Jackson Free Press

Even though he is a "blue" president and Mississippi is a "red" state, local and state politicians are expecting more federal help with municipal money problems now that Barack Obama is heading to the White House.

The president-elect made big promises about more federal aid to local governments at a June campaign speech at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Miami.

"I've laid out an ambitious urban poverty plan that will help make sure no child begins the race of life behind the starting line; and create public-private business incubators to open up economic opportunity. That's why I'll fully fund the COPS program, restore funding for the Community Development Block Grant program, and recruit more teachers to our cities, and pay them more, and give them more support. And that's why I've proposed real relief for struggling homeowners and a trust fund to provide affordable housing," Obama told the audience.

"[S]trong cities are the building blocks of strong regions, and strong regions are essential for a strong America," he added.

Jackson City Council President Leslie McLemore cited Obama's history in the Illinois Senate and as a community organizer as reason to believe the incoming president will hold true to his promises.

"His entryway into the political arena in the Illinois Senate through community organizing in Chicago is about as basic as you can get," McLemore said. "You can't get more entry level than that beyond serving in a local position as a city council person. You have a greater appreciation for state and local government when you serve in that capacity. For that reason, I think he will feel an affinity to counties and cities and recognize their plight."

U.S. Rep Bennie Thompson, now the most powerful Democrat Mississippi has to offer—and thus the most powerful politician in the state now that the Dems own the House, Senate and White House—said he also believes the new president will likely move some emphasis away from the unpopular war in Iraq and place more resources in local government.

"Obama's talking about a lot of the issues around affordable housing, and local government in Mississippi should be really interested," Thompson said. "This would be an opportune time to come forth with a package that they can take advantage of."

U.S. Rep. Travis Childers, a Democrat from North Mississippi, said his conversations with co-workers suggested the House was willing to tag along with Obama on local community reinvestment.

"The Congress, I believe, is committed to turning the economy around, and it doesn't seem happy doing that with these big bailouts. I know, at least, that I'm opposed to huge bailouts without oversight, and I don't think the American people are happy with them either," Childers said. "The people are interested in community improvement, and I think places like Tupelo and Jackson will benefit from this new attitude."

Childers said the faltering economy was pushing the House to commit to improvements quickly. The U.S. Labor Department reported in December that employers slashed 533,000 jobs in November, the most lost in 34 years—which rocketed the nation's unemployment rate up to 6.7 percent.

The renewed emphasis may also have some ties to party mentality. Democrats have traditionally put a higher priority upon local governments than Republicans have during the last 16 years.

McLemore, who served as a Jackson city councilman during both the administrations of Democratic President Bill Clinton and Republican President George Bush, said the differences in how the city was treated by each was as obvious "as day and night."

"Clinton clearly understood the interplay between local government and state government. Bush, as the governor of Texas, obviously didn't have an interest in looking at how government works, and his attitude, I think, really didn't change after he became president," McLemore said.

McLemore cited as example the city's participation in the COPS program under both presidents.

"Clinton really made that program work. He emphasized putting more police on the street and providing better protection for local communities, but Bush came in and slashed the program. In fact, he tried to eliminate it, though he wasn't successful in that."

Thompson said he had already heard the COPS program stands a strong chance of being reinvigorated. "The goal of COPS was to put 100,000 police on the streets. The truth is, all those programs helped the local government and reduced crime, and I've heard it could make a comeback.

The COPS program, for all its good intent, was only designed to grant a temporary boost to law enforcement by providing three years' worth of money to fund new positions in local police departments. It relied on city governments to tweak their budgets to sustain the new employees in the long term.

Gov. Haley Barbour advised Obama at a Dec. 1 mayor's conference in Philadelphia, Pa., to target one-time money to one-time equipment or raw material purchases rather than steering it toward programs and positions that require annual budgeting—at least as far as state governments were concerned.

Thompson said some one-time money programs, such as COPS, were worth tweaking local budgets to maintain, however: "It's a three-year program, but if we give you the money for three years, surely you can do some budget planning and pick those individuals up at the end of three years," he said.