Some of the top brass in the U.S. Conference of Mayors are in Washington this week, eagerly presenting public works programs they say are needed. And they come with the added bonus, the mayors said -- they tie perfectly into President Barack Obama's plan to create jobs.

From ABC News:

According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, there are 11,391 infrastructure projects ready to go in 427 cities across the United States. The conference estimates that these projects represent an infrastructure investment of $73 billion that would be capable of producing an estimated 847,641 jobs in 2009 and 2010.

"We are not here for a bailout. We're here to help build out America," Manny Diaz, the mayor of Miami and president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said at a press conference on Monday attended by a dozen U.S. mayors.

The mayoral press conference was hosted by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

"We can't let President Obama down. We have to be ready to move," said Rangel.

Houston submitted its list of projects too. (Houston is on page 382 of the 803-page Christmas wish-list.)

It includes:

+Parker Road paving and thoroughfare widening between Hardy Toll Road and Eastex Freeway (US 59) in Northeast Houston. That will cost $8.3 million and create 230 jobs.

+Homestead Road Grade Separation for Thoroughfare over Beaumont Subdivision track of Union Pacific Railroad Company in Northeast Houston. That's a $13.3 million project the city says will create 370 new jobs.

+Buffalo Speedway Paving and Reconstruction. That comes to $21.7 million and the city predicts 600 new jobs will come from the project.

The two biggest items the city says it needs federal tax dollars for are:

+A city-wide flood control program. That comes to $221 million and 4,420 jobs.

+Infrastructure improvements to make way for the Metro Houston Intermodal Terminal near downtown. That's a project priced at $175 million wih 4,870 new jobs.

In all, Houston is asking for $587.7 million in projects that the city says will create 12,500 jobs.

Some folks will laud Houston's projects as sorely needed and a long time coming, with the added benefit of putting people to work. Others will criticize the plan as pork-barrel spending that will probably go over budget without generating all these promised jobs.

Well, to those critics, all I can say is, at least we're not Dallas.

If you see on the project list anything we should be taking a closer look at, shoot us an e-mail at trent@texaswatchdog.org or jennifer@texaswatchdog.org.

(Photo of crane: Courtesy of flickr user ethorson, used via the Creative Commons license.)

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