Timothy Sumer

Who holds the strings to the public purse that pays for crucial services and ultimately determines a city’s financial survival? From grassroots land grabs and infrastructure collapse, to Community Development Block Grant programs, we pinpointed the state and federal policies and land-use loopholes that have major implications for municipal money. With an eye toward the post-industrial electoral convention host cities—Cleveland and Philadelphia—and sites of fiscal failures such as Flint, Michigan and San Juan, Puerto Rico, we filled in the blank between ballots and budgeting, and asked: Which cities are the winners and losers in the election process? Participants: Michael Cohen, professor of international affairs, Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy, The New School; Anthony Flint, fellow & director of public affairs, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (moderator); Isabel Luciano, program associate, Participatory Budgeting Project; Andrew Salk