Suburban mayors to meet with Obama

Two Northwest suburban mayors will have the ear of President Barack Obama on Friday.

Or least the sightline.

Palatine Mayor Rita Mullins and Arlington Heights Mayor Arlene Mulder will be among about 60 mayors who will meet with the president to talk about the latest economic stimulus plan.

Both Mullins and Mulder are on the executive board of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The group is meeting with Obama Friday morning at the White House.

"The main thing I want to talk about is how are we going to help small business owners who are hurting," Mulder said. "In Arlington Heights, like other places, the foot traffic has slowed, but the taxes and rents have gone up."

The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are 1,200 such cities in the country.

The conference delegation prepared the Main Street Economic Recovery plan, a list of "shovel ready" projects from hundreds of cities nationwide. Palatine itself has $60 million worth of ready-to-go projects on the books, from a new police station to erosion control and stabilization of Salt Creek, Mullins said.

Earlier this month, Mullins joined nearly 20 mayors in Washington to lobby for their share of the economic stimulus plan.

"This is a trip to say thank you to the president for signing the bill and he wants to thank us for putting pressure on our congressmen and senators," she said. "But now we have to make sure when they cut the checks, the money comes back to municipalities."

Mulder and Mullins are leaving today and will return on Friday.