Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, approaching his first 100 days in office, received a nice boost today when a national group calling themselves NewDEAL, a newly launched national network that is committed to "highlighting innovative ideas from state and local elected leaders who are pro-growth progressives," selected him as one of their "rising leaders."
Although the mayor hasn't made too many significant policy decisions in his young tenure, his announcement convening an economic competitiveness committee to generate ideas for building lasting economic growth is what led to his anointment to the list.
The honorary chairs of NewDEAL are Alaskan Democratic Senator Mark Begich Maryland and Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley, who said in a statement:
“Senator Begich and I have joined the NewDEAL because we believe we need to look for fresh ideas not just from the top down in Washington, but also from the bottom up, where innovative leaders like Mayor Buckhorn are developing and testing their ideas out on the ground."
This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 6, 2011.