The Oregon Mayor's Association meeting provides a forum with sharing with other mayors throughout the state. We all have problems that are common to every community.  The conversation for the most part centered around having infrastructure in place to attract employers. Some of the communities have focused on block grants for upgrading their downtown.  Additionally they provided low interest loans to remodel interiors to help keep businesses more competitive. In this economy small business is struggling because of lack of access to capital.

Also discussed was the "Lights On Afterschool" program. These programs are directed to children that otherwise would be home alone. More than 28 million children in the U.S. have parents who work outside the home and 15.1 million children have no place to go after school. All the mayors signed a proclamation supporting after school programs to keep children safe and create learning experiences for children.