Projo Politics Blog

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Vice President Joseph R. Biden will attend the U.S. Conference of Mayors Annual Meeting, which is being held for the first time in Rhode Island in June, according to conference spokeswoman Elena Temple.

Mayor David N. Cicilline, who is a board member of the non-partisan mayor's conference and president of the National Conference of Democratic Mayors, is the host of the four-day convention, which will take place at the Rhode Island Convention Center.

Biden joins the list of political notables expected to attend what is the largest annual gathering of American mayors. According to the conference, those confirmed to attend so far are Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez, White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Shawn Donovan, and Sen. Mark P. Begich (D-Alaska).

President Obama, Biden and members of the Cabinet and Congress have been invited to the event, although the president has yet to confirm his attendance at the event, said Temple. Biden and others confirmed their attendance last week.

Both Obama and Biden have yet to visit the Ocean State since taking office in January. Biden was in Rhode Island most recently for the Newport funeral of former Sen. Claiborne Pell, which was on Jan. 5, prior to the start of Obama's administration.

The expected attendance of Biden and others, the mayors' meeting -- where the conference outlines its policy agenda and elects new officers -- brings the promise of national attention. But the meeting is also expected to be a major boon to the city, with nearly 1,200 -- mayors, staff and family -- expected to attend.

The focus of the three-day summit, from June 12-15, will be how cities plan to use federal funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Other major themes of the meeting will be illegal guns and gun violence, energy independence, education and the 2010 Census.

 Tags  biden cicilline economy obama Providence RI u.s. conference of mayors

---