Mayors Energy Decision -Making Initiative: Phase III
Since July, 1999, the National Conference of Black Mayors, Inc. (NCBM) and the U.S. Department of Energy have worked collaboratively to build and enhance NCBM' members' capacity for energy and environmental planning, for monitoring and responding to environmental issues, and for participating in environmental cleanup activities. They used training activities and relationships with the Massie Chair of Excellence Program, operating from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to provide information, build skills, and offer environmental engineering services to municipalities. Phase III will concentrate efforts in states that are directly impacted by DOE's Savannah River site and Oak Ridge operations, and will work to strengthen local relationships between Massie Chair institutions and municipalities in their vicinity.

Phase III  will  concentrate  efforts  in  Georgia,  South  Carolina  and Tennessee. It will establish formal relationships between the Chairs and the local elected officials to help build capacity to provide input into DOE's environmental management decision-making, including environmental contamination from nuclear weapons programs. The Massie Chairs will work with mayors and municipalities to collect and analyze soil and water samples to document the presence of contaminants that may be present. In addition, through the Massie Chairs, the program will study infrastructure problems in various jurisdictions and pursue economic development opportunities in environmental clean-up and revitalization activities.
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The annual competition is open to NCBM's membership, in which each participating city or town implements a series of education and awareness activities to increase the use of seat belts and child safety seats. Over a six month period, each participating locality conducts "before" and "after" surveys on seat belt use, as part of local activities designed to promote seat belt/child safety use and improve traffic safety. At the end of the competition period, each mayor submits an entry consisting a final narrative and statistical report summarizing activities.
A rating panel of objective experts reviews the information in the submitted entries, ranks programs, and selects winners. One winner is chosen in each of six population size categories, so that cities and towns are compared against other cities and towns of comparable size.
Each winning mayor receives a plaque memorializing his or her achievement as well as a "cash incentive award" to be used for any traffic-safety related purpose in his or her city or town. Cash prizes of up to $10,000 were awarded at NCBM's 29th Annual Convention in Houston. Pitney Bowes Incorporated and the General Motors Corporation underwrote the prizes.
Over the period September 2002 through March 2003, NCBM convened a series of Mayors' Briefings on the adoption of primary seat belt legislation in five states that have secondary seat belt laws. These briefings, in South Carolina, Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Florida, brought together a variety of experts who addressed issues pertaining to such legislation. In addition, during the 15th Annual Leadership Institute for Mayors (LIM), last December in Miami Beach, the Mayors' Challenge presented a training module entitled, "Developing High Visibility Leadership for Seat Belt Safety Programs." This module, among other things, took mayors through a step-by-step implementation of a local seat belt education/awareness campaign.
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(1) Survey Mayors (and designated staff) of the participating cities to ascertain each municipality's current housing situation, existing resources and identified housing needs, and to document 20 municipalities' housing programs as "best practice" examples;

(2) Survey housing providers, private, governmental, and/or charitable (which are active in the Mississippi Delta) to identify current applicable housing programs in the Delta, and to identify suggested program enhancements;

(3) Identify existing and potential governmental and philanthropic housing-related funding sources including competitive grant pools along with federal and state appropriations; and

(4) Document "best practices" and make specific housing program recommendations which are both targeted towards individual municipalities and targeted towards the entire group of cities and towns.

There is potential for development in the Mississippi Delta, based on assessing and understanding local assets and needs, and identifying sources of information, technical assistance, and financing. The housing solutions survey will compile such information, and can form the basis for development plans and projects that local leadership can use for community revivalization and renewal and expanded housing options.
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Typically, it takes place in December, with course offerings ranging from leadership development to waste management. Participation is limited to mayors only, and those who complete the training receive at least 2.0 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) from an institution of higher learning. For the past seven years, Florida Memorial College conferred certificates. The LIM has been held annually for 15 years, and has four objectives:

The 15th Annual Leadership Institute for Mayors was held at the Royal Crowne Plaza Resort in Miami Beach on December 12-15, 2002. The next Institute is being held on December 13 - 16, 2003.
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