US public trusts city leaders more than federal government

US citizens hold their city officials in higher regard than Congress, a new survey commissioned by the United States Conference of Mayors (UCSM) has revealed.

Cities of the 21st Century, a survey of 2,425 respondents across America commissioned by USCM to mark the opening of their annual Winter Meeting in Washington DC, found that 47 percent of respondents believed “things in your city are heading in the right direction” compared with 32 percent of respondents who felt “things in your city are off on the wrong track”.

By contrast, 29 percent of those surveyed agreed that “things in the US are heading in the right direction” compared with 55 percent who believed “things in the US are off on the wrong track”. More than half of those polled reckoned their city “embraces the 21st century more than it is stuck in the 21st century”.

The 300 US Mayors attending the conference were cheered by the findings that people trust a city mayor more than a federal politician to implement effective policy solutions.

Thirty-eight percent of people polled in the study, conducted by Zogby Analytics, trusted their city/ town government to do a good job on behalf of the majority of people. Twenty-eight percent of respondents trusted their state government while 19 percent trusted federal government.

Thirty-seven percent trusted their mayor when it comes to initiating new ideas, innovation and economic growth compared with 33 percent trusting their state governor, 26 percent trusting their Congressmen or Congresswomen and 17 percent trusting their Wall Street adviser.

Respondents cited ‘convenience/access to services’ as the best thing about life in a city followed by ‘art/culture/events/things to do’ and ‘people/diversity.’ The least attractive factors about living in a city were ‘[it is] crowded/too many people’, ‘crime’ and ‘traffic/congestion’.

At this year’s meeting, Tom Cochran, UCSM CEO and Executive Director, has introduced a State of the Cities Address to be given by the sitting USCM President, a day after the US President’s State of the Union address.

Delivering the inaugural address, Kevin Johnson, current USCM President and Mayor of Sacramento, California, said: “Americans want Washington to do less and cities to do more. Cities simply cannot be expected to be passive players waiting around for resources and directions that may or not materialise. We’re modernising the way we run our cities so we have to modernise the relationship we have with our federal government.”

Democrat Mayor Johnson praised President Obama’s State of Union address. He said: “The state of the union is strong because the state of the cities is strong. The nation’s mayors are pleased that President Obama embraces proposals that make cities strong and grow local economies by helping working families.”

But Mick Cornett, Republican Mayor of Oklahoma City and Second Vice President of the bipartisan USCM organisation, said at a press conference: “The President’s speech just seemed like more of the same, more of the partisan divide. I think it would have been an interesting study to turn the sound down.”