Full Text
1 Office of the Mayor News Release Contact: Doug Buell, Community Information Officer [PHONE REDACTED] [PHONE REDACTED] [EMAIL REDACTED] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 18, 2013 Mayor, Council visit D.C. for annual cities conference to gain support for vital local road projects MARYSVILLE – Mayor Jon Nehring and City Councilmembers went to Washington, D.C. last week to attend an annual cities conference and to gain support from Washington’s Congressional delegation for vital local projects. Councilmembers Donna Wright, Jeff Seibert, Michael Stevens and Rob Toyer joined the Mayor at the National League of Cities Congressional Conference March 9-13. The highest priority in their lobbying efforts was to inform Washington State’s delegation about key regional transportation infrastructure projects that will need state and federal funding in order to move forward, and to underscore how important these projects are for Marysville and the region. Most notable among the potential projects discussed were the 116th Street NE/I-5 interchange expansion, SR 529/I-5 interchange and on- and off-ramps for the 156th Street/I-5 overpass. Nehring and the Councilmembers met with Sen. Maria Cantwell, 2nd Congressional District Rep. Rick Larsen and Sen. Patty Murray’s staff. “Face-to-face meetings with our Congressional leaders are a critical component of our ongoing efforts to ensure the needed investment in Marysville’s infrastructure, and other needs are clearly known and given proper consideration at the federal level,” says Nehring. The same goes at the state level, and Nehring has been making frequent trips to Olympia this legislative session to testify on behalf of Marysville-sponsored bills and issues that impact the community. While in the nation’s capital, Marysville representatives also touched on federal Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) and couple of public safety items. In 2012, the City became eligible to administer CDBG funds to address local priority housing and community development needs that primarily benefit low- and moderate-income individuals. The City awarded $217,914 in 2012 that assisted homeless and senior housing programs, food programs, domestic violence services and improvements to the Boys and Girls Club. The City delegation also touched on the need for Justice Department grants that would help Marysville police add more School Resource Officers (SROs) in schools, and fire and emergency response grants that enabled the hiring back of three firefights to the Marysville Fire District. ---PAGE BREAK--- 2 Nehring also joined a small group of elected officials to discuss the coal exports issue with a deputy undersecretary of Transportation, and emphasized the need for mitigation and grade separation in Marysville