Southern black mayors conference postponed

JACKSON, Miss. - The recession is causing organizers to delay a three-day conference that was designed give black mayors from six southern states a chance to discuss economic development strategies and ways to tap into the federal stimulus program.

The Gulf Coast Black Mayors Conference was to be held July 12-15 at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., with mayors from Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, Alabama, and Florida scheduled to attend.

Organizers said Monday they now hope the event can be rescheduled for next month.

Many mayors who wanted to attend the event are dealing with budget cuts, causing them to be more frugal about travel expenses, conference organizer James Gilmore said.

"We were hoping to get between 25 and 50 mayors," Gilmore said. "A lot of mayors said they wanted to come ... but for those mayors, it was kind of hard to justify having cuts and not doing well and 'I'm flying to Louisiana for three days.'"

About 12 mayors had registered before the postponement, Gilmore said.

The event was to be conducted by the Louisiana Center for Equitable Development at Southern University in conjunction with the National Conference of Black Mayors.

Michael A. Stubblefield, a vice chancellor at the Louisiana Center for Equitable Development, said in a news release that the decision to postpone the event "was driven by several factors, along with registration numbers that may have been impacted by the national economic environment."

Organizers said the event was designed to give mayors a chance to learn about effective strategies for tapping into the federal stimulus program and to enhance their technical skills in budget planning and monitoring during these tough economic times.

The conference was also to include sessions on strategies in creating economic development opportunities for minority contractors and the benefits of affordable housing.

Gilmore said officials are looking to added sponsors to cut down on travel and lodging expenses. And he said budget cuts in Louisiana hurt the timing of the event.

"When you are having some layoffs and you're having to cut your budget, you kind of also don't want to be having events and activities and expenditures that people may perceive as not as much of a priority," Gilmore said.

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