Villaraigosa to lead US Conference of Mayors

At a time when cities have been hit hard by federal spending cuts, Villaraigosa is in the front lines in the fight over those cuts and is in a good position to push his local agenda for things like federal funding for transportation projects.

Villaraigosa is set to receive the new title Monday in Baltimore, where he will address the Conference of Mayors and also meet with President Barack Obama to discuss the needs of cities.

In a copy of his scheduled speech, Villaraigosa calls for his fellow mayors to get involved in bringing under-performing schools up to par with or without federal help and weeding out ineffective teachers.

He also backs an accelerated military withdrawal from Afghanistan, in part to free up more federal money for domestic spending.