US embassy cable - 05OTTAWA2105

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 OTTAWA 002105 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR ECA/PE/V/R/W - EWILKES-SCOTT 
 
STATE FOR WHA/PDA - JANE CARPENTER-ROCK 
 
STATE FOR WHA/CAN - TERRY BREESE 
 
STATE FOR H 
 
STATE PASS HUD FOR KAREN E. DALY 
 
APP WINNIPEG MESSAGE 2005/06 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OEXC, PREL, CA 
SUBJECT: FY 2005 IVLP EVALUATION: GORD STEEVES; JANUARY 30 - 
FEBRUARY 19, 2005; U.S. MUNICIPAL MANAGEMENT 
 
Ref: [A] State 188314, 259032, [B] Ottawa 2285 
 
1.  Summary: Program evaluation for International Visitor 
Leadership Program grantee Gord Steeves.  End summary. 
 
2.  MPP Theme Addressed:  Open Markets, Mutual understanding. 
Strategic Goal: Economic Prosperity. 
 
3.  Post Objectives:  For Mr. Steeves to learn about the 
efficient operation of municipalities and how successful U.S. 
cities have managed to thrive in the face of real diversity and 
financial constraint through the study of: 
 
 
-- Progressive municipal funding models, including the 
implementation of economic growth based revenues such as user-pay 
systems and sales-type taxation. 
 
 -- Land use planning with long term financial benefit  - such as 
full costing on development and mixed-use zoning  - and the long- 
term policy documents that support them. 
 
-- Infrastructure partnerships with other levels of government 
and with the private sector and the funding models used. 
 
-- Alternate service delivery of basic civic services that 
include union involvement in contracting out as well as equitable 
methods of service abandonment. 
 
-- The cost effective delivery of fire and policing services with 
emphasis on preventative and community type services. 
 
4.  Results: Steeves reported that the program exceeded even the 
high expectations he had set for it before he left home.  Not 
only did it thoroughly cover his professional areas of interest 
by giving him a solid overview of municipal management in several 
regions of the United States, but the experience he gained by 
getting to know the United States and its people was an 
unexpected bonus and gives him a much better understanding of the 
country.  He also greatly valued the opportunity to learn more 
about U.S. federalism and how policy is made in the United 
States. 
 
The highlight of Steeves' IVLP was attending the State of the 
Union address.  He is most appreciative to the organizers at the 
Meridian International Center for securing this once-in-a- 
lifetime opportunity for him.  Steeves is a self-confessed 
"political junkie" and to have the opportunity to watch the 
President deliver the State of the Union Address is an experience 
he will never forget.  Steeves found the security process for 
gaining access to the Chamber daunting - even by Washington 
standards.  On the advice of his hosts, he started the procedure 
several hours in advance - beating the biggest rush - and 
proceeded through multiple layers of screening and checking of 
documents.  But in the end, he fully understands the needs for 
such precautions and said it was more than worth it. 
 
The school visits were another highlight of the trip.  At 
Steeves' request, Post recommended that Steeves be given the 
opportunity to speak to school groups during his program.  During 
the course of his program, he spoke to classes in three cities 
(Washington, Indianapolis and Seattle) and thoroughly enjoyed all 
of them.  He found the students bright, articulate, well informed 
and very interested in learning about Canada and discussing 
current issues. 
 
Steeves especially enjoyed his meetings with city councillors and 
other elected officials during his IVLP, and wishes that his 
schedule had permitted him to spend even more time in these 
meetings.  He mentioned specifically a meeting he had with city 
councillors in Indianapolis.  Steeves found it very useful to 
hear the perspective of American elected officials on the 
political process and how policy is developed and implemented, 
especially with respect to alternative service delivery models 
and service abandonment, while maintaining vital core services. 
Unfortunately, Steeves was in the middle of a particularly busy 
day and had to leave after only 30 minutes in order to make his 
next appointment.  On that particular day, he had eight meetings 
in a row, and he said he felt bad because he was having trouble 
keeping on schedule and was late for several of the meetings. 
 
Steeves noted however that throughout most of the program, he had 
ample free time that allowed him to reflect on the meetings he 
had taken part in and prepare for future meetings, do a bit of 
exploration of the cities and neighborhoods, and catch up on his 
emails and a few phone calls.  On average he found the pace about 
right. 
 
Steeves also enjoyed the home hospitality he was treated to in 
Seattle and San Diego.  He enjoyed his hosts, and appreciated the 
opportunity to visit with them outside the formal part of the 
program.  He plans to keep in touch with his home hospitality 
hosts and several other people he was introduced to outside of 
the daytime program.  Steeves extended an invitation for them to 
visit Winnipeg, but is not aware of anyone who plans to come here 
in the near future.  He noted that no one knew much about 
Winnipeg, but everybody seemed quite interested in hearing more 
about life here and the issues the city is dealing with. 
 
Steeves was surprised to learn about the amount of government 
involvement and regulation in Americans' lives.  He thought the 
role of government in the United States would be more limited, 
but he found it was more similar to Canada than he expected.  He 
was amazed at the "layer on top of layer" of government in the 
United States, where an urban resident will have five or six 
levels of government to deal with:  city, county, metropolitan 
and/or regional, state and federal - and each has representatives 
with an elected mandate to represent the population.  He was less 
surprised by the quantity of elected officials - politicians, 
judges, auditors, etc - and appreciated the opportunity his IVLP 
gave him to learn about how all these individuals and layers of 
government interact to make policy and provide services. 
 
Steeves was interested to learn about the variety of revenue 
sources available to U.S. cities, including a variety of sales 
taxes and user fees that are not available to Canadian cities. 
He was intrigued by the citizen initiative process in Seattle 
that can be used to raise money for special projects, such as 
libraries. 
 
Another highlight of Steeves' IVLP was the opportunity to take in 
a high school basketball game in Seattle one evening.  He was 
very impressed with the skills level of the players, the size of 
the crowd and the extent that they were involved in the game. 
 
Steeves plans to stay in touch with many of the people he met 
during his IVLP and mentioned three in particular:  Jim Brooks of 
the National League of Cities (Steeves saw Brooks again a few 
weeks after his program at a Canadian municipal meeting), City 
Councillor Rozelle Boyd in Indianapolis, and Ellis Hankins of the 
North Carolina League of Municipalities. 
 
Logistically, Steeves was very pleased with how smoothly 
everything went.  He commended Erica and Amal at Meridian for 
setting up an excellent program that ran very well.  It went so 
well that he needed very little assistance from them.  There were 
no problems with hotels, flights, or cars.  There was only one no- 
show for a meeting (in Raleigh).  On rental cars, Steeves noted 
that they were expensive and a "hassle" for parking and dropping 
off on his way to the airport.  He told us that he didn't really 
need a car in San Diego or Indianapolis, although he did find the 
car useful in Seattle. 
 
5.  APP WINNIPEG SENDS.