Mayor Dave Cieslewicz’s three-day-long New Cities Project, an opportunity for progressive mayors from across the country to discuss important city issues, begins today at the Wingspread Conference Center in Racine, Wis.

Janet Piraino, chief of staff, said mayors from Berkley, Calif., to Rochester, N.Y., will be in attendance, along with a list of nationally renowned experts. Big cities, small communities and college towns will be represented at the meeting, which is believed to be the first of its kind, according to the invitation from Cieslewicz.

“It’s a really nice mix of cities,” Piraino said. “It’s an opportunity to delve into tough issues the mayors share.”

Topics on the agenda include economic and workforce development, transportation and housing. Cieslewicz is interested in discussing his streetcar proposal and the creation of a user-friendly transportation system. He will be debating how to create routes and the integration of streetcars into the existing system, Piraino said.

Another issue Cieslewicz will explore is workforce development, which is a particular challenge for Madison, according to Piraino. The city is working with the University of Wisconsin and Madison Area Technical College to research the job market in Madison.

Local government has the power to make progressive developments for the city when it does not happen at the state or federal level, Piraino said. Cieslewicz has pushed progressive movements in Madison, including an increase in minimum wage. Madison is only the fifth city in the nation to enact its own minimum wage increase, Piraino said.

The last day of the meeting will reflect on the pitfalls and successes of the New Cities Project and whether there is interest in continuing the project next year.

The project, which has no corporate involvement and prides itself on an informal atmosphere, will be kept small to encourage group discussion, according to the invitation from Cieslewicz. A 40-person maximum has been set.

The meeting will be held at The Johnson Foundation’s Wingspread Conference Center. The 14,000 square-foot Frank Lloyd Wright design was originally a home, but now is used as a conference center. According to Piraino, the comfortable home is not a typical corporate lecture hall.

“It is an environment that is designed for this kind of brainstorming,” Praino said. “It’s a real different atmosphere and a real different conference.”

According to Piraino, the idea to hold this conference came to Cieslewicz after he attended the United States Conference of Mayors in Colorado in 2003. Although there were many quality aspects of the conference, Cieslewicz noticed there were no chances for in-depth discussions among the mayors, she added.

“What was missing was the opportunity to sit around the table and brainstorm issues,” Piraino said.

University of Wisconsin’s Center on Wisconsin Strategy, a research center working to improve the economic and living standards throughout the state, is helping organize the conference.

“COWS has done a fabulous job in terms of getting experts and an agenda together,” Piraino said.