WASHINGTON —President Obama has appointed Jerry Abramson, who formerly served as both Mayor of Louisville, Ky. and president of U.S. Conference of Mayors, as White House liaison to state and local governments.
His full title will be deputy assistant to President Obama and director of Intergovernmental Affairs in the White House, according to the administration.
Abramson, 68, served as Louisville's mayor for 21 years altogether, from 1986 to 1999, and from 2003 to 2011, the longest tenure in the city's history. He was the president of USCM from 1993 to 1994.
"Jerry Abramson is one of the most innovative mayors in our history," said Tom Cochran, USCM's president and chief executive officer. "He led the way for all of us to understand metropolitan economies. He was the first and inspired me to create our Metro Economies initiatives."
Cochran said Abramson also helped to reduce the nation's crime significantly, by working with former President Clinton, police chiefs and mayors, to establish the Community Oriented Policing Services. The COPS program is a component within the U.S. Department of Justice and has provided $14 billion in assistance to state and local law enforcement agencies to help hire community policing officers, according to the program's official site.
"We thank President Obama for appointing the first former president of The U.S. Conference of Mayors to head up this special office," said Cochran, on behalf of other mayors in USCM. "With Jerry Abramson, there will be new energy and new approaches all based on the fact that cities and our metro economies drive this nation. "
