ORLANDO, Fla. — City leaders from across the country are in Washington DC this week for talks on how to best help and support their fellow mayors.
And, in the center of it, leading discussions on a big safety topic, is Orlando’s mayor Buddy Dyer. He’s being called on for expertise in ‘responding to mass shootings.’
Dyer will speak on the subject Friday. He was asked to address the topic at this year’s annual conference in Washington.
It has been more than six years since the Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016, but it’s forever memorialized in Orlando.
And it is something Dyer has talked about, the city’s response, including how people treated the aftermath emotionally in the wake of the shooting that killed dozens of people.
The mayor’s conference acknowledges, the topics chosen were done so because of the challenges they have become to so many cities. The event also hopes that mayors can learn from each other on these issues.
“There are issues where cities and states cannot do it alone. We need all levels of government doing their part,” said Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who also is the president of the US Conference of Mayors. “Perhaps there’s no better example of how a strong local federal partnership can benefit our company and infrastructure.”
Ultimately, though, all the mayors do more than talk amongst themselves, they also have the ear of the Biden administration.
And in a few weeks, governors from across the country will meet this way, in Washington, for the governor’s annual winter meeting.
