The City of Kansas City, Missouri was chosen from among dozens of candidates to participate in the 2005 “City Showcase” at the National League of Cities’ annual Congress of Cities conference in Charlotte, NC.  The Showcase is an annual display and celebration of innovative city programs from around the country, offering city leaders a chance to share ideas and valuable experiences with the more than 3,000 delegates who are expected to attend the conference.

 Kansas City, Missouri, highlighted its Capital Improvements Management Office Project Controls System.  During every phase in the project lifecycle, project controls assist project managers in delivering projects to schedule and on budget.  Several tools that were highlighted are the Public Access Link (PAL); Project Baseline Schedules; Project Status Reports; Key Performance Indicators and the Public Improvement Advisory Committee (PIAC) online request page. Council members Bonnie Sue Cooper, Jim Rowland, Terry Riley, Saundra McFadden-Weaver, and John Fairfield attended the NLC conference, along with City Manager Wayne Cauthen, Assistant City Manager John Franklin and CIMO staff members

 Issues such as downtown revitalization, youth initiatives, stormwater management, and emergency preparedness will be spotlighted in this year’s Showcase, which featured a variety of other creative programs from every corner of the United States.

Conference attendees browsed the displays, meet with representatives from the featured cities, and learned how the programs were planned and implemented.  The Showcase allows city leaders to exchange ideas so they can implement similar effective programs in their own communities.

 The National League of Cities is the oldest and largest national organization for American cities.  NLC serves as a resource and advocate for 18,000 cities, towns, and villages of all sizes, which collectively serve 225 million people.  For more news and information about NLC and local government, visit www.nlc.org.