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NGA conference full of story lines

By: Michael Newsom

Pennsylvania Democratic Gov. Edward G. Rendell has a Coast connection, but he’ll be making his first trip to the area for the much-anticipated National Governors Association meeting in Biloxi later this month.

Rendell’s aunt, Rose, married a Biloxi man, Hubert Lowe, and they lived here while Rendell was growing up in New York. The couple raised cocker spaniels on a farm and Rendell’s first dog arrived in a crate all the way from Biloxi when Rendell was 5 years old.

“I used to get letters postmarked from Biloxi and gifts from Biloxi all the time,” Rendell said. “It’s a small world.”

Rendell, who is the head of the NGA this year, said he might go through his old letters from his aunt and uncle to find the address of the couple’s old home. If he has down time at the usually busy convention, he might visit it.

He said he was unsure if the couple, who lived here in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, and possibly into the 1970s, still has relatives here.

Besides Rendell, President Obama is invited to the NGA summit, which runs July 17-20. There will be a large contingent of governors, likely including a few rising political stars.

Among those invited is former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, who announced Friday she will resign as governor of Alaska effective July 26, a week after the conference.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who ran for president in 2008, is also invited.

Gov. Haley Barbour, mentioned by some as a potential 2012 presidential candidate, will host the event.

It’s not a stretch to think some of the guests to this year’s meeting could wind up in the White House, as Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, among others, were governors before holding the nation’s highest office.

Many of the NGA events are invitation only. They’ll be held at the Beau Rivage and others will be held at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center. Rendell said infrastructure would be one of the main topics, as Congress is trying to resolve a few transportation issues. In many cases, the states pay about 75 percent of the cost on those projects, while 25 percent often comes from the federal government, Rendell said.

The governors will also take on energy issues and the economy. Biloxi is an ideal location for one of the group’s other major topics — emergency management. Rendell said the governors hope to have the new Federal Emergency Management Agency director address them.

The meetings are an important tool for governors to talk about common challenges their states face, Rendell said.

“I’ve never missed a summer meeting,” Rendell said. “They’re very valuable. We’ve got some important issues to discuss, some things we want to influence Congress on.”

Rendell will hand off leadership of NGA to Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican. The head of NGA serves a one-year term and the group alternates between a Democrat and Republican each term.

Several of the large national newspapers, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, usually cover the event. In the past, C-SPAN has run live coverage of the sessions. The NGA has two meetings each year, one in Washington and the other at sites the group chooses. The last time the meeting was held in Mississippi was in Biloxi in 1935. That year one of the main topics was the economic benefits of developing highway systems.

With such a national media presence, the NGA convention’s South Mississippi organizers are well aware of the event’s potential as a platform to tell the state’s Hurricane Katrina recovery story to leaders who otherwise might never come here. Barbour said many visitors will be struck by what they see.

“I am excited for the chance for these people to see how the Mississippi Gulf Coast has recovered and rebuilt and renewed itself in the wake of the hurricane,” Barbour said.

Barbour said he expects some visitors will be amazed by how much work there is left to do, but others who are more familiar with severe natural disasters will be awed by how much has been done, especially in Harrison and Jackson counties a few blocks north of the beach. He acknowledges some areas in Hancock County, which was hardest hit by the storm, still have a ways to go.

“The Coast looks great,” Barbour said. ”We are far enough along, but we are not finished. The progress is never fast enough to suit me. It is very clear now, evident to anybody that looks, that the Coast is building back better than ever.”

Rendell has never been to the Coast, but he visited Oxford for Democratic fundraising efforts for presidential nominee Al Gore in 2000, and he’s also been to New Orleans, he said. The mayor of Philadelphia from 1992-1999, Rendell, said the Coast trip promises to be an eye-opener.

“We’re interested in seeing the rebuilt Biloxi,” Rendell said. “I think it’s a great story.”

Posted at www.sunherald.com on July 4, 2009

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