John Norquist to lead CNU as it moves to Chicago

Milwaukee mayor will become president and CEO of the Congress for New Urbanism in January. Milwaukee Mayor John O. Norquist’s selection as the incoming president and chief executive officer of the Congress for New Urbanism provided a dramatic finale to CNU XI in Washington, DC, June 22. Norquist, an independent-minded Democrat who tore down part of an urban freeway and presided over a downtown housing boom in Wis-consin’s largest city, has been popular among new urbanists for years. Few CNU members apparently knew, however, that the organization would be able to land a leader as high-profile as the four-term Milwaukee mayor — the longest-serving current mayor of any US city with a population exceeding 500,000. The board had been searching for a new executive director since Shelley Poticha announced that after six years in the job, she would resign in July to head the new Center for Transit Oriented Development. Norquist had chaired the CNU board but recently stepped down from it so that he could offer himself as a candidate. The title of executive director is being upgraded to president and chief executive officer in recognition of his standing. As mayor of Milwaukee since 1988, Norquist, 53, has removed a nearly mile-long section of elevated expressway, made way for a boulevard in its place, generated more cohesive and pedestrian-friendly neighborhood business districts, and introduced school vouchers, among other innovations. The Economist described Norquist as “part of a strong wind of change that is beginning to blow through American cities.” Five years ago the 6-foot-7, longtime elected official (he ran successfully for a seat in the Wisconsin legislature when he was only 24) published a book, The Wealth of Cities, in which he argued that cities’ “physical properties — scale, proximity, and diversity — are their chief advantage … . As cities reduce crime and taxes, the physical appeal of the urban form becomes apparent and attractive to potential residents and businesses.” Norquist’s electoral prospects in Milwaukee had become cloudier in the past three years, and he announced in April 2002 that he would not seek a fifth four-year term in the election scheduled for April 2004. By remaining in office until next Jan. 1 — less than four months before his current term expires — he will be able to prepare Milwaukee’s next budget and also save the city the cost of holding a special election. Change in title Board Chair Hank Dittmar said the president/CEO title reflects Norquist’s status within the organization and “means John will be a member of the board as well as the top staff person. We look to the president/CEO as a key spokesman for the movement.” Ellen Greenberg, CNU’s policy director, will serve as CNU’s interim director until Norquist assumes the organization’s leadership on New Year’s Day. CNU’s first executive director, Peter Katz, “focused on the Charter and the vision,” Norquist said. “Shelley turned it into an organization that supports its structure and its members, subgroups, and task forces. The big task now is to embed [New Urbanism’s] ideas in common practice, so that urbanism isn’t a strange, unusual event every time it happens.” This, he said, will involve “working with established groups like the Urban Land Institute, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Association of Realtors, wherever we can find allies.” Although the Bush Administration has not been particularly supportive of New Urbanism — CNU XI’s opening session featured Britain’s deputy prime minister, John Prescott, while the US government sent an assistant secretary of Housing & Urban Development, Roy Bernardi — Norquist expects CNU to reach out to people across the political spectrum. “Andres [Duany] has been engaging with movement conservatives,” he noted. Dittmar announced that CNU will begin moving its headquarters to Chicago but will retain an office in San Francisco, where it has been based since its founding in 1993. Norquist said Chicago will be convenient to members from a larger portion of the country than is true of either San Francisco or another city that many recommended: Washington. He said Greenberg will be able to continue her work as policy director from San Francisco. “One of my major tasks is to organize chapters,” Norquist added, pointing out that Florida is forming a chapter and that Pennsylvania will probably have the second of the state and local chapters.