Politico: “Republicans in Congress attacking President Joe Biden’s plan to pour hundreds of billions of dollars in pandemic relief aid into local governments are facing resistance — from GOP-run states and cities.”

“Republican mayors in Texas, Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma are among those backing Biden’s state and local government funding plan as part of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill that’s before the Senate, defying GOP lawmakers in Washington, who are broadly resisting the spending.”

New Rochelle, NY mayor Noam Bramson (D) reflects on his city becoming “ground zero” in the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. one year ago:

“An anecdote I haven’t previously shared illustrates the improvisational quality of those early days and of the ‘containment zone’ in particular. The state first suggested an area with a two-mile radius. We pointed out that this would sweep in many institutions quite removed from the presumed outbreak area, a wider net than the State wanted. Okay, came the response, what about one mile? Equally arbitrary, but maybe better.  This back-and-forth was up against the clock — with a press conference from the Governor only minutes away. The City’s planners, who would ordinarily be the right folks for any geographic analysis, were out of the office at an event, so I sat at my desk, with a ruler, a pencil, and a map of New Rochelle, scribbling a rough circle, trying feverishly to figure out what would fall within the new boundary. Was Ward School in or out?  How about Barnard?”

“And then time was up. There was the Governor on TV, announcing the containment zone. In the hours and days to follow, we would all defend the policy, including me at the City’s own press conference that same afternoon, the most pressure-filled experience of my entire service as Mayor. I still believe strongly that it was important for those of us in leadership positions to speak with a clear, consistent, confident voice — plus, in fairness, the idea of restricting large gatherings had real merit, and the details got straightened out soon enough. But at the moment of the announcement, I remember looking down at my ridiculous, crudely-drawn diagram, and thinking: this is nuts.”

“The City of Tucson, Ariz., decided last year to pay rent on five golf courses and a zoo — to itself. In California, West Covina agreed to pay rent on its own streets. And in Flagstaff, Ariz., a new lease agreement covers libraries, fire stations and even City Hall,” the New York Times reports.

“They are risky financial arrangements born of desperation, adopted to fulfill ballooning pension payments that the cities can no longer afford. Starved of cash by the pandemic, cities are essentially using their own property as collateral of sorts to raise money to pay for their workers’ pensions.”

Colorado City, TX mayor Tim Boyd (R) said that “he had already resigned after he was widely condemned for writing on Facebook that people suffering in the cold without power shouldn’t look to their local governments for help,” the Dallas Morning News reports.

Boyd wrote in his typo-ridden post that “no one owes you are your family anything; nor is it the local government’s responsibility to support you during trying times like this! The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING!”

Boyd continued, saying that he was “sick and tired” of people looking for handouts and that the current situation is “sadly a product of a socialist government.”

He concluded: “Only the strong will survive and the weak will perish.”

Portland mayor Ted Wheeler (D) told the Oregonian that he was forced to shoot pepper spray directly into the eyes of a member of the public on Sunday night when he was approached by a man who wasn’t wearing a mask.

Said Wheeler: “I clearly informed him that he needed to back off. He did not do so I informed him that I was carrying pepper spray and that I would use it if he did not back off. He remained at close distance, I pulled out my pepper spray and I sprayed him in the eyes.”

President Trump is flying down to the U.S.-Mexico border to Alamo, Texas on Tuesday to celebrate what he calls the completion of 400 miles of border wall but it appears no one told the city.

Politico: Texas officials worry Trump’s trip could turn violent.

A Republican candidate for Staten Island borough president issued an apology for reportedly shouting “Heil Hitler” in a Facebook video while calling on people to push back against local coronavirus safety restrictions, The Hill reports.

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser requests Interior secretary “cancel any and all public gathering permits in the District of Columbia, and deny any applications for a public gathering during the period January 11 – January 24,” ABC News reports.

Nashville Mayor John Cooper (D) said that he has not spoken directly to President Trump since the intentional detonation of an RV in the city’s downtown on Christmas, The Hill reports.