Finch who
said this [climate protection] is a 'long
fight.' This award and all the awards you
give in the future are important because
this is a long fight," said Tisdahl said in
concluding her remarks.
In accepting the large city award on
behalf of Parker, Houston Sustainability
Director Laura Spanjian cited the leader-
ship of mayors and their cities on climate
protection. "Cities are where the innova-
tion is happening, where the initiatives
are happening, and where we are being
cutting edge."
"For Houston, we are focused on
reducing greenhouse gas emissions in as
many ways as we possibly can, whether
it is our green building program or ener-
gy efficiency program, our electric vehi-
cle readiness program, our urban gar-
dening and farm market program, our
renewables program, or our recycling
and composting program. Everything
we do is about reducing our greenhouse
gas emissions," Spanjian said.
At the special luncheon session, Kautz
thanked Walmart for its sponsorship of
the annual awards program, which is
now in its fifth year, adding that "this
program honors mayors for exemplary
local leadership, commitment, and inno-
vation on climate protection."
Joining with Kautz for the session was
Walmart Public Affairs and Government
Relations Vice President Maggie Sans,
who praised the awards program and
her company's collaboration with may-
ors on climate protection. "We are proud
of the partnership with the Conference
of Mayors and look forward to driv-
ing our partnership together. It [awards
program] celebrates just one example of
how mayors are leading and innovating
on one of the most important issues we
face. Like you, we are focused on envi-
ronmental sustainability."
In her remarks, Sans talked about
the community of Walmart and how the
company and mayors can work togeth-
er to have an impact in communities.
In addition to the first place winners,
Honorable Mention Awards were pre-
sented to mayors in five large cities and
five small cities.
Large cities receiving these awards
were: Fresno (CA) Mayor Ashley
Swearengin, New Haven (CT) Mayor
John DeStefano, Jr., Orlando (FL) Mayor
Buddy Dyer, Conference of Mayors Sec-
ond Vice President Philadelphia Mayor
Michael A. Nutter, and San Juan, (PR)
Mayor Jorge Santini. Small city award -
ees were: Chapel Hill (NC) Mayor Mark
Kleinschmidt, Dubuque (IA) Mayor
Roy D. Buol, Eden Prairie (MN) Mayor
Nancy Tyra- Lukens, New Bedford (MA)
Mayor Scott W. Lang, and Wilmington
(DE) Mayor James M. Baker.
Left to right, USCM CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran, Houston
Sustainability Director Laura Spanjian, USCM President Burnsville (MN)
Mayor Elizabeth B. Kautz, and Walmart Public Affairs and Government
Relations Vice President Maggie Sans.
SEBELIUS
from page 17
Sebelius. The new law extends health
care coverage to 34 million previously
uninsured Americans and "no one will
benefit more than cities" from this his-
toric legislation said Sebelius. "Not only
will this allow many of your constituents
to finally get the care they need, but it
will dramatically reduce the amount of
free care that city and county hospitals
provide to the uninsured and underin-
sured," said Sebelius. The new law is
expected to cut uncompensated care
costs by two thirds in many hospitals
across the country. The Affordable Care
Act also provides historic investment
July 4, 2011
in primary care through expansion of
the National Health Service Corps and
through investments to community health
centers across the country.
Investing in primary care was another
focus of Sebelius address to the mayors.
As many as one in three Americans who
end up in a hospital are harmed by
their care according to a recent survey.
Sebelius highlighted the Department of
Health and Human Services' partnership
with employers, health plans, doctors,
nurses, local health agencies and more
than 1,500 hospitals across the coun-
try to form the Partnership for Patients,
an alliance that's set concrete goals for
reducing medical errors over the next
three years. "If we achieve those goals,
we'll save up to 60,000 lives in the next
usmayors.org
three years and reduce Medicare costs
by up to $50 billion over the next ten,
with billions more in savings across our
health care system," said Sebelius.
In stressing the importance of preven-
tion, Sebelius applauded the mayors for
being national leaders in developing
creative approaches for promoting bet-
ter health. Citing many local examples
the Secretary recognized that mayors
are making the difference one commu-
nity at a time.
Sebelius concluded her address by
cautioning mayors about the many pro-
posals floating through Congress aimed
at cutting costs and the expense of ser-
vices. "For example, some in Congress
have proposed turning Medicaid into
a block grant and cutting $770 billion
from the program over ten years." As a
point of perspective, the Secretary aptly
pointed out "...that with such significant
cuts, states would have no choice but to
reduce benefits or kick people out of the
program or both. But these people will
still need to get care. The only difference
will be that when they show up at your
hospitals and emergency rooms, you'll
be the ones paying for it." "As mayors,
the buck stops with you. If we simply cut
costs without doing anything to improve
care, you'll see the consequences in your
schools, your workplaces, your neigh-
borhoods, and your hospital budgets,"
concluded Sebelius.
U.S. MAYOR Page 21