Tomorrow the First Tier Suburbs Council will meet here in Washington DC as part of the National League of Cities conference. This will be my first official meeting since being named as a Vice Chair of the FTS Steering Committee. I'm excited about the program tomorrow and to have been a part of developing it:
 

• Conan Smith, Washtenaw County Commissioner and Executive Director, Michigan Suburbs Alliance, Redevelopment Ready Communities Program
• Carl Deidrich, Councilmember, Maricopa, Arizona, Redevelopment District Plan
• William Hudnut III, Founder and Principal, Bill Hudnut Consultants LLC; Senior Resident Fellow Emeritus for Public Policy, Urban Land Institute; Former Mayor, Indianapolis, Indiana; Former Councilmember and Mayor, Chevy Chase, Maryland; Founder, First Tier Suburbs Council

Conan Smith spoke to the Steering Committee at our meeting last spring. They have developed a program to measure if communities are redevelopment friendy. They look at zoning rules, the permitting process, and other elements that gives developers confidence they can have their projects approved and started within reasonable parameters.
 
I don't know much about the Redevelopment District being used in Maricopa but I'm looking forward to finding out more.
 
I always enjoy seeing and hearing William Hudnut. Author of such books like Cities on the Rebound: A Vision for Urban America and Halfway to Everywhere: A Portrait of America's First-Tier Suburbs, he was among the earliest to notice the decline in first ring suburbs and to challenge it. I first met him at the Greater Dallas Planning Council's Metromorphis symposium on first ring suburbs. He spoke last year to the North Texas Commission's annual luncheon.
 
While here, there will be opportunities to hear prominent speakers from the administration and to attend workshops on a variety of subjects. Monday's opening session will be addressed by Sen Susan Collins (Maine). Other speakers will include Steven Chu, Energy Secretary, Lisa Jackson, EPA Adimistrator, Eric Holder, Attorney General, Shaun Donovan, HUD Secretary, Ray LaHood, Transportation Secretary, Valerie Jarrett, White House Advisor and Assistant of the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison, and Janet Napolitano, Homeland Security Secretary. Wednesday we will have time to visit with our North Texas Congressional delegation.