Aldermen Mark Tendam,  Melissa Wynne, Coleen Burrus and Jane Grover have been in Washington Monday and Tuesday attending the Congressional City Conference of the National League of Cities (NLC).  The conference bring Mayors and City Councilmembers from around the USA together to hear from Federal officials on major issues in the Congress, updates on general issues facing cities and allows local councilmembers to lobby their legislators.

The big issue in Washington this week has been health care reform.  Everyone is talking about if it will come to a vote in the House of Representatives and if so, when.  In addition, city leaders from around the USA are also talking about new legislation to create jobs and additional incentives for economic development. 

In addition to these issues, various committees and task forces of the NLC.  I attended a meeting yesterday of a caucus of city officials with colleges or universities in their community.  An official from Riverside, California spoke of their work with several local colleges and universities.  The major message there was the importance of good personal relationships between city and university leaders.

Today the Aldermen and I went to Capitol Hill to visit Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky to lobby her on our current list of capital project needs.  Water main improvements were at the top of the list.  However, we had a small problem.  Four or more Aldermen together talking city business outside of a noticed public meeting is prohibited under Illinois law.  So after exchanging hellos and taking the photo above, Alderman Jane Grover excused herself from the meeting to allow Aldermen Wynne, Burrus and Tendam to lobby the Congresswoman on the critical need for our water infrastructure request.   The conference ends this afternoon.