TITLE
Recommendation to request City Council to adopt guiding principles and priorities for projects submitted for the stimulus funding; and direct City Manager to return as soon as possible with a list of potential "shovel ready" projects.
DISCUSSION
The City of Long Beach has submitted over $497,483,559 in potential projects in answer to the Federal Governments Stimulus Package and in conjunction with the Mainstreet Economic Recovery Survey conducted by the United States Conference of Mayors. This source of potential funds may provide our city with an amazing opportunity to fund, revive and renew ready projects throughout the city and provide jobs for our struggling community and businesses.
Key in the approach is the creative planning and thinking "out-of-the-box" and insuring that the entire city benefit from stimulus funding, not just a select few. The City Council should adopt as a priority projects that provide a sense of place for residents; projects that are sustainable and green; projects that improve the quality of life for residents of the city; projects that provide living wages for employees; projects that enable us to recoup useful and productive programs that were cut; and the selection of projects that benefit the most in need - seniors, youth and the working poor as parts of our guiding principles.
Potential programs could include:
• Streets and infrastructure project to enhance community mobility
• Renewed emphasis on summer youth employment programs
• Emphasis in the area of green jobs creation
• Aggressive push to recapture lost health department programs such as WIC, etc.
• Diesel emission reduction programs, to bring relief to communities that are impacted by the diesel death zone fueled by the national goods movement infrastructure.
• Public courthouse and other public private partnerships
• Food bank commodity assistance programs to assist with replenishing our cities food banks
• VA hospital funding
• Green buildi...
Click here for full text