February 2011 YEO Frontline News

Working Together

Henry Ford famously said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” He may have been talking about business, but his words ring so very true for our current political process. If recent events have taught us anything, it’s that now more than ever, we need to work together for the progress and success of our communities and our country.

Young Elected Officials across the country are breaking down long entrenched silos and working together across chambers, regions, and the aisle to do more and achieve greater things as a united front rather than alone.

Below you’ll hear about some of those YEOs’ experiences, but we still want to hear from you. If you have examples of working together with your colleagues and peers that you would like to share, please email Elisabeth at epope@pfaw.org to let us know.

Two Cities with One Goal:
An Interview with City Councilor Leland Cheung (Cambridge, MA)

Despite a long-standing city rivalry, Cambridge City Councilor Leland Cheung and Boston City Councilman Michael Ross, after meeting each other at the 2010 YEO Network Convening, recently collaborated on a joint hearing to discuss how to keep tech jobs in their area. We wanted to learn a little bit more about YEOs working together across city borders for the mutual betterment of their communities. See below for our interview with Councilor Leland Cheung.

You and Boston City Councilman Michael Ross recently held a joint hearing. What was this hearing about, how was it done, and what were the reasons behind putting it together?

This hearing brought together a number of thought leaders from the professional and academic community, including the Monitor Group and HBS Professor Michael Porter, to present work on economic clusters and how the Boston/Cambridge Metro Region is competing against other regions like Silicon Valley, Research Triangle, Asia, etc. They presented to a broad cross-section of community members, including the State Department on Economic Development, a transportation-research non-profit organization, Microsoft, Google, and more.

The hearing was put together jointly by our offices. The hardest part was getting the schedules of all the speakers to line up. Once we had the line-up set, it was easy to confirm attendees.

We had a few reasons for doing it. First, other regions are pulling together to compete more effectively, and although we’re doing well, there’s evidence to say we’re growing slower than everyone else. For example, in Biotech, we’re growing, but not as fast as the market is growing.  Also, there have been reports of other regions coming to Boston/Cambridge to actively try and poach companies away.

Click here to see the rest of our interview with City Councilor Cheung >>

Arizona Transplant Funding: YEOs Working Together to Save the “Arizona 98”
By Arizona State Representative Anna Tovar

The first day medical transplants were eliminated from the Arizona ACHCCS health care plan was October 1, 2010. That day, I got a phone call saying that one of the patients had found two matches for his transplant, but the transplant wouldn't be covered because it was now October 1st. His name was Mark Price; he was 36 years old and a father of four children. Mark and I had the same bone marrow doctor and got services in the same hospital. He needed the same transplant that I had 9 years prior. An anonymous donor came in to fund his transplant, but the sad news is that Mark Price died. He didn't make it to his life-saving transplant due to complication with his chemotherapy. Mark's dying wish was that transplant funding be restored for the other transplant patients that were kicked off the list. The patients were then referred to as the "Arizona 98.”

Since October, my fellow YEOs Senator Kyrsten Sinema and Representative Matt Heinz and I, have urged Governor Jan Brewer to call a special session or to use the state’s federal stimulus money to reinstate transplant coverage.

Using federal stimulus money was the quickest and easiest solution to solve the transplant situation. We put out press releases and held press conferences. We got our message out to local and national media. But, the governor did not call a special session or use the federal stimulus monies. During late December, a second patient lost his life because his life saving transplant was not funded.

Click here to read more of Representative Tovar's article >>

Save the Date! Register early!
2011 YEO Network National Convening

It’s that time of year again! Mark your calendars for the 2011 YEO Network National Convening to be held in Washington, DC on June 2-5, 2011.

As in previous years, this premier event is the largest gathering of young elected leaders in the country. You will join the most innovative, exciting, and energetic leaders this country has to offer – your fellow Young Elected Officials!

• To register early, click here>
• If you would like to help plan the event by joining the YEO Planning Committee – click here>
• If you would like to recommend a trainer or a session topic – email Elisabeth at epope@pfaw.org
• If you would like to apply to be a trainer – click here>
• Preview the tentative agenda so you can see timing and possible travel needs – click here>

We’re very excited to begin planning, and even more thrilled we’ll be able to see you all soon. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 850-877-0307.

YEO Network Annual Membership Survey Winners

We’d like to extend a big thank you to everyone who participated in the Annual Membership Survey! We are very excited to announce this year’s incentive raffle winners:

Grand Prize Winner:
Rent Board Commissioner Igor Tregub

Commissioner Tregub will receive an all-inclusive 2011 National Convening package, including a round trip ticket to Washington, DC for the 2011 National Convening, a hotel room during the event, and all convening meals and conference fees.

