Two weeks ago, I asked President Obama when he was going to get around to raising the minimum wage? I recall a key campaign promise to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour and to index it for inflation, putting wages on an automatic increase from now on. The social justice oriented Unitarian Church is already calling for $10 per hour.
So what have got, 100 days in? Not much. Take in a sample of whats circulating in the blogosphere.
My support for Obama rested heavily on his understanding of issues facing those of us who live in cities. He outlined a Katrina Recovery Plan. I supported it. He outlined help for struggling families. I supported it. He put forward plans to fight urban poverty. I supported that too. Unlike any President we've had in a long time, finally we had a city dweller in the oval office.
But a sampling of opinionated bloggers reveals much the same frustration I have: so far, all we've got is an executive order creating the Office of Urban Affairs Policy (still no website), a rather undistinguished politician in Adolfo Carrion appointed as its director (not an Obama person), and thats about it.
From Dayo Olopade's fantastic piece on The Root::
But celebrations about the potential triumph of urban policy may be premature. In recent weeks, the Obama administration has begun referring to the office as "urban affairs," rather than "urban policy," a small but notable downgrade. And while other offices and Cabinet agencies have been staffing up—the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships has representation in 12 government agencies—100 days in, urban affairs has announced only two senior staffers: Derek Douglas, who was special adviser to New York Gov. David Paterson, and former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Jr., who faces allegations of mismanaging campaign donations and development projects in New York City.
Dayo isn't the only one to notice too. Sarah Goodyear from Streetsblog noted the same thing.
Perhaps the damning criticism comes from the President's home base, the South Side of Chicago. This is from yesterday's Chicago Sun Times:
Of the money that has been allocated, Sheryl Holman, CEO of Community Assistance Programs, complained that union construction jobs promised under the stimulus package will not help the poor.
"We don’t ever get those jobs," Holman said, recalling the time she brought 10 young men who had trained to be carpenters to be admitted to the union.
"We got to the door. I had my 10 guys. They said there were too many carpenters on the street now and they could not open up membership at this time, and they closed the door," Holman said. "After weeks of classroom. After weeks of internship."
"Were they all black?" Burris asked, interrupting her. She nodded and said, "Yes."
"Well, there you go," Burris said.
Progress Illinois, by way of Adam Doster, was instructive about what needs to be done:
To be fair, Obama's stimulus bill sent a lot of money into urban centers, including highway construction, transit improvements, school modernization, community development block grants, and social programs like food stamps and Medicaid that serve city residents. But if the administration wants to make good on its campaign promise to "stop seeing cities as the problem and start seeing them as the solution," they need to sort out the problems stunting the development of Carrión's office. Finding someone to serve as urbanism's outspoken advocate and defining exactly what urban policy issues the office should promote would help.
I don't expact the President to fix all the problems of the cities right away. Nor do I expect them to be in the stimulus package. But this is budget season, and it makes no sense that we have such a weak advocate like Carrion. The executive order the President has outlines gives this person some real muscle, but it needs a real urban policy leader, not a potted plant, lazy politician.
So, if the administration is listening, here is what I think you can do in less than a news cycle:
- Fire Carrion. He's under ethics investigation anyway. He's proven to be useless as an administrator. He's not versed in urban issues or poverty issues. Get a real Chicago person who is a friend of the President or the First Lady, and who also knows their stuff. Most importantly, someone who knows how to ADVOCATE.
- Submit a minimum wage bill. This seems like a no brainer to me. Just do it, pass it, forget about. In these times, trust...nobody is going to vote against it except the truly crazy.
- Hold a summit. Like healthcare or energy. Keep in mind, it is folks in the cities who are going to be using all this new energy and healthcare. Why not bring together all those who are concerned with urban life and let them know they are part of this White House?
Lets see some movement Mr. President.