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Regardless of where in the country you live, the role of city mayors has never been more in the spotlight. As national politicians flounder, much of the task of leading American cities through the greatest public health and social justice crises in more than a generation falls to them. 

And yet, mayors will have fewer resources at their disposal with which to meet these challenges than any time in recent memory. That's according to a new survey from Siemens U.S.A. and the U.S. Conference of Mayors[1], which took the pulse of the people in charge of U.S. cities in one of the most turbulent and divided moments in the country's history. The survey was carried out by The Harris Poll at the end of August among 124 mayors of U.S. cities with a population size of 30,000 or more. 

The results paint a strikingly unified experience for a country wrestling with deep ideological divisions. A full 94% of mayors surveyed believe they are under more pressure now than ever before. Almost all (98%) expect their operating budgets to decline over the next year and beyond.

That's a staggering figure. At a moment when the challenges have never been greater, operating capital to enact programs to help get kids back in classrooms safely, to support struggling businesses and work-from-home capabilities with a robust technology infrastructure, and to get floundering economies back on track is shrinking. Being mayor right now is not a job for the faint of heart.

The question is, where should available funds be channeled? Different cities have different needs. In Los Angeles, where I live, a harrowing homelessness crisis is demanding inventive stopgaps, such as utilizing unused hotel room capacity[2] to house people experiencing homelessness. But technology is clearly foremost on city

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