| "City officials who attended last week's United States Conference of Mayors were provided an opportunity to discuss strategies to cope with rising energy costs, as well as a chance to visit with legislators about Midland's future needs. " "City Manager Rick Menchaca, who attended the conference in Washington, D.C. with Mayor Mike Canon, said many of the city officials present expressed concern about the rising cost of gasoline and home-heating oil, which has placed a strain on the budgets of both residents and cities throughout the country. " ""(The mayors) were asking Congress to come up with an energy policy, which I find interesting because (President George W.) Bush offered that during the first term, but there wasn't support in Congress to get things through," Menchaca said. " "Menchaca noted many of the suggestions made by city officials to reduce energy consumption already have been implemented in Midland over the past three years. He said in recent years the city has retrofitted lighting systems in city buildings with "digital ballasts," which provide for more energy-efficient illumination. He said the city also has taken steps to reduce the cost of energy by replacing the air conditioning and heating systems at City Hall and at police headquarters, replacing traffic lights with light-emitting diodes (LED) and installing global positioning systems in city vehicles. " "Overall, Menchaca noted, the city's non-personnel budget -- which includes expenses such as electricity and fuel -- has gone down by 2 percent, or roughly $500,000, over the last year despite adding five additional police vehicles and another ambulance to the city's vehicle fleet. " " In addition to attending the conference, Canon said the trip provided an opportunity to visit with Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Midland), Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Sen. John Cornyn's staff about issues impacting Midland and the possibility of receiving federal support now that there is a Democratic majority in both houses of the Legislature. " ""I'd say it's early in this new phase and they're not exactly sure what's going to happen," Canon said. "From our standpoint, with Republican representatives, it's not going to be as easy to get things passed." " "Canon said he
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