Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner is making his third trip to the U.S. Conference of Mayors this week. (Photo courtesy Tari Renner/Facebook)
By Eric Stock
BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner said there's a lot of hot air in Washington, but an idea being floated at the U.S. Conference of Mayors this week has him intrigued.
Renner told WJBC's Scott Laughlin, the nation's mayors are discussing real rubber-meets-the-road ideas, such as cars that drive themselves. He's said it's not as far away as you might think.
"As soon as five years from now, you will begin to see automated cars and automated cars would involved public transportation, depending on the city and the design of the city and community," Renner said, adding he has no idea if self-driving cars will even make their way to Central Illinois.
"Bloomington-Normal might take a little longer, who knows? Certainly the bigger cities are moving in that direction," Renner said.
Renner said community policing is one key theme at the conference.
"It's important to not only get your police and your mayor involved, but also your private sector neighborhood organizations to build collaborations and understanding amongst all differed groups," Renner said. "It's extremely timely."
Renner says the conference also includes a look to the future – the possibility of self-driving cars, which mayors were told could be just five years away.
Renner's message for Washington: One size doesn't fit all. Local governments should have more flexibility on how the spend federal money.
"Give us some help and let us do our job," Renner said. "We are the closest to what's going on. We are the ones who should be making these kinds of decisions. Give us a little more flexibility in the structuring of grants."
Renner said the mayors will get a chance to meet with President Obama and Vice President Biden at the White House on Friday.
"I'm sure he's get an earful, both of them," Renner quipped.
Renner said too much federal money has strings attached even funding for basic operations.
PODCAST: Listen to Scott and Colleen's interview with Renner on WJBC.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
