6/13/2012
By Ivan Pereira
The mayor is offering $9 million to his national counterparts to help improve urban life.
Michael Bloomberg’s charity wing created the Mayor’s Challenge Wednesday to help foster solutions to problems that are common among America’s cities.
“While our cities are unique, many of the challenges we face — from obesity to pension costs to preparing residents for the jobs of tomorrow to just doing more with less — are very similar,” he said in a statement.
He offered the contest to leaders of cities with populations greater than 30,000 residents. New York is exempt from the contest.
The proposals will be judged by a committed chaired by members of charity wings of Google and Bloomberg LP.
The city with the winning idea will receive a $5 million prize and four runners up will receive a million dollar prize.
