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Tudela to represent NMI in US Mayors’ meeting in DC
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Posted on Jan 16 2006
Saipan Mayor Juan B. Tudela will be off-island starting Jan. 22, Sunday, to represent the CNMI in the upcoming Mayors’ Winter Meeting in Washington D.C.
Tudela confirmed his attendance to the 74th Winter Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, which is from Jan. 25 to 27. The mayor will leave Saipan on Sunday and will be back on Jan. 31.
He said the meeting would be his first during his second term. He had attended the conference in previous years. “It’s my fifth time to attend the summit. I’ve been a member in the summit for five years now,” he said.
He said the conference is only a midterm meeting for all mayors in the United States and its island territories. He said he feels privileged to be invited to the summit because not even Guam, which has several mayors, will be represented there. Tudela currently holds membership in the conference’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
The agenda will include best practices in the municipality, dealing with disasters, update on the assistance of mayors in the Katrina relief operations, criminal and social justice topics such as policies and strategies that work to address gun violence among the youth, and children’s health such as the prevention of obesity, among others.
Last year, the conference focused more on homeland security.
Reports on last year’s meeting said the Conference of Mayors has argued since 9-11 that major changes are needed in the federal response and partnership with cities on homeland security and disaster prevention and preparedness.
“Since the devastating hurricanes, the administration and Congress are discussing structural changes to the federal, state, and local emergency response system, and the Conference of Mayors wants to make sure that mayoral and first-responder priorities are reflected in this process,” said the conference.
The Conference of Mayors made recommendations to the National Action Plan on Safety and Security in five key areas: FEMA Disaster Response System, military involvement in disaster response and recovery, communications interoperability, enhanced transportation security and First Responder funding.
