Led by Providence Mayor David Cicilline, a delegation of U.S. mayors will travel to Israel in mid-October for the 25th Annual Jerusalem Conference of Mayors, hosted by Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski. Conducted in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting is sponsored by the American Jewish Congress-Council for World Jewry, which covers the costs of the mayors’ participation, along with The U.S. Conference of Mayors.
It is a tremendous honor to be asked by The U.S. Conference of Mayors to lead this group of mayors from America’s cities to Jerusalem,” said Mayor Cicilline. “I’m looking forward to exchanging ideas and best practices with other mayors in an international setting as we focus on common issues and challenges affecting urban centers around the world.”
“In sponsoring this annual gathering of mayors from around the world we hope to give them a fresh and open look at Jerusalem, and a new understanding of Israel and its achievements,” said AJCongress-Council for World Jewry Chairman Jack Rosen.
In Jerusalem, the U.S. delegation will be joined by approximately 60 mayors from cities in South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Included among these are the Mayors of Leipzig, Germany; Managua, Nicaragua; Lima, Peru; Kigali, Rwanda; Belgrade, Republic of Serbia; Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania; Bangkok, Thailand; and Kiev, Ukraine. The theme of this year’s conference is the urban center as the focus of governmental, administrative, economic, and cultural significance and influence.
During the October 14-18 event the mayors are scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, President Shimon Peres, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. They will participate in round-table sessions that will explore topics such as intercultural and economic challenges facing cities and the role of mayors in the international arena. The mayors will tour both historic and modern sites in Jerusalem, and visit Yad Vashem, the holocaust memorial; the Hadassah Hospital; a high-tech business incubator; and Yad Sarah, a social services facility in Jerusalem.
The U.S. delegation includes Providence (RI) Mayor David N. Cicilline, Chair of The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Committee on Children, Health and Human Services, Mayor; Madison (WI) Mayor Dave Cieslewicz; Baton Rouge (LA) Melvin “Kip” Holden; Cincinnati (OH) Mark Mallory; Dayton, (OH) Rhine McLin; and Green Bay, (WI) Mayor James J. Schmitt.
The U.S. Conference of Mayors is the official nonpartisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or more. There are 1,139 such cities in the country today, each represented in the Conference by its chief elected official, the Mayor.
(Source: US Conference of Mayors)
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3 Responses
thank you – know i understand why a hotel room in jerusalem was hard to come by next shabbos. i hope they are not at the shabbis lunch buffet at the sheraton!
What exactly does this do for anybody other than waste hundreds of thousands of dollars?
to hakatan:
when ariel sharon was between jobs in israeli politics, he used to take american politicians on helicopter flights showing them the strategic advantage of israel holding on to say, the golan.
once, there was an empty seat, and a politician available — he was just a governor of an unimportant state, so sharon said let him on, and that’s how george “dubya” bush got a personal tour by ariel sharon (when he was sane).
at least we got bush out of the deal, if not sharon.