Politics & Government

Two Redlands Councilmen Will Soon Be DC Bound

Mayor Pete Aguilar and Councilman Bob Gardner are among the local leaders from around the country to be invited to participate in the Community Leaders Briefing Series hosted by White House officials.

Two members of Redlands City Council will join hundreds of local leaders from around the country to participate in special briefings hosted by White House officials.

Mayor Pete Aguilar and Councilman Bob Gardner are scheduled to attend the Community Leaders Briefing Series hosted by White House officials in August, according to Redlands officials. Several of these meetings are scheduled over the summer. About 150 city and community leaders are scheduled to attend each Friday.

Aguilar is scheduled to attend the Aug. 12 briefing while Gardner was invited to the Aug. 19 briefing. 
The meetings are scheduled each Friday during the summer in Washington D.C. Community leaders are given the chance to talk about the challenges their cities and towns face and they in turn learn more about President Barack Obama’s priorities and initiatives from the people who work on them every day, Redlands officials said.

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“I look forward to participating in this Community Briefing and talking about the role local government plays in solving community problems,” Aguilar said through a news release.

Aguilar said he planned to share some of Redlands’ unique successes with White House staff.

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“I certainly think our efforts to coordinate and promote volunteers serving the community has been a recent success story that could be a model for communities nationally,” Aguilar said.

Each councilman is paying for his own trip. No City or Federal funds are allocated for travel, lodging or other expenses, city officials said.

The councilmen will be given the opportunity to participate in several specific, issue-oriented briefings. Aguilar planned to participate in a briefing with Small Business Administration officials, while Councilman Gardner planned to attend a briefing on Energy and the Environment.

President Obama dropped in on a recent briefing and “recalled his time working on the south side of Chicago and noted that these briefings were a means to ensure that activists, organizers, and leaders throughout the country were aware of the ways in which the government could lend a hand,” according to the White House’s Public Office of Engagement.

Participants in the Community Briefing Series are local leaders in their cities and towns at the grassroots level and in their neighborhoods, schools, churches, nonprofit organizations, environmental groups, activist and advocacy groups, officials said.


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