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Auburn Awarded Technical Assistance Grant from Mayors Innovation Project

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2011

Contact:

Michael Hursh, Community Services Manager
City of Auburn
253-804-5029

AUBURN, Wash. – May 5, 2011 – The City of Auburn has been awarded a technical assistance grant from the Mayors Innovation Project. This grant will provide the City of Auburn with 100 hours of no-cost technical consulting from a team of experts who will help the City of Auburn develop a new policy model for addressing the revitalization of its inner city neighborhoods. This new policy model is anticipated to rely on social capital, community engagement, volunteerism, sweat equity and public/private partnerships. The City will work with the team from the Mayors Innovation Project during spring and summer of 2011 to develop this policy model. Auburn joins other cities selected for technical assistance including Chula Vista (Calif.), Louisville (Ky.), New Bedford (Mass.), Portland (Ore.) and Seattle (Wash.).

Mayor Pete Lewis of Auburn expressed the importance of this grant, “The City of Auburn is grateful to be part of the inaugural group of recipients of the Mayors Innovation Project Technical Assistance Grant Program. As a member of this valuable organization, the City of Auburn has gained and shared information and insight on ideas, innovations and other opportunities on public policy issues facing cities. Through the technical assistance efforts of the Project’s team of experts, the City will be able to develop a creative and socially innovative model to help revitalize properties and neighborhoods in our inner city neighborhoods.”

The Mayors Innovation Project (MIP) is a learning network among American mayors committed to “high road” policy and governance, shared prosperity, environmental sustainability, and efficient democratic government. The Mayors Innovation Project was founded in 2005 by former Madison, Wisconsin mayor Dave Cieslewicz and Dr. Joel Rogers, a UW-Madison professor and director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) and the Center for State Innovation (CSI). Participating cities include megalopolises like Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York; large cities like Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Milwaukee, and Seattle; and smaller cities like Cincinnati, Des Moines, Portland, Auburn and Scranton. The Mayors Innovation Project Technical Assistance Program was launched in 2011 to provide more customized and hands-on assistance to mayors and their staffs on particular innovations or problems through a combination of applied research, policy analysis, evaluation, and recommendations for action.

"We're pleased to provide assistance to mayors and cities wanting to move onto the high road," said Rogers. "Community revitalization is important to cities everywhere. What we learn from working with Auburn will be shared with our members across the country.”

The Program incorporates both on-site and remote consulting to:

Address specific policy problems or opportunities identified by individual, or groups of, MIP members;
Provide best-practice research into model policy solutions adopted in other cities;
Present city-specific data and evidence to drive fact-based policy design;
Develop individually tailored solutions and implementation plans for MIP members to address the issue in question; and,
Identify potential support for specific policies.

The team of experts picked to assist Auburn will be led by Eric Schnurer, Public Works, LLC. Public Works, LLC, based in West Chester, PA, provides high-level policy development, management, strategic planning, and implementation to public sector entities.

For more information the Mayors Innovation Project, visit www.mayorsinnovation.org.

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City of Auburn
25 West Main Street
Auburn, WA 98001
253-931-3000