Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson plans to expand advocacy efforts by taking a more hands-on approach to tackling issues such as climate change and economic stimulation in the city of Riverside.
Mayor Lock Dawson explained that she felt that public-private partnerships must be strongly pursued in order for private businesses to realize their economic potential. In a statement to Riveriside’s public information office, Lock Dawson said that “cities can play a vital role in working with private business to accomplish more than either could do separately … This model holds great promise for elevating our economic development efforts.”
The model she is referring to is the P3 mode or a public-private partnership, which according to the United States Department of Transportation, are “contractual agreements between a public agency and a private entity that allow for greater private participation in the delivery of projects.” This model is often used while having private capital finance government projects and services upfront and then drawing revenue from tax payers and/or users for profit over the course of the contract.
Lock Dawson has been appointed Vice-Chair for Innovative City Development of the Public-Private Partnerships Task Force in the U.S. Conference of Mayors. She will work with Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens who is the Chair of the Task force. This task force is meant to identify “best practices and opportunities for investment utilizing the ‘P3 model’ around the country” while also looking “to influence federal policy to ensure the P3 process is as impactful as possible at the local level.”
Lock Dawson has shown prior commitments to her goals by leading a panel discussion on P3 agreements at the 92nd annual United States Conference of Mayors in Kansas City.
In regards to climate-centered advocacy, Lock Dawson has joined Climate Mayors. Climate Mayors consists of a bipartisan group of mayors across the US who commit to showing leadership in solving climate change related issues. The group covers issues from increasing the usage of electric vehicles to spending to corporate rulings that may harm climate change efforts. Lock Dawson stated that she was “proud to join the Climate Mayors community exchanging tangible ideas and best practices with some of the country’s leading cities tackling the climate crisis … Together, we can build more resilient communities here in Riverside and throughout the country.”
