By Katie Pirolt
July 2, 2012

The Membership Standing Committee met on June 13 during The U.S. Conference of Mayors 80th Annual Meeting. Conference of Mayors Membership Committee Chair Piscataway Mayor Brian Wahler provided an overview of the 50'state Membership Campaign reporting that there has been an increase in new members since our 80th Winter Meeting. Wahler said, "New members from January to June of this year were twice greater than the total number of new mayors in all of 2011." He added, "These new member mayors represent over 2.5 million citizens and offer to the organization a wide area of expertise such as law enforcement, medicine, marketing, infrastructure maintenance, and environmental engineering."

Wahler thanked the Membership Committee saying, "Everyone's outreach on this committee over the past year is greatly appreciated and the hard-work is starting to pay off."

Wahler also gave a brief update of the grant programs offered to member mayors, including "the new GRO1000 Gardens and Green Spaces Grant that will award five cities with $25,000 each to expand and develop their 'greenscapes'." For more information about all Conference of Mayors award programs, visit our website at usmayors.org.

The Membership Committee meeting concluded with further discussion on ways to increase outreach to new mayors, first-time attendees, and mayors of a rotating city council.