Thank you for “In Search of a Real Urban Policy” (editorial, Feb. 19), on why presidential candidates must focus on urban policy.

Urban leaders have been shut out of the current White House, with tremendous consequences, from the housing crisis to the decay of vital infrastructure. Candidates can reverse this debacle by listening to the nation’s urban experts: the mayors of cities big and small.

They might learn that cities have long been America’s economic engine; that in recent years cities have been thrust to the front lines of homeland security and felt the brunt of the federal government’s failure to address immigration and health care; and that without federal investment in urban infrastructure, education and economies, the nation as a whole is crippled.

Candidates might also discover that cities across the country are leading the way not only on urban issues but also on solutions to overarching problems like global warming.

Executive Director of the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy