College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn joined 203 other mayors across the country in Indianapolis for the 2016 United States Conference of Mayors from June 24 to June 27.
The first-year mayor tweeted two selfies over the weekend — the first with singer Lady Gaga, who Wojahn wrote talked “about the need for mayors to engage with our youth” and the second with the Dalai Lama, who shared “inspiring words” on “building a #CityofKindness.”
“I had the opportunity to meet with mayors from other university-oriented communities and discussing how to make the most of the innovative ideas coming out of the universities within our cities,” Wojahn wrote in his weekly mayoral update. “I also listened to a panel including His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Lady Gaga about creating communities of kindness, especially in the aftermath of the recent incidents in Orlando.”
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and the Libertarian presidential candidate and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson both appeared at the 84th annual conference, which invites representatives from cities with populations with 30,000 people or more.
The event also included discussions on “best practices and local mayoral priorities” for first-time mayors; task force meetings on education, technology and innovation, community development, and small business and entrepreneurship, among others; and award ceremonies.
Mayors also were invited to participate in events such as a private concert with musician Michael Feinstein and a “vibrant street party on Main Street” in the Carmel Arts and Design District, according to the conference’s agenda.
This week, Wojahn will be traveling to Kansas City, Missouri, for the 2016 leadership meeting of the National League of Cities, where he serves as the chairman of the transportation and infrastructure services committee.
“We will be touring the city’s new streetcar system and learning about how the city is taking advantage of their status as Google’s first Gigabit city, having received hundreds of millions of dollars to bring high-speed wireless internet to the whole city,” he wrote in his update.
College Park is undergoing its own revival with ongoing city developments, including the Purple Line light-rail project, new businesses along Route 1 and the University of Maryland’s M Square Research Park.
