October 1, 2012

Ortis to Serve at Florida League of Mayors

Pembroke Pines Mayor Frank Ortis has been elected to serve as the next President of the Florida League of Mayors for the 2012-2113 term. Ortis has said that he plans on holding roundtable discussions with the 410 Florida mayors throughout the year. Ortis is a member of the Conference of Mayors Advisory Board, and Chair of the Conference of Mayors Jobs, Education and Workforce Committee.

After serving 20 years as mayor of Arlington Heights (IL), Arlene J. Mulder has announced that she will not be seeking another term in office. The next election for Arlington Heights mayor will take place in April 2013.

Mulder has been an active leader within The U.S. Conference of Mayors, serving as a Trustee and as Vice Chair of the Criminal and Social Justice Committee.

In commenting on this announcement, Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran said, "Mayor Mulder has given her time and energy to our organization, and through her active engagement, The U.S. Conference of Mayors became an even stronger organization."

Mulder has spent 34 years in public service as a park district commissioner, village trustee and mayor. Before entering public service, Mulder was a teacher and a coach.

In press reports, Mulder stated, "My decision is based on the fact that I have continually apologized to my family that I can't be at a family event… I-ve loved everything I-ve done, loved every minute, and I plan to work as hard as ever these last seven months."

Providence Mayor Angel Taveras announced on September 13 that WaterFire, Providence's signature event, will expand to Rome, Italy with an inaugural lighting of 30 braziers on the Eternal City's historic Tiber River.

This is the first large'scale lighting of WaterFire in Europe. At the invitation of Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno, Taveras traveled to Rome for the inaugural lighting of WaterFire Rome. Italian Consul General Giuseppe Pastorelli who recently lit a WaterFire in Providence, joined the mayor for the press conference.

"WaterFire has established Providence as a global city. Greater Travel has ranked WaterFire, along with Paris at nightfall, among its greatest destinations after dark in the world," said Taveras. "I am excited to bring our signature event to a global and historic city like Rome and look forward to sharing our comeback story with our friends in Italy's capital city."

WaterFire Rome was staged with the help of volunteers from Rome and Providence, including students attending the Rhode Island School of Design's Rome program. The WaterFire lightings September 21 and September 22 included an iteration of Robert Hammonds Chance Encounters installation and a dance installation by Linda Foster.

WaterFire has been recognized, alongside Paris at nightfall and the night markets of Taiwan, as one of the world's greatest destinations after dark. More than 15 million people have attended a Providence WaterFire and the showcase was recently one of only 47 organizations across the country to receive an ArtPlace Creative Placemaking grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.