Here’s What’s on the Agenda of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Meeting in Miami Beach
Miami Beach, Florida
Catch the biggest standing committee, task force and best practices sessions.
Climate protection, gun violence, homeland security and veterans affairs top the list of policy challenges to be discussed, when more than 250 city officials arrive in Miami Beach, Florida this weekend for the 85th annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Running June 23-26 at the Fontainebleau Hotel, the meeting will focus on overall city health and the adoption of bipartisan resolutions guiding policy in municipalities large and small—home to more than 85 percent of the U.S. population.
More than $1 million will be awarded to cities exemplifying best practices in the areas of climate protection, community development and college and career-readiness training.
Friday
The Energy Independence and Climate Protection Task Force will meet at 10:30 a.m., chaired by Republican Mayor Jim Brainard of Carmel, Indiana. A panel will discuss autonomous vehicle adoption and their reduction of carbon emissions, with a portal being launched for the latter as a reference for U.S. cities.
Following that, at 12:30 p.m., is the Mayors Climate Protection Awards Luncheon, presented by Republican Mayor Mick Cornett of Oklahoma City, the conference president. Miami Beach will also share resilience best practices for dealing with rising sea levels.
At 2:30 p.m., the Women Mayors Leadership Alliance will tackle issues like human trafficking and immigrants in crisis.
A session on infrastructure investment is at 4 p.m.
Following that at 5 p.m., the Community Development and Housing Standing Committee will consider a resolution opposing President Trump’s proposal to scrap the Community Development Block Grant program. Also at that time is the Criminal and Social Justice Standing Committee, where there are resolutions to support the COPS Office Trump seeks to cut and neighborhood policing on the table.
Saturday
A Hunger and Homelessness Task Force, chaired by Providence, Rhode Island Mayor Jorge Elorza, kicks off at 7:30 a.m. The Alliance for a Sustainable Future, at the same time, features presentations by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Austin Mayor Steve Adler.
The opening plenary session is at 9:15 a.m.
At 11:15 a.m., the Environment Standing Committee will consider a resolution supporting a cities-driven plan to reverse climate change. At the same time, the Transportation and Communications Standing Committee will field a resolution seeking federal funding for infrastructure investment. Broadband will be a part of that debate.
The focus of the 12:30 p.m. luncheon will be city livability.
In the afternoon, 2:30 p.m. best practice forums will address combating gun violence with new technologies and Airbnb.
Legal issues surrounding immigration will be taken up by a joint meeting of the Latino Alliance and Immigration Reform Task Force at 3:30 p.m.
Sunday
A plenary breakfast at 7:30 a.m. will be followed by more best practice forums at 9:15 a.m. on smart cities and closing the skills gap.
The U.S. opioid epidemic will be front-and-center at the 11:45 a.m. convening of the Substance Abuse and Recovery Services Task Force. Get your 2020 Census questions answered at a separate task force at the same time.
Securing cities is the theme of the 12:45 luncheon.
The Veterans Affairs Task Force meets at 2:30 p.m.
Monday
One of the resolutions being circulated at the conference would commit mayors to ending veterans homelessness, and a task force on the issue meets at 7:30 a.m.
At the 9 a.m. business session, all resolutions that made it out of the weekend’s standing committee meetings will be voted on.
Stick around for an 11:30 a.m. Miami Beach-hosted workshop on protecting rural health care providers.
The 12:45 p.m. luncheon honors Cornett’s tenure as USCM president.
At 2:30 p.m., there’s another workshop on 5G.
The full USCM meeting agenda can be found here.
Dave Nyczepir is a News Editor at Government Executive’s Route Fifty and is based in Washington, D.C.
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