New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined the Morning Joe crew to unveil the five winners of the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Mayors Challenge, a grant competition that invites mayors to improve their cities through localized initiatives funded to the tune of $1 million dollars. The competition celebrated and awarded grants to ideas that were “transferable” and could be applied to other cities’ problems.
The projects aim to combat problems at every end of the spectrum, from recycling to early education to citizen well-being.
“It’s the cities around the world that are addressing the real issues – crime and education and culture and the environment and that sort of thing,” Bloomberg said on Morning Joe. “Particularly, I love that more conservative elements who say there’s too much big government and say it should be local. Well, that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
The winning mayors are Philadelphia’s Michael Nutter, Providence’s Angel Taveras, Houston’s Annise Parker, Santa Monica’s Pam O’Connor, and Chicago’s Rahm Emanuel.
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Jane Timm