"We do 20 million rides per day, 3x everyone else, globally, added together." -- Didi Chuxing President Jean Liu at WSJ.D Live.

"In September, we are greater than $20b run rate for annual gross bookings."

"We are a data company. We gather 70TB per day if data." [and it is probably greater than that if we include the HD video gathered for their autonomous driving progtam]

"AI will evolve to be faster and safer. It will commercialize first in the ride share network. It has to be safer than human; we have less tolerance when the machine makes a mistake."

"For drivers and riders, we gather hobby and professional data to train the AI on matching." [and today, it serves as a dating app in disguise]

Asked about future job loss from autonomy: "we have created over 15m jobs, 4m of them came from heavy industry."

Inside Building 836 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, a technician works on installing ejetable data recorders onto NASA's Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator (LOFTID) on Aug. 19, 2022. Dedicated to the memory of Bernard Kutter, LOFTID is a technology demonstration mission aimed at validating inflatable heat shield technology for atmospheric re-entry. This technology could enable missions to other planetary bodies, as well as allow NASA to return heavier payloads from low-Earth orbit. LOFTID is a rideshare launching with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Joint Polar Satellite System-2 (JPSS-2) satellite. NASA and NOAA are targeting Nov. 1, 2022, for the launch of JPSS-2 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg. Photo credit: USSF 30th Space Wing/Julio Paz

NASA image use policy.

More than 1,000 mayors, managers, community planners, locally elected officials and guests from throughout Michigan will descend on Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 20-22 for the joint 2018 Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) convention. This is the first time ever the League and MAP have joined forces to combine their two annual fall conferences (the League’s Convention and MAP’s Planning Michigan Conference) into a single massive gathering. And it’s all happening during the 2018 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Most convention education sessions and trainings will take place in Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Place, but there also is an extensive series of mobile workshops throughout the area that will put a spotlight on the positive things happening in the community.

The Convention is the League's premiere annual event and a chance to inform and highlight community accomplishments. The League is especially excited to be in Grand Rapids this year with MAP because the west-Michigan community has a lot of the placemaking assets the League has identified as making up vibrant communities, including walkability and physical design, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, strong education base and much more.

Both the League and MAP serve the education and advocacy needs of elected and appointed leaders and the staff that support them: managers and administrators, professional planners, and other city, village and township leaders that make up the teams that work in tandem to create vibrant, successful, and healthy communities. Because the League and MAP are collaborating on this event, we’ll have double the power to bring more of what our members want. Attendees have more breakout sessions, more topics, and more mobile tours to choose from than ever before.

The event View the Convention program here: blogs.mml.org/wp/events/files/2014/06/2018-Convention-Pro....

Other Convention highlights include:

- The official launch of the next phase of the SaveMICity municipal finance reform effort.

- The selection of the 2018 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner. The CEA is the League’s most prestigious community award. The 12th annual CEA competition started earlier this year and is down to four final projects. The finalists will give presentations Thursday and Convention attendees will vote, with the winner announced Saturday (Sept. 22) morning. Go here to read a press release about the four finalists: www.mml.org/newsroom/press_releases/2018-8-6-Community-Ex... and checkout the CEA website here: cea.mml.org/.

- Michigan Municipal Executive (MME) Colloquium: Empowering Communities to Set Their Own Destinies with keynote general session speaker Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center – 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

- Great Place to Live Townhall general session featuring Phil Power and the Center for Michigan’s Truth Tour – 11 am -12:15 p.m. Thursday.

- The New Localism: Utilizing Public, Private, and Civic Partnerships to Become a Change Engine general session featuring Bruce.Katz,.Co-Author, The New Localism, noon-1:45 Friday, Sept. 21

- Closing General Session about Civic Engagement Strategy: Inclusivity for the Win moderated by Carla Gribbs, Regional Manager, DTE Energy; and featuring Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana; 1st Vice President, National League of Cities, 10:30-noon Saturday, Sept. 22

- Michigan Green Communities (MGC) Awards Lunch and Workshop, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday

- Selection of the 2018-19 new League board members and board president and vice president, Friday, Sept. 21.

- Michigan Municipal League Foundation fund-raising event, Friday evening

- Michigan Association of Mayors breakfast and annual meeting, Friday morning.

- Michigan Women in Municipal Government meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Michigan Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Amazon: Michigan’s Wake Up Call or the Beginning of the End featuring the League’s Anthony Minghine and Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive, Wayne County, 2-3:15 p.m.Thursday.

- HR Up in Smoke: The Intersection between Marihuana legislation and empowerment law featuring Charles Mitchell, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office, Denver CO; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, State and Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League, 1:45-3:15 Thursday.

- Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act: Back to the Basics featuring Anne Seurynck, Attorney, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Hit Them with Your Best Shot: Attracting Businesses and Developers featuring Katharine Czarnecki, Senior Vice President, Community Development, MEDC; Nicole Whitehead, Director, Sales & Service Operations, MEDC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Mobile workshops: Envision Ada: Transforming a Suburban Strip Commercial Center into an Integral Part of an Historic Village; All Around Downtown, Uptown, Eastown; New Urbanism in Practice; Viva la Avenida: Planning for a Cultural Corridor, all 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Unleash the Power of Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss, Recast City LLC, 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Creating Sustainable Retail Districts featuring Bobby Boone, AICP, LEED AP, Small Business Retail Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Martha Potere, AICP, Strategy and Special Projects Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thursday

- Host City reception by Urban Metro Mayors and Managers at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thursday

- Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy with speakers Tyler Kilfman, Planner, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); Kevin Vettraino, AICP, Plan Implementation Manager, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), 9-10:15 a.m. Friday

- Fostering an Inclusive Community Environment Hosted by the Michigan Black Caucus with speakers : Lois Allen-Richardson, Councilmember, Ypsilanti; President, MBC-LEO; Oronde Miller, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Stacy Stout, Assistant to the City Manager, Grand Rapids; Howard Walters, Program and Evaluation Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 9-noon Friday

- Mobility: The Community Conversation with speakers Sarah Latta Rainero, Regional Director, Community Assistance Team, Community Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Tyler Bevier, Transportation Planner, Bay Area Transportation Authority; Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research, 9-10:30 am Friday

- CNU Rules for Great Places: The Project for Code Reform featuring Mary Madden, AICP, Principal, Ferrell Madden; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League; Heather Seyfarth, AICP, Community Engagement Specialist, Ann Arbor; Vice President, Michigan Association of Planning, 9-10:30 am Friday

- More mobile workshops: Explore: ArtPrize10; From Grand Rapids’ Downtown to Your Town: Idea Tour for Building Reuse; Vital Streets in Action Bike Tour; The Modern Orchard at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, all are 9-noon Friday

- Master Planning: The Critical Role of Elected Leaders and the Planning Commission with speakers Adam Young, AICP, Senior Project Manager, Wade Trim; Chris McLeod, AICP, City Planner, Sterling Heights; Mark Vanderpool, City Manager, Sterling Heights, 10:45-noon Friday

- Social Media Pitfalls and Upsides for Communities with speakers Amy Snow-Buckner, Acting Managing Director of Communications, Grand Rapids; Matt Bach, Director, Communications, Michigan Municipal League; Jim Thorburn, Detective/Social Media Director, Allen Park Police Department, 10:45-noon Friday

- We Need More Parking! (But Do We Really?) with Tom Brown, Principle, Nelson\Nygaard; Bradley Strader, AICP, PTP, Transportation Planner, MKSK; Nicole VanNess, Manager, Traverse City DDA, 10:45-noon Friday

- Even more mobile workshops: Frederik Meijer Gardens; Terra Square and the Seeds of a New Downtown in Hudsonville; Under, Over, and All Around, all are 2-5 p.m. Friday

- Improving the Tone and Quality of our Civic Discourse with speakers John Bebow, President & CEO, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine; Melanie Piana, Councilmember, Ferndale, Vice President, Michigan Municipal League Board, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- The Keys to Putting Ethics into Action with Christopher Johnson, General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League; Marlon Brown, Mayor Pro Tem, Mason; Michael McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Miller Canfield; Eleanor Siewert, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Assignment: Effective Procedures, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- Smart, Accessible, Connected - this high-level panel discussion covers the future of cities in the context of advanced mobility technologies, including connected and automated vehicles, ridesharing, carsharing, ridehailing, mobility-as-a-service, and microtransit with speakers Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Speakers: Kelly Bartlett, Senior Policy & Legislative Advisor, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

The Power of the Wind: A Michigan Story with a focus on renewable energy featuring speakers Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy; Emily Palacios, Principal, Miller Canfield, 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday

- The Sky’s the Limit: Big Data, Drones, and the Internet of Things with Daniel Brooks, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Zachary Halberd, Co-Founder, Quantifly, 3:45-5 p.m. Friday

It’s Budget Time. Do you Know Where Your Revenue Is? With John Hoppough, Mayor, Greenville; Jacob Kain, City Planner, Mount Pleasant; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League, Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, East Lansing, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

Short Term Rentals: Trends, Impacts & Options with speakers Robert Monetza, Councilmember, Grand Haven; Ulrik Binzer, CEO, Host Compliance; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday

And yes even more mobile tours: Farmers Markets and Food Halls as Catalysts for Business and Real Estate Development; Restoring the Rapids: A Tour of Grand River Restoration Efforts, both 9-noon Friday

Photos of the 2018 Convention will be uploaded to flickr throughout the Convention can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page: flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given like this: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org. Thanks!

Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.

Inside the SAFI E-motorbike company which manufactures electric motorbikes and runs an e- rideshare and delivery company in Kigali, Rwanda.

IMF Photo/Kim Haughton

27 January 2023

Kigali, Rwanda

Inside the SAFI E-motorbike company which manufactures electric motorbikes and runs an e- rideshare and delivery company in Kigali, Rwanda.

IMF Photo/Kim Haughton

27 January 2023

Kigali, Rwanda

This is the map of Bi-State Transit's Missouri and Illinois routes as it appeared in September of 1964. As of 2003, the company does business as simply "Metro."

Prior to the 1990's, Bi-State had a somewhat wider service area as evidenced by this map. It had multiple local and express routes routes to all corners of St. Louis County, including some service into St. Charles' Old Town neighborhood, which had not seen a public transit service since 1932. Service to the North County area was not quite as extensive as it is now.

Also evident is bus service running all the way along Gravois from the City and into Fenton. These days, bus service on Gravois only runs as far as Weber Rd, and Fenton is only served by a Metro-contracted rideshare service.

Also evident is the service into Madison County, Illinois connecting with the St. Clair routes. Madison County formed its own transit agency in 1980 and took over those old routes from Bi-State.

The rearview in the rain inside an Uber car.

Long exposure photograph showing the NASA/German Research Centre for Geosciences GRACE Follow-On spacecraft launching onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, Tuesday, May 22, 2018, from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The mission will measure changes in how mass is redistributed within and among Earth's atmosphere, oceans, land and ice sheets, as well as within Earth itself. GRACE-FO is sharing its ride to orbit with five Iridium NEXT communications satellites as part of a commercial rideshare agreement. Photo Credit: (NASA/Bill Ingalls)

Georgia Avenue between Sligo Avenue and Silver Spring Avenue in Silver Spring, Maryland on Monday evening, 14 June 2021 by Elvert Barnes Photography

LYFT / UBER Ridesharing

Elvert Barnes June 2021 at elvertxbarnes.com/june-2021

More than 1,000 mayors, managers, community planners, locally elected officials and guests from throughout Michigan will descend on Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 20-22 for the joint 2018 Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) convention. This is the first time ever the League and MAP have joined forces to combine their two annual fall conferences (the League’s Convention and MAP’s Planning Michigan Conference) into a single massive gathering. And it’s all happening during the 2018 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Most convention education sessions and trainings will take place in Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Place, but there also is an extensive series of mobile workshops throughout the area that will put a spotlight on the positive things happening in the community.

The Convention is the League's premiere annual event and a chance to inform and highlight community accomplishments. The League is especially excited to be in Grand Rapids this year with MAP because the west-Michigan community has a lot of the placemaking assets the League has identified as making up vibrant communities, including walkability and physical design, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, strong education base and much more.

Both the League and MAP serve the education and advocacy needs of elected and appointed leaders and the staff that support them: managers and administrators, professional planners, and other city, village and township leaders that make up the teams that work in tandem to create vibrant, successful, and healthy communities. Because the League and MAP are collaborating on this event, we’ll have double the power to bring more of what our members want. Attendees have more breakout sessions, more topics, and more mobile tours to choose from than ever before.

The event View the Convention program here: blogs.mml.org/wp/events/files/2014/06/2018-Convention-Pro....

Other Convention highlights include:

- The official launch of the next phase of the SaveMICity municipal finance reform effort.

- The selection of the 2018 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner. The CEA is the League’s most prestigious community award. The 12th annual CEA competition started earlier this year and is down to four final projects. The finalists will give presentations Thursday and Convention attendees will vote, with the winner announced Saturday (Sept. 22) morning. Go here to read a press release about the four finalists: www.mml.org/newsroom/press_releases/2018-8-6-Community-Ex... and checkout the CEA website here: cea.mml.org/.

- Michigan Municipal Executive (MME) Colloquium: Empowering Communities to Set Their Own Destinies with keynote general session speaker Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center – 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

- Great Place to Live Townhall general session featuring Phil Power and the Center for Michigan’s Truth Tour – 11 am -12:15 p.m. Thursday.

