Historic White House Meeting: NBC-LEO President Johnson Met with President Obama
January 10, 2011
by Mary Gordon
For the first time in U.S. history, the President of the United States met with the collective leadership of the various member organizations of African American elected officials. The National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, celebrating 40 years of national leadership, was among them.
Last month, the leadership of the National Policy Alliance (NPA) held an audience with President Obama to articulate its collective agenda and express its support, concerns and recommended policy solutions. This meeting is an outcome of biweekly calls between NPA and the White House coordinated through the White House Office of Public Engagement during the past two years. NBC-LEO President Michael Johnson, councilmember, Phoenix, Ariz., represented thousands of elected municipal officials at the meeting.
“Local elected officials from municipalities not only represent African American communities, we also represent other diverse constituents,” Johnson said. “Disparities in receiving federal funding for programs remain a crucial issue for African American communities at the local level, and we want to continue to find solutions to address this need so that we can increase access to jobs and economic recovery. Providing targeted fiscal assistance directly to local governments to help save public sector jobs and putting large numbers of unemployed individuals in America’s cities and towns back to work quickly through a Public Service Employment Program are two examples where African American communities can begin to actively be a part of an economic rebirth.”
The President joined the White House meeting hosted by his senior advisor, Valerie Jarrett, to discuss a variety of pressing policy issues that affect millions of Americans like job creation, health care, judicial appointments, ex-offender re-entry, health, education and economic growth. The President thanked the group for sharing its concerns and continuous engagement with the White House.
“It was an honor to represent the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials as we celebrate our 40-year anniversary,” Johnson said. “The meeting of leaders of the National Policy Alliance, of which NBC-LEO is a founding member, with President Obama, was crucial for us and our constituencies. ... For NBC-LEO members and colleagues, it was an historic day for all of us to hear from the president and have him hear from us.”