Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan was re-elected chair of the North Carolina Metropolitan Mayors Coalition at its annual convention this month, appropriately enough in Greensboro. Vaughan was first elected chair in November 2018.
The Metro Mayors, as it is commonly called, is a coalition of the 30 or so largest municipalities in the state that was founded in 2001 to lobby the legislature and executive branch on issues of special interest to the larger cities in a fast-growing urbanizing state. Some of the policies of particular interest to the Metro Mayors are ones that create the opportunity for high quality economic growth, that build transportation networks and that promote public safety.
During the unusually long legislative session this year, Vaughan spent a good bit of time in Raleigh working for issues important to the Metro Mayors and to Greensboro.
While in Greensboro, the Metro Mayors toured the Piedmont Triad International Airport, including a visit to HondaJet, and the Steven Tanger Center for Performing Arts in downtown Greensboro that is scheduled to open in March.
The mayors also had a dinner at Piedmont Hall, a new addition to the Greensboro Coliseum Complex that opened in September.
Vaughan said, “It is an honor to be chosen to lead Metro Mayors and host my friends and colleagues from our state’s cities. We learn so much from each other. We share strategies, ideas with each other and we work together to make our state and our cities the best places to live, work and play.
Last year the Metro Mayors signed an agreement to work with the North Carolina League of Municipalities. So the two organizations, the League representing all the municipalities of North Carolina and the Metro Mayors representing the largest municipalities in the state have started working together.
