President tells Mayors to spend wisely....

Well, as Karin highlighted with pleasure, we've now got a head for the new Office of Urban Affairs. And you may recall that last week I was wondering aloud about how Mayors will be held accountable when it comes to ensuring monies invested in Recovery are well spent in our cities. Though the devil is always in the details, one thing is for sure - systemic change always needs leadership from the top. And I'm pleased to be writing today that we've certainly got that in terms of the messages getting out. The President recently spoke to the United States Conference of Mayors and stressed that the emphasis on greater transparency and accountability in terms of the public spend is going to be pushed down through the chain of command. He said: “I want to be clear about this: We cannot tolerate business as usual -- not in Washington, not in our state capitols, not in America’s cities and towns.” The Mayors have been warned.....

See the New York Times coverage for more details.