Release: Accelerator and USCM Presidential Forum

BUTTIGIEG, CASTRO, KLOBUCHAR, STEYER TO HEADLINE ACCELERATOR FOR AMERICA/U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS PRESIDENTIAL FORUM 
Waterloo, IA — December 6

WATERLOO, IOWA — The non-profit Accelerator for America and the U.S. Conference of Mayors announced today that presidential candidates Pete Buttigieg, Julián Castro, Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer will answer questions posed by mayors about their agenda for America’s local communities at the non-partisan Local America Presidential Forum on December 6 at the Cedar Valley Sportsplex in Waterloo, IA. Iowa Starting Line is the official media partner for the Forum — see their story released earlier today here.

“Mayors are on the front lines, and we need our leaders in Washington to join us there, to build our infrastructure, revitalize our main streets and secure people’s futures,” said U.S. Conference of Mayors President and Mayor of Rochester Hills, MI, Bryan K. Barnett. “Cities and their metro regions are the clear drivers of the U.S. economy and we must have leadership in Washington that empowers them with policies that foster innovation and inclusivity.”

“As Mayors, we hear directly from the people we serve at the playground, at the supermarket — face to face. That’s the perspective we are going to put in front of these candidates,” said Los Angeles Mayor and Accelerator co-founder, Eric Garcetti. “We need real solutions that will build wealth for people who don’t have it.”

“Every day, Mayors across the country are driving progress on issues like healthcare, housing, crime, civil rights, transportation and the environment, but they need a reliable partner in Washington,” said U.S. Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran.  “We are looking forward to hearing from the candidates about their plans for supporting these local priorities, and expect that through this dialogue they will learn a thing or two from America’s mayors.”

“We’re going to challenge these candidates on how they will change Washington so that it is not only more responsive to local needs, but in fact empowers local communities instead of forcing them to react to top-down federal mandates,” said Accelerator for America CEO, Rick Jacobs.

“Of course Waterloo is in the thick of things in terms of presidential politics, but more importantly, the challenges we face and the solutions we’re applying are relevant to cities and towns across the country,” said Waterloo Mayor, Quentin Hart, who is also a member of the Accelerator for America Advisory Council. 

ACCELERATOR FOR AMERICA finds and develops solutions to economic insecurity and shares them with cities to build national change from the ground up. It was co-founded by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Rick Jacobs in 2017 around the idea that while Washington is broken and has, in fact, been broken for some time, change is still needed and must be made from the local level. It has since developed community wealth-building tools that are being used in 47 cities nationwide and has helped local communities generate $21 billion in funding for transit and transportation infrastructure. www.acceleratorforamerica.com 

THE U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS is the official non-partisan organization of cities with a population of 30,000 or larger. Each city is represented by its chief elected official, the mayor. www.USMayors.org 

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For media inquiries:

Accelerator for America
Yusef Robb
yusef@acceleratorforamerica.org   
323-384-1789

U.S. Conference of Mayors
Sara Durr
sdurr@usmayors.org
202-215-1811