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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Bin News this hour the Davis coming up. As cities
across the country grapple with rapid change, one of Georgia's
newest municipalities is making sure its voice is heard. We
caught up with the mayor of Mableton, a young African American,
at this year's US Conference of Mayors, to discuss how
emerging cities are stepping up and what's next for America's
urban future. But first, here's bin News now.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Pushing Congress to keep AM radio when all cars is
gaining steam. Led by Texas Senator Ted Cruz, the bill
now has seventeen Texas co spoundsors.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
The automakers all come together and say you can't turn
it on because we're not going to put it in
your car. You don't have the right to choose.

Speaker 2 (00:39):
Crew says it protects consumer choice after automakers moved to
drop AM over tech concerns. Ford has since reversed course.
After Democratic Socialists around Mom Donnie won New York City's
mayoral primary. The black mayor of Dallas, Texas, Eric Johnson,
now a Republican, invited New Yorkers to move south. In
a post on ex Mayor, Johnson touted Dallas as pro police,
pro business, and pro American dream and Walmart bases a

(01:01):
federal class action lawsuit in Chicago accused of firing black
workers with criminal records. Plaintiffs say they were longtime subcntractor
employees let go after Walmart took over and ran background checks.
Get BI in News Now on demand twenty four to
seven on the iHeartRadio app. Here's Doug Davis.

Speaker 3 (01:18):
All right. Thanks.

Speaker 1 (01:19):
At this year's US Conference of Mayors, municipal leaders came
together to tackle pressing issues shaping urban America. Many of
the country's high profile black mayors, of course for president,
but among them was a fresh new face at turnheads.
His name is Michael Owens, elected in twenty twenty three
as the first mayor of Georgia's newest city, Mableton, a
growing community right outside of Atlanta. He's with US now,

(01:41):
Mayor Owens, Welcome to the BI in, sir. Why is
this conference so important for mayors to attend?

Speaker 3 (01:47):
It gives us the opportunity to really come together, to
exchange ideas, to talk about issues that we're facing. And
you know, quite frankly, what I've learned is no matter
if you've been a city for two years, or two
hundred years. There's a lot of similar issues and challenges
that we have, but you know, really just to have
an opportunity to learn and give back what we can.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Have you connected with any other black mayors at the conference?
What kind of conversations you know, have you been having?
You know, are you sharing different challenges? Are you talking
about Trump and sanctuary cities and deportation? What are some
of the conversations you're having.

Speaker 3 (02:17):
Oh, without a doubt, I mean, you know, specifically talking
about affordable housing, right and workforce housing challenges we're having
with that, the black and brown community united struggle, I
think around immigration what that means in different ways. Are
things that we're able to kind of talk about in
a collective way, what those challenges are like, and you know,
quite frankly, someone to just say, hey, I know what
you're dealing with, I know what you're going through. Here's

(02:39):
how we're handling in our city, and these are things
that we're doing. We talk about housing policies and challenges
that go all the way back to redlining, you know,
and how that's still impacting these specific challenges that a
lot of us in cities that a minority majority are seeing.
So those kinds of things can be very specific. When
we're talking about how certain policies impact black community, that

(03:01):
can be another conversation as well to have and what
that means, and how changes in the federal administration, what
that means when it literally hits main street or front
street in our cities, and how it impacts our jobs,
how it impacts the ability of people to feel included
in a government and a system that's supposed to work
for them.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah, exactly, how are you using this platform to advocate
for federal support for partnerships that can benefit a city
just like yours that's kind of getting started under a
Trump administration that is so anti DEI.

Speaker 3 (03:32):
Sure. I think first and foremost we understand it for
what it is, and I think you know, in conversations
I've had known with other mayors but members of Congress
to say, continue moving forward and doing the things that
you know are right and that you're doing them for
the right reason. You know, there's no doubt there's challenges
where we're seeing not just DEI budget customer, we're seeing
budget cuts across the board and things that are directly

(03:54):
impacting public safety. We're not eve going to talk about
the tariffs and tariff wars and everything to go along
with that, because that has impacts as well.

Speaker 1 (04:01):
So if you can stick around, we want to keep
this conversation flowing Today more from Mayor Owens as we
discuss details from the US Conference of Mayors held in Tampa.
Stay in form, stay connected, and subscribe. Follow BIN News
this Hour wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Doug Davis
for the Black Information Network.