Illinois mayors attend White House conference in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (KFVS) - On Thursday, February 22, Forty-five mayors from throughout Illinois and representatives of the Illinois Municipal League gathered in Washington, D.C. to attend a "Mayors of Illinois White House Conference" and discuss issues of importance to municipalities.

The purpose of the conference was to build working relationships between mayors and high-ranking officials within the federal government.

Mayors met with senior administration officials from the White House and agency liaisons from the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Transportation, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Housing and Urban Development.

"The White House Conference was an important opportunity for local elected officials from Illinois to make connections in Washington and articulate the needs and concerns of their communities," said Brad Cole, Illinois Municipal League Executive Director. "The relationships we are building ensure that we have a strong, unified voice at the federal level."

The group discussed issues on the Illinois Municipal League (IML) Federal Legislative Agenda, which is available online at legislative.iml.org, including the federal infrastructure plan that was released earlier in February.

"The conference allowed direct interaction with key high ranking officials on a variety of topics and created a direct line of communications with them as we go forward," Herrin's Mayor, Steve Frattin, said.  "We can now pick up the telephone and call direct lines and send an e-mail straight to specific individuals without going thru the bureaucratic routines. There seemed to be a genuine attentiveness and interest in what we had to say".

Download the KFVS News app: iPhone | Android

Copyright 2018 KFVS. All rights reserved