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Barack Obama, President of the United States The U.S. Small Business Administration Nominated
Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States Administrator Karen Gordon Mills
Rahm Emanuel, Chief of Staff to the President Senator Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader
Mona Sutphen, Deputy White House Chief of Staff Senator Roland W. Burris
Valerie B. Jarrett , Senior Advisor and Assistant to the Senator George Voinovich
President for Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison Senator Sherrod Brown
David Axelrod, Senior Advisor to the President Senator Daniel K. Inouye
Melody C. Barnes, Domestic Policy Adviser and the Director Senator Richard Durbin
of the Domestic Policy Council Senator Robert Menendez
Lawrence H. Summers, Director of the National Economic Senator Susan Collins
Council and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy
Senator Olympia Snowe
Christina Romer, Designate, Chair of the Council of
Senator Arlen Specter
Economic Advisers
Joe Liberman, Chairman, The United States Senate Committee
Peter Orszag, Director of Office of Management and Budget
on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
Christina M. Tchen, Assistant to the President for
Representative Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the United States House
Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison
of Representatives
Attorney General of the United States Eric H. Holder, Jr
Representative James Clyburn, House Majority Whip
Secretary of the Treasurer, Timothy F. Geithner
Representative Barbara Lee, Chairman Congressional Black
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shaun L.S. Caucus
Donovan
Representative John Conyers , Chairman House Judiciary
Secretary of Commerce Designate Judd Gregg Committee
Acting Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Representative Charles B. Rangel, Chairman House Committee
Services Charles E. Johnson on Ways and Means
Secretary of Labor Designate Hilda Solis Representative Bennie Thompson, Chairman Homeland Security
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood Representative David Obey, Chairman House Committee on
United States Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Appropriations
Napolitano Representative Marcia Fudge
Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack Representative John Lewis
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan Representative Maxine Waters
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki Representative Melvin Watts
Chairman of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Ohio Governor Ted Strickland
Board Paul Volker
Ohio Lt. Gov Lee Fisher
Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mary
President National Community Reinvestment Coalition John
Schapiro
Taylor
Chairman of the Federal Reserve Fed Ben Bernanke
Chairman of the Democratic National Committee Governor Tom
President of New York branch of the Federal Reserve Bank and Kane
Cice-chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee William
Chairman of the Republican National Committee Lt. Gov.
C. Dudley
Michael Steele
Chief Executive Officer of the Fourth District Federal Reserve
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
Bank, at Cleveland Sandra Pianalto
President and Chief Executive Officer Benjamin T. Jealous
Member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Open Market
NAACP Ohio State Conference of Branches President Sybil
Committee Elizabeth A. Duke
Edwards-McNabb
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, Chief Executive
National Urban League President Marc Haydel Morial
Officer and President David H. Hehman
The National Black Chamber of Commerce President Harry
The National Credit Union Administration, Chairman Michael E.
Alford
Fryzel
The National Minority Supplier Development Council President
The U.S. Small Business Administration Acting Administrator
Harriet R. Michel
Darryl Hairston
Former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich
National Capacity Building Symposium
“Enforcement and Regulation” [ S e s s i o n I I ]
A Retrospective & Best Practices Identification Symposium
Part of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Fairness Campaign
Convener of the National Fairness Campaign Steering Committee
Dr. Robert Day, President of the Center for Urban & Rural Redevelopment
To be held at the Unified Technologies Center at Cuyahoga Community College main campus on
Friday February 13th 2009, Cleveland, Ohio 9:00 AM - 4:00PM
Steering Committee Advisor and Panel Moderator, Lawrence Auls, Chairman of MDi, Executive Director LISW, LTD
The current host agencies are the PolicyBridge, The Black Trades Council of Ohio and the NEO Alliance
for Change. Blog us at h t t p : / / n a t i o n a l f a i r n e s s c a m p a i g n . b l o g s p o t . c o m
The National Capacity
Building Symposium [ S e s s i o n II]
“ Enforcement and Regulation ”
A Retrospective & Best Practices Identification Symposium
This symposium is to be held at the
Cuyahoga Community College
Unified Technologies Center
The Fairness Campaign will review past political agreements and governing compacts and their relationship to the
social, economic development environment under an Obama Presidency. The Fairness Campaign will also
identify and address historic moral gaps. Ohio is a focal point of the Fairness Campaign because it is middle
America, and has demonstrated past and current innovations to address fairness and capacity building, including
state government minority business development programs, initiatives to increase the budget for the African
American males commission, and the recent appointment of a non government "infrastructure czar" to oversee
Ohio's portion of the proposed American reinvestment & recovery program.
