Cal Cities’ first City Leaders Summit to feature leadership programs, legislative meetings, and a news conference outside the Capitol
The League of California Cities’ first-ever City Leaders Summit, a brand-new advocacy and education event, is just one week away. The summit offers opportunities for city officials to get up-to-the-minute briefings on proposed legislation that impacts cities, advocate state legislators during in-person meetings, and discuss local solutions to statewide problems during educational sessions.
On the first day of the summit, attendees will also be part of a Cal Cities news conference outside the Capitol to outline what cities need in the 2022-23 State Budget to help implement and achieve shared local and state priorities regarding housing supply and greenhouse gas reduction, as well as reimburse cities for costs related to state mandates that have not been paid over two decades.
Legislative advocacy: What city leaders need to know
The City Leaders Summit starts with a full day of legislative programming. City officials will receive a briefing on Cal Cities’ priority legislative issues, state budgets requests, and the top bills impacting cities. Following the city leaders’ news conference, two afternoon panels with city leaders and state lawmakers will cover issues relating to homelessness and climate resiliency.
The “Cities' Role in Modernizing California’s Behavioral Health Continuum” panel will include Citrus Heights Mayor Porsche Middleton and Sen. Tom Umberg and the “Planning for the Communities of Tomorrow: The Intersection of Land Use and State Climate Goals” panel will include Assembly Member Laura Friedman and Cal Cities Immediate Past President and El Centro Council Member Cheryl Viegas Walker.
Wednesday is designed to fully prepare city leaders to effectively advocate for legislative solutions to the top issues in their communities — and against any potential legislative measures that would have a negative impact.
Summit attendees will receive printed packets with key information and materials they need to advocate on the Cal Cities 2022 Action Agenda (focusing on housing, infrastructure, homelessness, and climate resiliency), the state budget requests, and top bills impacting cities when city officials meet with their legislators.
Education: What city leaders can expect
Thursday and Friday will feature sessions on important statewide topics, such as land use and planning, wildfire resiliency, succession planning, workplace culture, and downtown economic development. Education sessions also provide city officials the opportunity to enhance their communication and leadership skills and learn how to build more equitable and inclusive communities.
Attendees will also be treated to two exciting keynote presentations. On Thursday, Tracy Miller, a prosecutor with over 23 years of legal experience, will share insights on positive workplace communication. A dynamic, energetic, and highly motivational speaker, Miller initiated and leads the Orange County Gang Prevention Partnership, the largest gang prevention program in the United States. The summit concludes on Friday with a keynote presentation by Nicole Lance, a former assistant city manager with almost 13 years of experience in local government. Lance, now a life coach, will counsel city officials on how to implement “micro strategies” that build capacity or improve success and satisfaction.
Cal Cities’ top advocacy priorities for the City Leaders Summit
The top advocacy priorities for the City Leaders Summit are centered around the Cal Cities’ 2022 State Action Agenda and the call for $1.6 billion in the 2022-23 State Budget for shared city and state goals, as well as the reimbursement to cities for unfunded mandates.
The first budget request is a $500 million allocation for a new Housing and Economic Development Program. The program would encourage partnerships between state and local agencies by providing matching funds to cities that adopt local tax increment financing tools that support affordable housing, essential infrastructure, and economic development. Existing tax increment financing tools lack sufficient financial capacity — due in part to the absence of state participation — and are often underutilized.
Cal Cities is also urging lawmakers to include $933.5 million in the budget for unfunded state mandate costs incurred after 2004. Of that amount, $466.6 million is owed to cities. The pandemic demonstrated the vital role that cities play in California's economy and the important services they provide to the public. A strong city budget creates strong, resilient communities and this allocation would help ensure that cities can continue to meet shared local and state priorities and continue to provide essential services to their communities.
Additionally, Cal Cities is calling on the state to allocate $180 million to help cities and counties develop and implement SB 1383 (Lara, 2016) organic waste recycling programs. This funding will help local governments implement collection, education, outreach, edible food recovery, procurement activities, and capacity planning, and minimize the financial burden these regulations could have on taxpayers.
Cal Cities is calling on lawmakers to oppose three housing bills: SB 897 (Wieckowski), AB 2011 (Wicks), and AB 2097 (Friedman). All three bills disregard local zoning and development standards, restrict local decision-making, and eliminate community input.
On the infrastructure front, Cal Cities is in strong support for AB 2120 (Ward), a bill that would ensure 55% of the bridge funds headed to California through the federal infrastructure package are allocated to local projects through a needs-based allocation. This change would nearly double federal funding available to local bridges to an estimated $800 million annually.
Cal Cities also supports SB 929 (Eggman), SB 1154 (Eggman), and AB 2547 (Nazarian). This suite of bills would increase data to improve access to behavioral health services — especially for unhoused residents — and better target housing support for vulnerable populations who are either experiencing homelessness or at imminent risk of experiencing homelessness.
Additionally, Cal Cities is a co-sponsor of AB 1985 (R. Rivas), which would create an online database of organic waste products on the market so local governments can connect with local farmers and community members seeking organic waste products. The bill would also continue to explore needed changes to the procurement requirement in the SB 1383 regulations.
During the summit, the Cal Cities Board of Directors will also meet to discuss new policy positions and other organizational priorities.
Online registration is closed, however, city officials can register on-site starting May 11 at 8:30 a.m.