- The New Localism: Utilizing Public, Private, and Civic Partnerships to Become a Change Engine general session featuring Bruce.Katz,.Co-Author, The New Localism, noon-1:45 Friday, Sept. 21

- Closing General Session about Civic Engagement Strategy: Inclusivity for the Win moderated by Carla Gribbs, Regional Manager, DTE Energy; and featuring Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana; 1st Vice President, National League of Cities, 10:30-noon Saturday, Sept. 22

- Michigan Green Communities (MGC) Awards Lunch and Workshop, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday

- Selection of the 2018-19 new League board members and board president and vice president, Friday, Sept. 21.

- Michigan Municipal League Foundation fund-raising event, Friday evening

- Michigan Association of Mayors breakfast and annual meeting, Friday morning.

- Michigan Women in Municipal Government meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Michigan Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Amazon: Michigan’s Wake Up Call or the Beginning of the End featuring the League’s Anthony Minghine and Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive, Wayne County, 2-3:15 p.m.Thursday.

- HR Up in Smoke: The Intersection between Marihuana legislation and empowerment law featuring Charles Mitchell, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office, Denver CO; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, State and Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League, 1:45-3:15 Thursday.

- Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act: Back to the Basics featuring Anne Seurynck, Attorney, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Hit Them with Your Best Shot: Attracting Businesses and Developers featuring Katharine Czarnecki, Senior Vice President, Community Development, MEDC; Nicole Whitehead, Director, Sales & Service Operations, MEDC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Mobile workshops: Envision Ada: Transforming a Suburban Strip Commercial Center into an Integral Part of an Historic Village; All Around Downtown, Uptown, Eastown; New Urbanism in Practice; Viva la Avenida: Planning for a Cultural Corridor, all 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Unleash the Power of Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss, Recast City LLC, 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Creating Sustainable Retail Districts featuring Bobby Boone, AICP, LEED AP, Small Business Retail Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Martha Potere, AICP, Strategy and Special Projects Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thursday

- Host City reception by Urban Metro Mayors and Managers at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thursday

- Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy with speakers Tyler Kilfman, Planner, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); Kevin Vettraino, AICP, Plan Implementation Manager, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), 9-10:15 a.m. Friday

- Fostering an Inclusive Community Environment Hosted by the Michigan Black Caucus with speakers : Lois Allen-Richardson, Councilmember, Ypsilanti; President, MBC-LEO; Oronde Miller, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Stacy Stout, Assistant to the City Manager, Grand Rapids; Howard Walters, Program and Evaluation Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 9-noon Friday

- Mobility: The Community Conversation with speakers Sarah Latta Rainero, Regional Director, Community Assistance Team, Community Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Tyler Bevier, Transportation Planner, Bay Area Transportation Authority; Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research, 9-10:30 am Friday

- CNU Rules for Great Places: The Project for Code Reform featuring Mary Madden, AICP, Principal, Ferrell Madden; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League; Heather Seyfarth, AICP, Community Engagement Specialist, Ann Arbor; Vice President, Michigan Association of Planning, 9-10:30 am Friday

- More mobile workshops: Explore: ArtPrize10; From Grand Rapids’ Downtown to Your Town: Idea Tour for Building Reuse; Vital Streets in Action Bike Tour; The Modern Orchard at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, all are 9-noon Friday

- Master Planning: The Critical Role of Elected Leaders and the Planning Commission with speakers Adam Young, AICP, Senior Project Manager, Wade Trim; Chris McLeod, AICP, City Planner, Sterling Heights; Mark Vanderpool, City Manager, Sterling Heights, 10:45-noon Friday

- Social Media Pitfalls and Upsides for Communities with speakers Amy Snow-Buckner, Acting Managing Director of Communications, Grand Rapids; Matt Bach, Director, Communications, Michigan Municipal League; Jim Thorburn, Detective/Social Media Director, Allen Park Police Department, 10:45-noon Friday

- We Need More Parking! (But Do We Really?) with Tom Brown, Principle, Nelson\Nygaard; Bradley Strader, AICP, PTP, Transportation Planner, MKSK; Nicole VanNess, Manager, Traverse City DDA, 10:45-noon Friday

- Even more mobile workshops: Frederik Meijer Gardens; Terra Square and the Seeds of a New Downtown in Hudsonville; Under, Over, and All Around, all are 2-5 p.m. Friday

