Democratic Municipal Officials Digest
Week of 9/23/2019

Quick Links

• What Congress Learned from Miami Gardens

• Overdose Deaths Rising Faster in Cities Than Rural Areas

• Economics in Brief: Zero-Carbon Cities Could Be Worth $24 Trillion, Report Says

Ideas for Cities

• Very Bad Bus Signs and How to Make Them Better

• A Plan to Spruce Up Vacant Lots to Reduce Gun Violence

• Five Elements Cities Need to Address “Hypervacancy” and Catalyze Neighborhood Recovery

Messaging – Talking Points on the UAW Strike

• The UAW contract expired on September 14, 2019. Now, nearly 50,000 U.S. autoworkers are on strike against General Motors (GM) for the first time since 2007. This is one of the biggest strikes by any labor organization in the U.S. in over a decade

• UAW Members are standing up for fair wages, affordable and quality health care, their share of profits, job security, and a defined path to permanent seniority for temps.

• When GM was facing bankruptcy, UAW and the American taxpayers made hard choices and sacrifices to save the company.
• When adjusted for inflation, the average hourly wages for production and non-supervisory workers in motor vehicle manufacturing have declined by over 20% since 2000 for all production throughout the United States, not just GM.
• GM is enjoying record profits over the past three years.
• GM CEO Mary Barra makes $21 million a year, taking home $281 for every $1 the average employee makes.

News for Democrats

• Starving Seniors: How America Fails To Feed Its Aging

• States Try to Stop Political Deepfake Videos

• Whistleblower Complaint Focuses On Trump’s Request To Ukraine’s President

DMO Update

• DMO is hosting its annual Board retreat in Detroit this week.

• We will be continuing our year-long video project with the help of Board Alumni Lou La Monte. See what we’ve been working on at November’s breakfast at NLC San Antonio.

• The Board will also be engaging in ongoing strategic planning to plot DMO’s course through the 2020 elections and beyond.