Urging President Obama to develop an advisory group for the proposed White House Office of Urban Policy.

WHEREAS, America’s urban communities represent over 80% of our nation’s population and close to 20% of the United States’ total population reside in cities with populations over 200,000; and

WHEREAS, Large cities in the United States face many of the same challenges and need federal policies that support their growth as communities of choice; and

WHEREAS, And considering his work as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, President Obama has maintained his support for America’s urban communities and stated that he will create a White House Office on Urban Policy to develop a strategy for metropolitan America and to ensure that all federal dollars targeted to urban areas are effectively spent on the highest-impact programs; and

WHEREAS, And to support this new Office, America’s cities have a wealth of expertise and experience in the form of public officials and administrators, urban planners, academic and research professionals, and community activists who are engaged in trying to identify solutions for the challenges of urban America; and

WHEREAS, The Obama Administration has already begun to draw on this talent and experience through the January 16th meeting between the Transition team and the U.S. Conference of Mayors in which Mayor Nutter participated and discussed measures to stimulate urban economies and create jobs; and

WHEREAS, This January 16th meeting is an example of why Cleveland, Denver, Seattle, and Winston-Salem have passed resolutions requesting that President Obama create an advisory group to help guide the new White House Office of Urban Policy in its efforts to provide assistance to America’s urban communities; and

WHEREAS, A newly created White House Office of Urban Policy could greatly assist cities, like Philadelphia, Cleveland, Denver, Seattle, and Winston-Salem, in indentifying common challenges that face, large urban populations, in sharing expertise and experience, and in facilitating solutions to these challenges; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby urge

President Obama to develop an advisory group for the proposed White House Office of Urban Policy.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be sent to President Obama as evidence of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.

End