[Vision2020] Chaney and New Orleans

Sat Nov 24 10:08:15 PST 2007

Mr Hansen,

Was Lambert and Weber invited to this conference. Maybe they were, just would like to know. How much do these "mandatory" conferences cost us taxpayers.

Matt

From: thansen at moscow.com
To: mattd2107 at hotmail.com; vision2020 at moscow.com
Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 09:45:56 -0800
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Chaney and New Orleans

FYI, Matt . . .

Mayor Chaney and Councilman Lamar were
attending the National League of Cities’ Conference, just like it says in the
fourth sentence of the article.

“Chaney and Lamar spent much of last week
at the National League of Cities' Congress of Cities and Exposition in New Orleans. The trip was
paid for from Moscow's
general fund.”

>From the November 21, 2007 edition of the
Moscow-Pullman Daily News 

---------------------------------------------------

Chaney, Lamar inspired by trip to New Orleans

City councilman, mayor, attended National
League of Cities event 

By Tara Roberts, Daily News staff writer

Wednesday, November 21, 2007 - Page
Updated at 12:00:00 AM

Many people in New Orleans have found hope amidst the devastation
of Hurricane Katrina.

Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney and City
Councilman Tom Lamar were inspired by that hope during their recent trip to the
Big Easy.

"Despite all the hardship there, they
live and breathe that place, and that's what I find (they) have in common with Moscow," Chaney
said.

Chaney and Lamar spent much of last week
at the National League of Cities' Congress of Cities and Exposition in New Orleans. The trip was
paid for from Moscow's
general fund.

In addition to attending seminars on
topics such as green building and pedestrian safety, the two toured and learned
about the city.

Lamar, who spent an afternoon bicycling
around the city, said he was amazed at the spirit of the New Orleans residents he met. The people of Moscow can learn from New Orleans, though the cities are very
different.

"The people are so different from
each other in that area and yet they work together," Lamar said. "We get
into bickering about things that are just so small compared to what they're
going through."

New Orleans residents have disagreed and had "healthy discussion,"
but moved forward together, he said.

New Orleans' achievements can teach Moscow
residents to appreciate what they have and be "optimistic about our
prospects for success," Chaney said.

On a tour through 17 New Orleans neighborhoods, Chaney saw
boarded-up houses just down the street from newly rebuilt mansions. She was
astonished to hear the high prices for rundown homes.

Much of the housing inequity was between
the old and the young, Chaney said. Young, working people could afford to
rebuild, but many retired people couldn't afford to move back and restore their
homes.

"We have to be very careful that our
housing market is not artificially inflated beyond our control," Chaney
said. "I think it was just sort of a wake-up call that it can happen to
anyone, anywhere."

Lamar said many lower-income people didn't
resent their wealthier neighbors. Instead, they appreciate their help in
rebuilding the city.

Chaney also toured New
 Orleans schools and found inspiration for Moscow's schools. Katrina caused many schools
to shut down, but the education system is rebuilding.

"They're still moving forward,"
Chaney said. "They're moving forward with this
fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, throw-it-together school system, but it's
working."

Partnerships between high schools and
local colleges in New Orleans
are a good example, Chaney said. Moscow
should work to increase "the ability of high schoolers to easily gain
credit for college classes," as well as provide professional and technical
learning opportunities.

In addition to learning from the people of
New Orleans at
the exposition, Chaney and Lamar built connections and shared ideas with city
leaders from all over the country.

"Just making the personal contacts
with people is a really huge part of it," Lamar said.

By the end of the week, other exposition
attendees remembered Chaney and Lamar because they talked so positively about
their hometown, Chaney said.

"They knew that I was from this very
cool place in northern Idaho called Moscow," Chaney
said. "They were calling me 'Moscow'
just because we, as representatives of our city, are recognized by our
attachment to this place"

---------------------------------------------------

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college
students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007) 

From: Matt Decker
[mailto:mattd2107 at hotmail.com] 

Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007
9:30 AM

To: Tom
 Hansen; vision2020 at moscow.com

Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Chaney
and New Orleans

Tom,

DL, two-three days ago.

From: thansen at moscow.com

To: mattd2107 at hotmail.com; vision2020 at moscow.com

Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2007 09:13:19 -0800

Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Chaney and New
  Orleans

Matt –

In which newspaper (and roughly what day)
did you read such an article?

Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college
students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007) 

From:
vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Matt Decker

Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007
8:53 AM

To: vision2020 at moscow.com

Subject: [Vision2020] Chaney and New Orleans

I read in the paper the other day
that Mayor Chaney and Councilman Lamar recently returned from a paid trip to New Orleans. Can anyone
tell me why we are paying money for our council to take trips to other cities.
I doubt the trip will give us a "reminder"  of how good our city
is. Who's idea was this? Was Lambert and Weber invited? Could we use this money
to lets say, pave streets that are still gravel, instead?

Matt

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