About 35 members of the National League of Cities’ Community and Economic Development Steering Committee are in Natchez this weekend for their quarterly conference.

On Saturday morning, the group held sessions at the Radisson Natchez Eola Hotel on such topics as e-commerce, disaster relief and global trade.

The committee will use such information to recommend economic policies for the NLC as a whole.

&uot;Another thing (this conference) does is expose a diverse group of leaders from all over the country to Natchez,&uot;&160;said Mayor Larry L. &uot;Butch&uot; Brown.

Brown, himself a member of the committee, successfully lobbied the group to hold its May 2000 meeting in Natchez.

Committee members ate lunch Saturday with Natchez officials at the Carriage House Restaurant and toured the antebellum house Stanton Hall.

They also took a bus tour of the city’s economic development projects, including the renovation of several downtown properties, before enjoying some free time and having dinner at the Natchez Visitors Reception Center.

&uot;I’ve had a chance to see the city already, and I&160;see a lot of economic development going on,&uot;&160;said Larry Haler, chairman of the committee and a council member of Richland, Wash.

But what impressed committee member Bill Klammer most about Natchez was the welcome the group received from just about everyone they met.

&uot;I’ve been deeply impressed,&uot; said Klammer, mayor of Lake Oswego, Ore., where the committee’s September meeting will be held.

&uot;The people here are so friendly and so excited about their city. Even strangers you meet on the street say hello.&uot;