Runner-up Prize Winners:

Senator Amanda McGill and Councilman Mike Gipson will each receive a one-on-one session with a media consultant at the 2011 National Convening.

Mayor Lucy Johnson and School Board Member Jay Chen will each receive a complimentary hotel room at the 2011 National Convening.

Congratulations, everyone!

YEO Opinion Pieces:

We often find articles written by YEOs that we think other Network members may find interesting. Please see below for a few that we’ve recently come across:

“Your Path to Energy Savings: Commercial building energy assessments can help cut costs” – Town Councilman Dominic Frongillo

“Learning the right lessons from the Evergreen Solar failure” – Sen. Jamie Eldridge

If you have authored an opinion piece in your local media that you would like to share in an upcoming newsletter, please email Elisabeth at epope@pfaw.org.

Senators Rand Paul and David Vitter have introduced a resolution to amend the Constitution to deny citizenship to children of undocumented immigrants who are born in the United States. The amendment would reverse the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of citizenship to all children born on American soil, limiting citizenship to American-born babies of U.S. Citizens, legal permanent residents, and active-duty members of the Armed Forces. State legislatures are also following suit and introducing legislation to strip illegal immigrants’ U.S.-born children of their citizenship and create a two-tiered birth certificate process.

PFAW hosted a special telebrief for our YEOs on Friday, February 18th to discuss the implications of the recently introduced birthright citizenship legislation, where it came from, where it’s going, and what YEOs can do to combat it in their states.

Interested?
If you missed the call and would like a copy of the recording and any materials, email Elisabeth Pope at epope@pfaw.org.

Want to take action?
If you are dealing with this legislation in your state and would like to connect with the national organizations working to combat it or if you are interested in joining People For the American Way’s conversation and taking action on this issue, please email Diallo Brooks at dbrooks@pfaw.org.

YEO Spotlight:
Rent Board Commissioner Igor Tregub (Berkeley, CA)

While a student and tenant in the middle of my final semester at UC Berkeley, I suddenly found out that I had just a few weeks to move or risk losing a roof over my head. Rental units that I could afford, even in a densely populated city like Berkeley, are extremely hard to come by at certain times of the year, such as in the middle of a semester. Just as time on the clock was running out, I found one place and had to move in blindly, getting to know only one of the roommates at the time I agreed to move.

This experience left me with a realization of how little stability exists for tenants, even in a city that has strong rent control and eviction protection ordinances. I had some experience on local issues through my chairmanship on the Berkeley Commission on Labor, an appointed advisory body to the City Council, and role as an advisor on city affairs to UC Berkeley's student government. Therefore, I decided to run so that I could serve as a resource to tenants who did not have the knowledge to which I had access but had every reason to know their rights.

While I had not considered myself on a set path of running for office until I declared my candidacy, it served as a symbolic milestone to me. My parents brought me to this country at a young age to ensure that I would be able to experience the type of freedoms and opportunity that had been missing from my homeland. I was elected seven years after receiving my U.S. citizenship, a full circle that provides me with an opportunity to make a small pocket of this nation come in closer line with the democratic values upon which this country was built.

Read more about Igor Tregub by clicking here>>

Save the Date for our YEO Telebrief:

The Future of Work -Creating the New Entrepreneurial Infrastructure
Wednesday – March 16, 2011
3:00pm (EST)
Led by YEO, Mayor Ryan Coonerty

Technology, demographics, and economics are dramatically changing the nature of work. As traditional nine-to-five jobs give way to more flexible and independent employment, government will have to figure out how to change their policies, land uses, and economic development strategies. Are you putting policies in place to help your citizens transition, start businesses, and live sustainably?

Join us on Wednesday, March 16th at 3:00pm (EST) for a discussion with Mayor Ryan Coonerty on building the new entrepreneurial framework. RSVP to epope@pfaw.org

Progressive Policy Corner

Joint Wastewater Authority
City Councilman Michael Hays
Spring City, PA
This measure would form a joint wastewater (sewer) authority between the Spring City Borough and the East Vincent Township that will deliver reliable service at a fair price for the next several decades. Currently, Spring City operates one plant (built in the 1930s) and East Vincent runs two smaller plants. Both municipalities have been penalized in recent years by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection for various violations, including a lack of long-term sewer planning.
Read more about this policy>>