• General Chairman Joesph Debro Co-Founder, National Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC)
• Co-Chairwoman Pandora Ramsay, Founding President , Ohio Fairness Campaign
• Co-Chairman Fredrick Hargrove, Sr. PE, MBA. former Chairman of Cincinnati Change
• Co-Chairman Irvin Henderson, former Chairman, National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC).
• Convener Robert Day, PhD, President, Center for Urban & Rural Redevelopment
Agenda
08:00 -
Dr. Day / Lawrence Auls Introductions
08:45 In Person
08:45 -
Joesph Debro Call to Order
09:30 Conference Call
09:30 -
Break Break
09:45 In Person
09:45 -
Joesph Debro / Dr. Day Conference Call Q & A
11:00 Conference Call
11:00 -
Working Lunch Best Practices Discussion
12:30 In Person
12:45 -
Pandora Ramsay The Ohio Fairness Campaign Revisited
13:00 Conference Call
13:00 -
Dr Robert Day Access to Capital & Credit
13:20 In Person
13:20 - Commercial, Retail and Residential
Irvin Henderson
13:40 Development Conference Call
13:40 -
Fred Hargrove, Sr. PE, MBA Construction and LEED Buildings
14:00 In Person
14:00 - Bill McCoy Next Generation Workforce Development and
14:20 George Edwards the American Labor Market Conference Call
14:20 -
Mark Batson Health Policy Options and Telemedicine
14:40 Conference Call
14:40 -
Hershel Daniels Broadband America and SMART Buildings
15:00 In Person
15:00 -
Lawrence Auls Best Practices Wrap-up
16:00 In Person
National Capacity Building Symposium National Fairness Campaign Steering Committee
“A Retrospective & http://nationalfairnesscampaign.blogspot.com
Best Practices Identification” General Chairman Joesph Debro Co-Founder, National
Part of the American Recovery & Association of Minority Contractors (NAMC)
Co-Chairwoman Pandora Ramsay, Founding President ,
Reinvestment Fairness Campaign Ohio Fairness Campaign
Cincinnati, Ohio Co-Chairman Fredrick Hargrove, Sr. PE, MBA. former
Chairman of Cincinnati Change
Convener of the National Fairness Campaign Steering Co-Chairman Irvin Henderson, Former Chairman,
Committee Dr. Robert Day, National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC).
President of the Center for Urban & Rural Redevelopment Convener, Dr. Robert Day PhD, President, Center for
Saturday January 31, Cincinnati, Ohio Urban & Rural Redevelopment
8:00 AM - 4:00PM
Where: PRESIDENT WILLIAM H TAFT NATIONAL
HISTORIC SITE, 2038 Auburn Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45219 PHONE:513.429.3643
Steering Committee Advisor and Panel Moderator, Lawrence Auls, Chairman of MDi, Executive Director LISW, LTD
MORNING SESSION 8:00AM-11:00 AM
50 YEAR REVIEW & ANALYSIS:
Office of Equal Opportunity [OEO], Affirmative Action, Setasides, Affirmative Access, Diversity, Inclusion, New Markets Tax
Credits, Business Development Programs, Empowerment Zones, Model Cities, CDBG, DOL Workforce Development Grants,
Community Action Agencies, Structures, Approaches, and delivery systems for Opportunity[s] and Capacity Building. The Fairness
Campaign will review past political agreements and governing compacts and their relationship to the social, economic development
environment under an Obama Presidency. The Fairness Campaign will also identify and address historic moral gaps.
WHAT WORKED? WHY NOT?
Among the issues to be reviewed -
War On Poverty: Community Action Agencies, Economic Opportunity Act of 1964,, Demonstration Cities and
Metropolitan Development Act of 1966 (Model Cities), Civil Rights Act of 1964, Civil Rights Act of 1968
Black Capitalism, Philadelphia Plan, Selected Contractors Strategy
Executive Order 8802 Fair Employment Practices and follow-on actions
Public Law 95-507 and modifications
Ohio House Bill 584 Set Aside and its descendants such as EDGE
The Small Business Investment Act and Minority capitalization programs such as Specialized SBIC’s [MSBIC’S]
Construction Apprenticeship Programs
Small Business Administration (SBA) and other business economic and technical assistance programs
CETA, New Careers, Jobs Corps, Military Service, Peace Corp, Vista
Renewal Communities, Empowerment Zones
National and Regional Purchasing Councils
Positive capacity building pass-throughs, joint ventures, and mentor protégés
Non capacity building pass-throughs, fronts, and joint ventures
2. Workforce Development
Improvements in public education will lay the foundation for a workforce be�er equipped to compete in a
knowledge economy. However, workforce training, particularly for chronically unemployed adults who are
25 years of age or older, is essential for ge�ing urban America back on track. Many workers will need to be
trained for the “green jobs” that the Department of Labor is rightfully anticipating. However, DOL’s Workforce
Investment Act should also make training dollars available that assist employers who are developing or
enhancing alternative energy technologies. These employers will need new workers to take their innovations
to scale. To address the intolerable reality that 30% to 50% of minorities in many urban communities are
jobless, investments in “on-the-job” training, stackable certificate programs through community colleges,
and tax incentives and workforce subsidies for employers are vital for helping lower-skilled minorities find
jobs that support their families. Community colleges should be funded at increased levels to provide for a
wider range of occupational choices, including skilled trades.
