Mayor Ted Tedesco will play an integral role in voicing the opinions of Ames residents at the state and national level.

Tedesco has been selected to serve on two committees affiliated with the League of Cities.

He was selected by the president of the National League of Cities to serve on the Finance, Administration and Inter-governmental Relations (FAIR) Steering Committee. This will be Tedesco’s second year on the 25-member committee, which is made up of city officials from various cities throughout the nation.

The Ames mayor also has been chosen to serve as a director of the executive board of the Iowa League of Cities, to which 870 Iowa cities belong.

Tedesco said his membership in league committees gives Ames a “firsthand voice” in the goings-on in Washington, D.C., as well as Des Moines.

Ames City Council member Ann Campbell said she thought the positions would bring positive publicity and put Ames’ city government in a better position to address issues.

“I think in both instances [state and national], it is good for Ames in terms of being known,” Campbell said. “[The positions] prepare us better for action in a lobbying sense.”

Tedesco, as part of his position on the FAIR Steering Committee, will help develop recommendations to present to the 100-member National League of Cities policy committee and the group as a whole.

Among the wide variety of issues the committee will discuss this year are the possibility of an Internet sales tax, riverboat gambling and American Indian tobacco sales, Tedesco said.

As one of his first duties on the FAIR committee, Tedesco will moderate a panel discussion on ergonomics in the work place, specifically to study the role the Occupational Safety and Heath Administration should have in investigating homes and small businesses.

Tedesco’s position as director of the state league’s executive board came after Cedar Falls’ mayor stepped down.