About 200 mayors from across the country attended the Annual Conference of Mayors in Orlando this week. The conference invites mayors to seminars and forums ranging on topics from sustainable energy policies, to gun violence, to how to use social media to better a city.
Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn says this conference gives him a chance to share some quality time with other mayors.
"A mayor is a different burden and the job that we do- there's no manual for it," he said, "And the only way you learn is by making mistakes and hopefully if you can learn from other people's mistakes, as well as steal their good ideas, then you're much better off."
Buckhorn says he's interested in ideas on military, job growth, and ports.
He wants to know how other cities deal with:
- the downsizing of the military
- the kinds of jobs that are being created in the urban core
- how to expand international presence in exports.
Buckhorn said he sat in a session with other Florida mayors from urban cities like St. Petersburg, Fort Lauderdale, and Orlando. They discussed a legislative agenda with topics of transportation, housing, and infrastructure.
"The Florida mayors need to have a position on all of this and we need to make our case to the governor and to the legislature," Buckhorn said.
