Home »

Posted on Wed, Sep. 12, 2007

Haitian mayors arrive in South Florida for training workshop

Some 80 Haitian mayors and elected officials representing cities across Haiti arrived in South Florida this evening for a leadership and networking conference.

The second annual 2007 National Leadership Conference of Haitian Mayors will take place through Sunday at Florida Memorial University, 15800 NW 47th Ave. and takes place just two months before Haiti plays host to the World Conference of Mayors in St. Marc Haiti, Nov. 28-Dec. 1.

Over the course of the next few days, the Haitian mayors will have a chance to meet with local and U.S. mayors, and receive training in the areas of budgetting, disaster preparedness and response, municipal government, education, job creation and legal taxation.

''The idea is for the mayors to become better mayors,'' said Joseph ''Billy'' Louis, executive director of GALATA, a non-for-profit community based organization in Homestead and one of the leading sponsors of the conference.

``By exposing them to other mayors and other cities, they will know what to ask the central government, what kind of laws they can change under the Haitian Constitution and how to get money for development projects. The central government cannot change the whole country by itself.''

There are some 140 cities in Haiti, and in recent years, mayors have been asking for more autonomy and assistance in developing their cities. But all are faced with running cash-strapped cities where there is no money for staff, much less to purchase garbage trucks or office furniture.

In addition to Florida Memorial, GALATA and the government of Haiti, other sponsors include the city of Florida City, the National Conference of Black Mayors, the National League of Cities and the World Conference of Mayors.