Mass. well-represented at NLC conference

More than 100 local officials from Massachusetts attended the National League of Cities’ annual Congress of Cities and Exposition, which was held at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center from Nov. 28 through Dec. 1.

Five Massachusetts municipalities – Arlington, Boston, Danvers, Lowell and Sudbury – were featured in the City Showcase, which highlighted innovative programs at the conference’s trade show.

Arlington’s booth focused on its program to combat extreme hoarding, a problem that has only recently emerged as a public health issue.

“It’s something that’s always existed; it’s not new,” said James Feeney, Arlington’s public health compliance officer. “But now people are aware that there are ways of dealing with it.”

Lowell highlighted an initiative that channels resources to neighborhoods that Theresa Park, the city’s economic development director, describes as “vital nodes of social interaction and commerce.”

Under the program, Park said, neighborhood businesses receive advice and other assistance, including participation in a two-hour workshop focusing on ways to improve one’s business, through efforts such as adopting more energy-efficient lighting. One-on-one consultation is also offered to help individuals develop a business plan, with the promise of matching money from the city should the business owner obtain a grant.

Sudbury’s exhibit detailed the work the town did, along with Bedford, Concord Lexington, Lincoln and Weston, to create an inventory of the towns’ affordable-housing stock.

Danvers showcased its Project Sunshine program, which was built from scratch in 2011 to create recreational programming for kids of homeless families who were being housed in Danvers motels.

Both the Sudbury and Danvers programs received innovation awards from the MMA in 2012.

Boston spotlighted several initiatives, including the Hubway bike-share program that was introduced in 2011 and has since expanded into Brookline, Cambridge and Somerville. The Mayor’s Office of New Bostonians, which caters to recent immigrants, was also featured, as well as Success Boston, which seeks to bolster the proportion of city high school graduates who finish college in a timely fashion.

“Mayor [Thomas] Menino has been very proud that close to 80 percent of Boston high school graduates go on to college,” said Linda Kowalcky, the mayor’s liaison to colleges and universities.

Kowalcky added, however, that Menino has been “dismayed” that only 35 percent of those high school graduates receive college diplomas within five years.

Menino was scheduled to open the conference, but ill health prevented him from attending.

Massachusetts local officials attended a broad range of workshops, including a Friday morning session titled “Supporting Startups and Entrepreneurs.” Swampscott Town Administrator Thomas Younger described the workshop as “very helpful.”

“In Swampscott, which is a very residential community, we’re trying to bring new businesses into the community,” Younger said.

Natick Selectman Joshua Ostroff, president of the Massachusetts Selectmen’s Association, said he valued the opportunity to discuss common concerns with local officials from across the nation. Among topics of particular interest, Ostroff said, was “how we can capture the energy of our youngest citizens.”

The four-day conference also featured a series of “mobile workshop” visits to local landmarks and programs ranging from the Rose Kennedy Greenway and the city’s Innovation District in South Boston to locally grown food and the role that new technologies play in the delivery of municipal services.

“The NLC conference was a huge success, in great part because Boston is the perfect place to highlight innovation, progress and success,” said MMA Executive Director Geoff Beckwith. “Thousands of delegates from across the nation came to Boston to study important programs, policies and best practices, and to stand together to call on the federal government to solve its fiscal crisis without throwing cities and towns over the fiscal cliff.”

Beckwith added: “All of this was made possible by the extraordinary work of Mayor Menino and his staff to open the city to our country’s local leaders and provide them with a terrific and valuable experience.”

The NLC offered a special one-day rate to local officials from New England. The national event was last held in Boston in 2000.

Next year’s NLC Congress of Cities and Exposition will take place in Seattle, Nov. 12-16.