Mayor Roberta “Birdie” Cano along with council members Melissa Nelson, Darcey McKee and Jim MacLean, traveled to Washington D.C. in mid-March to participate in the League of Cities annual meeting. During this visit, Mayor Cano had the opportunity to meet with President Joe Biden.
Mayor Cano wrote about the trip on social media in a Facebook post saying, “I was one of roughly 20 people selected out of thousands of mayors and elected officials nationwide to meet President Biden.”
This trip, one of several undertaken by the mayor and council members for legislative purposes, was aimed at securing federal funding for various city projects. Councilmember Jim MacLean underscored the importance of these trips, linking them to successful past efforts that secured nearly $70 million in federal funds for the city. This includes $66 million for a levee project two years ago and $2.5 million recently earmarked for a new 2.5-million-gallon water tank.
During their time in D.C., the Winslow delegation focused on several key projects and funding requests. The reconstruction of the Winslow Levee was a primary topic, highlighting the dire need for this project due to its impact on the community’s safety and economic prospects, although in their talking points they were not seeking additional funding for this project.
The I-40 Tradeport project, which has not been voted on by council and has been met with significant public backlash was one of the city’s main talking points for the trip to D.C. The main criticism of the plan was its proximity to the neighborhoods of Southside and Coopertown but the project developers, Atlas Global, have since said they will not be building there anymore. However, that decision had not yet been made when the council advocated for the project in the nation’s capital last month.
The City of Winslow went there seeking $25 million in Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity funding. The talking points break down the amount requested $6.25 million for each of the project sites in Winslow, Kingman and Albuquerque as well as $6.25 million for corridor wide enhancements.
Other projects they advocated for include a funding request of $811,816 for new police vehicles to support the Winslow Police Department, covering the acquisition of patrol SUVs, trucks and administration vehicles. Additionally, the Downtown Stormwater Project, with a funding request of $3.2 million, aims to address flooding and ponding issues in the city’s main tourist area by installing storm drainage infrastructure to improve safety and the area’s visual appeal.
Finally, the Winslow main line wastewater infrastructure upgrade, requiring $3 million was proposed to enhance sewer services for downtown and residential areas and support future development along Highway 87.
