Published on September 8, 2010

Richmond adds voice to call for public works program

By Katherine Tam
Contra Costa Times

RICHMOND -- Richmond city leaders are joining others in the call for a comprehensive public works program that would employ millions of Americans on the path to economic recovery.

The City Council passed a resolution Tuesday night urging President Obama and Congress to help get people back to work by hiring millions to fix roads, sewers, schools and other public infrastructure throughout the nation.

"We can put our people to work," said Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, who sponsored the resolution with Vice Mayor Jeff Ritterman. "We've seen it done in the '30s. We need to do it in the 21st century."

In 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration as part of the New Deal aimed at getting the country back on its feet during the Great Depression. The WPA hired millions of people for public works projects.

Richmond plans to send its resolution to Obama, U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein, and U.S. Reps. George Miller and Nancy Pelosi. The AFL-CIO, the NAACP and other organizations plan to march on Washington, D.C., on Oct. 2 with the same message.

Katherine Tam covers Richmond. Follow her at Twitter.com/katherinetam.