Chattanooga Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod joined more than 2,000 mayors, councilmembers and other delegates from cities, towns and villages across the country who convened in Washington for the National League of Cities’ annual Congressional City Conference. At the conference, delegates met with senior White House officials, members of Congress and other national experts to discuss how strong federal-local partnerships are critical to addressing top priorities for local leaders.
The Congressional City Conference’s central theme is NLC’s Rebuild With Us campaign, which urges Congress to develop and pass comprehensive legislation that rebuilds and reimagines America’s infrastructure in partnership with local governments that will serve local communities for the next 100 years.
Conference delegates took that message to Capitol Hill, calling for a long-term plan that "improves our nation’s water, broadband, and transportation systems, prepares our communities for extreme weather and natural disasters, and invests in the skills training and education that prepares our workforce to build and maintain our infrastructure."
“In Chattanooga, we are blessed with some infrastructure strengths, like our celebrated community-wide fiber optic network that allows for 10 gigs of internet speed through EPB.” says councilwoman Coonrod. “But as our city grows, we also have some challenges - like the equitable accessibility of public transportation, upkeep of roadways and waterways, and navigating changing transportation trends such as bike lanes, car sharing, and electric scooters. Not to mention training and retaining a skilled workforce to help us solve for these infrastructure problems.”