[Vision2020] Chaney and New Orleans

Sat Nov 24 11:03:38 PST 2007

Hey, Matt -

I suggest that you ask Lambert, Weber, and Mayor Chaney ok?

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 10:08 AM
To: Tom Hansen; vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Chaney and New Orleans

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

  _____  

Get the power of Windows + Web with the new Windows Live. Power up!
<http://www.windowslive.com?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_Wave2_powerofwindows_112007> 

  _____  

Your smile counts. The more smiles you share, the more we donate. Join in!
<http://www.windowslive.com/smile?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_Wave2_oprsmilewlhmtagline> 

  _____  

Your smile counts. The more smiles you share, the more we donate. Join in!

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20071124/d9dd8001/attachment-0001.html 