[11/7/03] Problems facing small towns are the main problems facing America, but get little attention by Washington politicians who focus on bigger cities, according to speakers at a conference here.

About 125 mayors, councilmen and aldermen from cities across Mississippi attended the Small Town Mayors Conference in Vicksburg this week.

Sessions were under the auspices of the Mississippi Municipal League, but aimed at cities with populations of fewer than 2,500. Several towns with populations around 10,000 were also represented.

The three-day meeting wrapped up Thursday with guest speakers including Marty Wiseman, director of the John C. Stennis Institute of Government, who called the conference for small towns the “most special” annual event for local governments.

“You are the anchors,” Wiseman told the group.

“The problems that are scattered across rural America are numerous, but the problems of inner-cities are the ones that get attention in Washington,” he said.

Don Borut, executive director of the National League of Cities, also spoke, saying representing small towns before Congress was his most important job. He said that out of the 18,000 cities that are members of the NLC, 94 percent have populations less that 24,000 while only 200 have populations greater than 100,000.

“Coming to meetings like this is what my job is all about,” Borut said.

Mayor Laurence Leyens welcomed the group to the Vicksburg Convention Center for the final day of speakers and lectures. He invited the other mayors and aldermen to look at the downtown improvements, TV23 and landscaping across the city.

“This is a real big deal for our community to be able to host this event,” Leyens said. “We want to work with you so we can also learn from you.”