By Phil Marcelo

Recently back from a five-day trip to Washington D.C. that included prime seating at President Obama's inauguration, Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline talked this afternoon about a favorite topic - Beltway politics.

"Two days ago I had the opportunity to see, along with over two million people, the new president take his oath of office," Cicilline said at a news conference in Elmwood. He said he was sending "an urgent message directly to Congress" to take action on Obama's $825 billion American Recovery & Reinvestment Plan.

The news conference, held at netWORKri on Reservoir Avenue, a job bank run by the state Department of Labor and Training, was Cicilline's first public appearance since his return from Washington. He was flanked by nearly 25 people representing the Rhode Island building trade unions, YouthBuild and advocates of green job growth.

"History has shown that the key to a speedy economic recovery is productive people," said Cicilline. "The priority should be putting people back to work."

Obama's economic recovery plan targets investments in several key areas including clean energy; modernizing roads, bridges, waterways and transit, all aimed at creatnig jobs.

Cicilline outlined local investment projects with the potential to create thousands of jobs and fuel the local economy once Congress approves the economic recovery plan.

Specifically, in Providence there are over 80 projects Ciciline's office has identified worth a combined $585 million and which would create over 7,000 construction jobs.

The projects range from those that have long been on the drawing board (a $20-million streetcar system downtown), are in the works (the $90-million renovation of Mount Pleasant High School and other school renovations), or in development (a $12.7-million investment in energy-producing wind turbines at Fields Point).