Cities stepping up where feds fail, Indiana mayor says - National conference is meeting in N.O.

[16 November 2007 - Times-Picayune] To find the most exciting public policy innovations of the moment, look beyond the partisan gridlock of Washington to the cities and towns that are experimenting with ways to promote clean energy, preserve the water supply and curb violent crime, the president of the National League of Cities said Thursday. President Bart Peterson, the mayor of Indianapolis, opened the National League of Cities conference in New Orleans by saying local governments emerged as the nation's pre-eminent policy incubators starting in the 1990s: the era when a standoff between President Clinton and a Republican Congress resulted in a government shutdown. "The epicenter of creativity and leadership has shifted out of Washington," Peterson said. More than 3,500 mayors, city managers and council members from around the country arrived in New Orleans this week to swap ideas about common interests, from highway congestion to aging public infrastructure to the recent slump in the housing market. More