Columbia Mayor Bob Coble held an economic development conference Monday afternoon, Dec. 15, at the convention center on Lincoln Street. He said we're in a recession, and if the federal government is going to spend its way out of it and buy happiness, we need to tell them where to shop.

Charleston Mayor Joe Riley has his list, too, and he's checking it twice, both in Washington and in Chicago with Obama's transition team. Over the first weekend in December, Riley, Coble, and mayors of Miami, Chicago, New York, Dallas, and other cities stood at a news conference in Washington outlining the U.S. Conference of Mayors' "Ready to Work" manifesto.

The declaration included 11,391 infrastructure projects that could be accomplished within two years for $73 billion. The projects would create 847,641 jobs nationally.

Riley is past president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. He said leaders in the Conference of Mayors expect to meet in Chicago with Obama soon, probably before Friday, December 19.

Meanwhile, S.C. Governor Sanford has been campaigning against such appeals and plans, blasting a public works program financed by debt. Coble and Riley fear Sanford might block money headed to Columbia and Charleston, but Sanford assures the mayors if money is directed at S.C. cities, that money should come on home rather than detour to cities in Michigan or California or elsewhere in the country.

Columbia City Council has its list of about $140 million in ready- to- go projects, including streetscaping, USC's Innovista waterfront park, and research in alternative fuels, particularly hydrogen.

It's Coble's idea to bring the new president to the National Hydrogen Conference in Columbia this March.

Meanwhile, a $30 million conference center planned for downtown Lexington had to be scaled back from a grand scheme - replete with a hotel, retail stores, restaurants, offices, parking garage - to a 10,000 sq. ft. center for meetings, both social and commercial.

Lexington, the highest concentration of rock- ribbed Republicans in the state, went for McCain in a big way, far more than the 54% from the state as a whole.

Ignoring Governor Sanford's discouragement and standing beyond the reach of S.C.'s big- city mayors, the state's Transportation Department has prepared a statewide list of projects worth about $850 million. According the the SCDOT, about $200 million of that is directed at the Midlands.

As recently reported in

the Columbia Bu siness

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regional Report, the Midlands list, not counting Coble's direct Columbia Christmas package appeal to the White House, includes five big- ticket items: (1) $100 million for the I- 26 airport connector, (2) $41.5 million to replace four bridges along U.S. Hwy. 601 over the Congaree River and connected swamps, (3) $32.2 million to replace the U.S. Hwy. 176 bridge over the Broad River, (4) $18.7 million to widen to five lanes a section of S.C. Hwy. 602 extension, (5) $8 million to widen to five lanes a section of Alice Drive in Sumter County.

Based on its Washington wish list, the Midlands can think big. And at least the list is consistent with the state motto: While I breathe, I hope.