Garcetti to Meet With HUD Secretary, Attend Mayors Meeting in Washington

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is scheduled to fly to Washington, D.C., tonight to meet with Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson and attend the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Garcetti spoke with Carson on Jan. 9 and sent him a letter expressing his appreciation for federal resources, including money and land, offered to the city to help deal with homelessness.

“Los Angeles is already taking bold steps forward, and more emergency assistance from our federal partners could help us scale up our work, and get our homeless neighbors off the street more quickly,” Garcetti spokesman Alex Comisar told the Los Angeles Times.

The Los Angeles Homelessness Services Authority announced Friday it will receive nearly $130 million from HUD for projects to help homeless people.

Garcetti is scheduled to be among three moderators for a best practice forum on immigration issues at the mayors meeting on Wednesday. Garcetti is chair of the conference's Latino Alliance.

Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino will give welcoming remarks at the conference Wednesday in his role as president of the National League of Cities, an advocacy organization that bills itself as “the voice of America's cities, towns and villages, representing more than 200 million people,” working “to strengthen local leadership, influence federal policy and drive innovative solutions.”

The league includes elected officials from cities with populations lower than the 30,000 minimum required for membership in the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Garcetti is set to speak Thursday at best practice forums on climate change and developing a comprehensive approach to homelessness. He is also scheduled to speak about empowering youth through civic involvement; make remarks at a childhood obesity prevention luncheon; and moderate a discussion on mayoral recommendations calling for various federal actions to increase investment in energy, transportation and water infrastructure.

Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia will speak about ports and airports at the discussion about infrastructure. Garcia is chair of the conference's Ports and Exports Task Force and a member of its advisory board, along with Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido.

Garcia and San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer are set to moderate a discussion Friday on ports and trade developments, where updates will be given on the United-States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the Import-Export Bank of the United States.

More than 270 mayors of cities with populations of 30,000 or more are set to attend the meeting. President Donald Trump will speak to the mayors Friday at the White House on transforming America's communities.

In addition to Garcetti and Garcia, mayors from Los Angeles and Orange counties registered for the meeting are Harry Sidhu (Anaheim); John Mirisch (Beverly Hills); Naresh Solanki (Cerritos); Andre Quintero (El Monte); Mary Campbell (Hermosa Beach); Nancy Hersman (Manhattan Beach); Nanette Fish (Temple City); and Patrick J. Furey (Torrance).

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