COLUMBIA, S.C. — This week two mayors from the Midlands are taking part in the National Mayors' Conference in Washington D.C.
Starting Wednesday Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann and Cayce Mayor Elise Partin will have networking opportunities with other mayors from across the country.
Mayor Rickenmann says he hopes those networking opportunities will provide knowledge and solutions to problems communities are facing around Columbia.
"This year there's a couple of really good topics that I'm interested in," Rickenmann said. "Obviously, homelessness is a big one. How have some of these other communities been able to deal with it and how can we enhance what we're doing here? Gun violence is another one as well, and hearing from communities that have dealt with some mass shootings where there have been several deaths. We want to understand what they're doing now and preventing future events, but also what they learned from those events."
The conference will last from Wednesday until Friday and will explore topics ranging from mental health to combating childhood obesity.
Rickenmann says he looks forward to attending the conference for his second year in a row and learning even more from other cities like Columbia.
"Last year we had an opportunity and learned a lot from Denver about traffic calming in their neighborhoods. Denver shared with us some of their studies so now we're able to take some of that information and use it to look at what we can do with DOT that can be alternatives to speed bumps and other things to calm traffic down in neighborhoods and business districts," Rickenmann explained.
The mayors will be attending the conference in the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates and networking from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.
Rickenmann will host a presentation on Wednesday morning and discuss how mayors can access and leverage BIL and IRA funding for water projects.
Mayor Partin will not be presenting but taking in all the new information this year and hopes to bring back new ideas and solutions to the City of Cayce.
The City of Columbia has a council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, January 17 at 4 p.m. and the City of Cayce has a meeting on Wednesday, January 18 at 6 p.m.