PRESS RELEASE

FORMER GOVERNORS WHITMAN, GLENDENING
TO CO-CHAIR NATIONAL SMART GROWTH COUNCIL

Bi-partisan group of business, labor, government and civic leaders will share ideas and use influence to advance
alternatives to urban sprawl

Members include former HUD Secretary Cisneros, mayors of Charlotte, Rochester and executive of King County, WA, and notables in finance, development, labor; First meeting Sept. 30

WASHINGTON, DC – President Bush’s first EPA Administrator has joined forces with a Democratic former governor known for his smart-growth initiative to create a high-level council of government, business and civic leaders that aims to promote alternatives to urban sprawl.

Co-chaired by former New Jersey Gov. and U.S. EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman and former Maryland Gov. Parris N. Glendening, the first meeting of the National Smart Growth Council convenes Sept. 30 at the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C.

“Having seen these issues now from both the state and national levels, I am more convinced than ever of the urgent need to give communities the tools they need to shape their futures,” Gov. Whitman said. “I am especially pleased to be working with a politically diverse group, because we cannot afford to let America’s quality of life become a partisan issue.”

The National Smart Growth Council will serve both as a forum for prominent public officials, business leaders, labor, and experts to share their views of progress toward smart growth, and as an incubator of new ideas for how to help communities plan for healthy growth and development.

Current members of the National Smart Growth Council include Anne Arvia, President and CEO of ShoreBank; Robin Chase, founding CEO of ZipCar; Henry Cisneros, President and CEO American City Vista; Jim Dodge, former CEO Providence Energy; Bill Hudnut, Senior fellow for Public Policy at the Urban Land Institute; Bill Johnson, Mayor of Rochester; Gary Lawrence, Principal Sustainability Consultant ARUP; Pat McCrory, Mayor of Charlotte; Roger Platt, Senior Vice President Real Estate Roundtable; Jonathan Rose, President Rose Companies; Dr. Anthony Santomero, President Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia; Ron Sims, Executive of King County,WA; and Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of San Francisco’s Bay Area Council.

“Whether in the private or public sector, the members of the council are among the most innovative thinkers in their fields,” Gov. Glendening said. “Gov. Whitman and I are excited about the opportunity to get these important players in finance, development, local and state government, business and labor together. With all of us in the same room, we certainly will be a significant force for further progress.”

“Americans are looking for solutions to daily assaults on their quality of life, including traffic, affordable housing shortages and vanishing natural areas,” said Don Chen, executive director of Smart Growth America, which will provide staff support to the council. "I am delighted that these leaders are dedicating their valuable time to help deliver those solutions.”

The council will seek ways to influence government, business and industry to remove the barriers to applying the principles of good planning, which have come to be known collectively as smart growth. Some of those include:

• Preserve and revitalize existing towns and cities instead of subsidizing development of natural areas;

• Make efficient use of tax dollars spent on the roads, schools, sewers and other infrastructure needed to support new development;

• Preserve forest, farm and other open land; and

• Offer broader, more convenient and more affordable choices in housing and transportation.

Smart Growth America is a diverse coalition of nearly 100 non-profit organizations with a stake in how metropolitan expansion affects our environment, quality of life and economic sustainability. Coalition partners include national, state and local groups working on behalf of the environment, historic preservation, housing affordability, social equity, land conservation, neighborhood redevelopment, farmland protection, business, labor, public health and town planning and design.

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