Funding for major infrastructure improvements through the economic stimulus package should include
employment mandates for disadvantaged minority workers in the nation’s urban core. Such investment
directives would help renew the economic base of cities but would also encourage growth and development
in surrounding regions.
PolicyBridge is an African-American-led public policy think tank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Its aims are to research, analyze and
respond to public policy issues from a minority perspective. For more information on PolicyBridge, visit www.policy-bridge.org. PolicyBridge’s
mission is: To create and sustain high-quality discourse addressing public policy issues, which enlighten and engage fellow citizens,
prompting them to take action.
2 January 2009 • Hope for Urban America
already dire economic development opportunities, and the Community Reinvestment Act should be modified
to include business lending. The implosion in the financial industry and subsequent government bailout
emphasizes that cities – and the individual taxpayers who will ultimately finance the bailout – deserve to
have be�er access to information about the lending practices of their financial institutions.
7. Health Care
Affordable health care for all is a clarion call that President-Elect Obama trumpeted throughout his
campaign. Efforts to improve health-care access should begin in urban communities, where, because of
poverty and lifestyle issues, individuals are dying at younger ages and in greater frequency from chronic
illnesses such as HIV/AIDS, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Funding for prevention efforts and intense
8. Ex-Offender Populations
Too many minorities, particularly African-American males, are unable to find gainful employment because
of felony convictions. Although African-Americans make up less than 12% of the population in Ohio, they
account for more than 50% of inmates. In Ohio, nearly 30 times more black males were sentenced to prison
for drug offenses than white males. Such sentencing disparities are found in states throughout the country.
In addition to investigating these discrepancies, the federal government should explore ways to help ex-
offenders access work. The Department of Justice, working with HUD and the Department of Labor, should
establish policies that assist ex-offenders in ge�ing the training and support they need to build businesses
and careers. Proper case management of this population is of critical importance, particularly among ex-
offenders with major physical and mental health concerns.
Funds should be redirected from state and federal prison budgets to support Alternative to Prison (ATP)
and other innovative initiatives so that the burden of supporting these citizens does not eventually fall back
on taxpayers. Federal and state governments should also consider establishing departments or divisions
that focus on the particular needs of the ex-offender population. Government agencies in Philadelphia and
Ohio’s Cuyahoga County have demonstrated success in addressing the myriad legal, housing, workforce and
health-care issues concurrently, giving ex-offenders a solid start on a new way of life.
9. Youth Development
Youth are the key to America’s future. They will be responsible for the new ideas to keep the nation
globally competitive and environmentally sound. The nation’s prosperity depends on whether its young
people are equipped with the necessary skills and values. Ensuring that urban youth are able to engage in
economic opportunities is an imperative, not only for individual cities but for the well-being of the nation as
a whole. For this reason, HHS should do more to support networks that provide wrap-around social services
in urban communities and offer greater aid for mentoring and tutoring programs. Among African-American
youth, 70% are being raised in single-parent households. This population in particular needs greater support
in avoiding the “life traps” of dropping out of school, having babies too early or ge�ing involved in crime.
Expanded investments in federal programs such as Head Start and in nationwide agencies such as Big
Brothers/Big Sisters and Boys and Girls Clubs should be a priority. However, HHS must be rigorous in
evaluating which programs are effective and worthy of continued investment.
Conclusion
Public policy development and investment in these nine areas will greatly address the needs of the nation’s
beleaguered cities and the people, particularly minorities, who inhabit them. The work of reinvigorating
urban America will require a comprehensive, collaborative effort among wide-ranging federal and state
departments. These policy recommendations should be seriously considered as key components of any
national urban policy agenda put forth by the new Obama Administration.
References
USA Today; Human Rights Watch; PolicyBridge’s “The Rap on Culture” and “The Job Prescription” research reports; Dr. Thomas Boston, Georgia Tech.
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