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Co -Chair <br />The Honorable Sharon Weston <br />Broome <br />Baton Rouge, LA <br />Co -Chair <br />The Honorable Bob Gallagher <br />Bettendorf, IA <br />Executive Committee <br />The Honorable Melvin Carter <br />St. Paul, MN <br />The Honorable David Hemmer <br />Prairie de Chien, WI, <br />Treasurer <br />The Honorable Mike Bawden <br />Riverdale, IA <br />The Honorable Phil Stang <br />Kimmswick, MO <br />The Honorable Robert Eastern <br />East St. Louis, IL <br />Secretary <br />The Honorable Kevin Smith <br />Helena- West Helena, AR <br />The Honorable Jim Strickland <br />Memphis, TN <br />The Honorable George Flaggs <br />Vicksburg, MS <br />The Honorable Belinda Constant <br />Gretna, LA <br />Mississippi River <br />Cities & Towns Initiati <br />An Association of United States <br />Our River Like Our Democracy Shall Flow Unhindered <br />June 1, 2021 <br />The Honorable Mark Kuzma <br />City Hall, Office of the Mayor <br />7550 Sunwood Drive, NW <br />Ramsey, MN 55303 <br />Dear Mayor Kuzma, <br />Our Post -Pandemic Recovery is Fragile and Depends on Mayors <br />The post -pandemic period of recovery and regained growth we are entering has been initiated <br />by both a smooth role -out of the vaccine and the American Rescue Plan; but real success is <br />dependent on how well we as Mayors kept our region intact during this unprecedented time <br />and how well we work together to apply new but very temporary resources on the ground. <br />Revenue Replacement is Only the Beginning <br />MRCTI worked closely with Congressional leadership and other local government groups <br />throughout the pandemic to ensure revenue replacement was included in the American <br />Rescue Plan, that both medium and large cities received direct payments, and the smaller <br />cities were guaranteed a share. Shoring -up our budgets, however, is only the first step in our <br />recovery, now we must turn to our infrastructure or we risk all we've gained. <br />Mayors of the Mississippi River can Move an Infrastructure Package More Than Most <br />Because our Corridor is so crucial to the national economy, the built and natural infrastructure <br />of our cities is paramount. Our roads, our bridges, our parks, our utilities, and our services all <br />comprise the physical platform our economy operates on. As individual cities, our reach is <br />limited, but as an association, we can be the urgency our leaders need to see to act. <br />MRCTI Empowers our Cities Collectively and Individually <br />MRCTI is one of those very rare organizations that has a split mandate to lift our municipalities <br />collectively as well as help each of us realize our own priorities for our towns; but we need to <br />bring some investment back to the whole to make that mandate function. <br />With MRCTI, your city can receive an entire suite of project investment services including <br />consulting, exposure to global capitol, and partnerships with international organizations that <br />elevate your town's priorities and meet your needs. Assistance with earmarks, planning, <br />connection to new opportunities, and links into both public and private sector developments <br />otherwise out of reach are part of what is offered to dues -paying member cities. <br />We hope you can join your voice to ours and together we can prevail and prosper by making <br />this new recovery long-lasting and systemic. Unified and cooperative we can build -back -better. <br />Sharon Weston Broome <br />Mayor of Baton Rouge, LA <br />MRCTI Co -Chair <br />-0 A ATiteNt <br />Bob Gallagher <br />Mayor of Bettendorf, IA <br />MRCTI Co -Chair <br />MRCTI • 1520 Market Street • Suite 2000 • St. Louis • Missouri 63103 <br />