Riverside Mayors Forum and Q&A

Riverside hosted a national mayors forum this month that put economic development — especially green tech — at the center of a public discussion and audience Q&A. (raincrossgazette.com) Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson joined mayors and civic leaders at a two-day Accelerator for America Advisory Council meeting held at the Mission Inn and the Barbara and Art Culver Center, according to Raincross Gazette and the group’s published agenda. The agenda listed a “Riverside and National Leadership Discussion” followed by a “Q&A Discussion with Attendees.” (raincrossgazette.com) (acceleratorforamerica.org) Accelerator for America says its advisory council convenes mayors, business executives, labor leaders, investors, and policy specialists to trade ideas on economic mobility and opportunity. Raincross Gazette reported the Riverside panels focused on green tech, university partnerships, and local industry growth. (acceleratorforamerica.org) (raincrossgazette.com) The Riverside discussion landed as Lock Dawson argues the city already has the pieces for a larger clean-economy push: aerospace, defense, healthcare, and a growing green-tech sector. She told the Gazette the city’s future is tied to turning its “green belt” identity into “green tech,” with the University of California, Riverside and private employers supplying research and workers. (raincrossgazette.com) (riversideca.gov) That pitch matches a broader economic-development model built around regional “clusters,” meaning companies, researchers, and public agencies working in the same place on related industries. Brookings has described clusters as groups of nearby firms and institutions that gain an advantage from proximity, and Lock Dawson cited that framework in Riverside’s case. (brookings.edu) (raincrossgazette.com) Raincross Gazette pointed to three local examples discussed at the forum: Riverside-based Voltu Motor’s electric fleet charging technology, University of California, Riverside’s role as a “living laboratory” for testing products, and the medical school’s planned expansion toward an outpatient clinic and, later, a teaching hospital. (raincrossgazette.com) The meeting also brought outside attention to Riverside’s political reach. Accelerator for America’s attendee list included mayors or top local officials from Phoenix, San Diego, Kansas City, Miami, Nashville, Long Beach, San Bernardino, Irvine, Anaheim, Stockton, Montgomery, Allentown, Chattanooga, and Chicago, and the group said Lock Dawson chairs the California Big City Mayors Coalition. (acceleratorforamerica.org 1) (acceleratorforamerica.org 2) Riverside residents have seen the mayor’s office use forums before for direct public conversation, including recurring senior forums and issue-based advisory groups run through City Hall. This time, the audience Q&A was attached to a national economic-development meeting rather than a neighborhood service event. (riversideca.gov 1) (riversideca.gov 2) (acceleratorforamerica.org) No formal vote or deadline came out of the Riverside forum, according to Raincross Gazette. The immediate result was a public test of whether Riverside can turn mayoral networking, university research, and local employers into a clearer jobs strategy before the next round of city decisions. (raincrossgazette.com)