Local Officials Plead For Help At Cities Conference
WASHINGTON (WWJ) - Save our cities. That's the message officials from Detroit and other communities are sending this week at the National League of Cities Conference in Washington D.C.
One of those attending the conference is Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey.
She said officials are urging Lawmakers in Washington to preserve funding for the Community Development Block Grant Program.
"(There are) programs and projects that won't be able to go on if they cut as large as projected. It may have a severe impact on municipalities like Detroit that are already suffering. Citizens are already losing their homes as huge rates. So, yeah, it would be almost devastating," Winfrey said.
"Our goal is to encourage Congress and the administration to reduce the percentage of those cuts. In other words, instead of cutting back 60 percent, perhaps you can cut 30 percent or 20 percent. And, pointing out to them that cutting the programs may have very little effect on reducing the budget overall," she said.
Winfrey said the conference will also look at ways to help avoid foreclosures and provide funding for transportation and job creation programs.
