Markeshia Ricks Photo
Toni Harp.
Toni Harp has won another election.
Not for mayor this time, but for president of the national organization representing black mayors.
The organization, the African American Mayors Association, elected Harp as its new president at a convention last week at Washington’s Marriott Marquis Hotel. She is the first ever woman to lead the group (which recently changed its name after decades as the National Conference of Black Mayors).
Harp said during an appearance on WNHH radio’s “Mayor Monday” program that the group will focus on lobbying both the Trump administration and Congress on issues important to mayors such as gun control, technology, and infrastructure.
“The organization itself really wants to have a way of speaking to the federal government, and having the federal government understand how issues impact the cities that we run,” Harp said. “We will be working directly with the Congressional Black Caucus on issues and try to build support to move our issues forward despite what appears at this particular time to be an administration that has other ideas.”
“Black women are poised to lead,” Harp said, “in this state, and nationally.”
Also on the program, Harp said that interim schools Superintendent Reggie Mayo has agreed to stay on through the beginning of the next academic year in the event that the Board of Education has not yet hired a permanent new superintendent. Given that only in the last week has the board even begun meeting with a search firm, even if a candidate is chosen over the summer, that person might have to give notice to a current employer, Harp noted.
Click on or download the above audio file to listen to the full episode of WNHH radio’s “Mayor Monday.”
The episode of was made possible with the support of Gateway Community College and Berchem, Moses & Devlin, P.C.