- Improving the Tone and Quality of our Civic Discourse with speakers John Bebow, President & CEO, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine; Melanie Piana, Councilmember, Ferndale, Vice President, Michigan Municipal League Board, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- The Keys to Putting Ethics into Action with Christopher Johnson, General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League; Marlon Brown, Mayor Pro Tem, Mason; Michael McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Miller Canfield; Eleanor Siewert, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Assignment: Effective Procedures, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- Smart, Accessible, Connected - this high-level panel discussion covers the future of cities in the context of advanced mobility technologies, including connected and automated vehicles, ridesharing, carsharing, ridehailing, mobility-as-a-service, and microtransit with speakers Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Speakers: Kelly Bartlett, Senior Policy & Legislative Advisor, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

The Power of the Wind: A Michigan Story with a focus on renewable energy featuring speakers Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy; Emily Palacios, Principal, Miller Canfield, 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday

- The Sky’s the Limit: Big Data, Drones, and the Internet of Things with Daniel Brooks, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Zachary Halberd, Co-Founder, Quantifly, 3:45-5 p.m. Friday

It’s Budget Time. Do you Know Where Your Revenue Is? With John Hoppough, Mayor, Greenville; Jacob Kain, City Planner, Mount Pleasant; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League, Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, East Lansing, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

Short Term Rentals: Trends, Impacts & Options with speakers Robert Monetza, Councilmember, Grand Haven; Ulrik Binzer, CEO, Host Compliance; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday

And yes even more mobile tours: Farmers Markets and Food Halls as Catalysts for Business and Real Estate Development; Restoring the Rapids: A Tour of Grand River Restoration Efforts, both 9-noon Friday

Photos of the 2018 Convention will be uploaded to flickr throughout the Convention can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page: flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given like this: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org. Thanks!

Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.

The evolution of the Genesis G80, formerly the Hyundai Genesis, continues. After the name change and separation from the mainstream Hyundai lineup for 2017, 2018 sees the addition of this high-performance model, featuring the 3.3L turbo V6 engine from the G90 and the upcoming Kia Stinger. Pricing is over $55,000, very pricey for a Hyundai Genesis but very competitive against performance-oriented German competitors.

If I could take any car from this auto show, it would be a very close call between this model, the Kia Stinger, and the Mazda Miata. All are rear-wheel-drive driver's cars though the Genesis is obviously the luxurious choice suitable for road trips.

I still drive a 2009 Hyundai Genesis, and even though years of rideshare duty abuse are catching up to it, it's still in good shape at 250,000 miles. I'll be happy to be a repeat customer.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe), the agency’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Follow On–Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) spacecraft atop stands vertical at Launch Complex 39A as the sun sets on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The missions will each focus on different effects of the solar wind — the continuous stream of particles emitted by the Sun — and space weather — the changing conditions in space driven by the Sun — from their origins at the Sun to their farthest reaches billions of miles away at the edge of our solar system. Photo credit: SpaceX

NASA image use policy.

Leica M2 + 35mm Summicron v4

Ilford FP4 in Xtol

Navigating CitiBank's sponsored ride sharing in Lower Manhattan

More than 1,000 mayors, managers, community planners, locally elected officials and guests from throughout Michigan will descend on Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 20-22 for the joint 2018 Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) convention. This is the first time ever the League and MAP have joined forces to combine their two annual fall conferences (the League’s Convention and MAP’s Planning Michigan Conference) into a single massive gathering. And it’s all happening during the 2018 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Most convention education sessions and trainings will take place in Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Place, but there also is an extensive series of mobile workshops throughout the area that will put a spotlight on the positive things happening in the community.

The Convention is the League's premiere annual event and a chance to inform and highlight community accomplishments. The League is especially excited to be in Grand Rapids this year with MAP because the west-Michigan community has a lot of the placemaking assets the League has identified as making up vibrant communities, including walkability and physical design, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, strong education base and much more.

Both the League and MAP serve the education and advocacy needs of elected and appointed leaders and the staff that support them: managers and administrators, professional planners, and other city, village and township leaders that make up the teams that work in tandem to create vibrant, successful, and healthy communities. Because the League and MAP are collaborating on this event, we’ll have double the power to bring more of what our members want. Attendees have more breakout sessions, more topics, and more mobile tours to choose from than ever before.

The event View the Convention program here: blogs.mml.org/wp/events/files/2014/06/2018-Convention-Pro....

Other Convention highlights include:

- The official launch of the next phase of the SaveMICity municipal finance reform effort.

- The selection of the 2018 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner. The CEA is the League’s most prestigious community award. The 12th annual CEA competition started earlier this year and is down to four final projects. The finalists will give presentations Thursday and Convention attendees will vote, with the winner announced Saturday (Sept. 22) morning. Go here to read a press release about the four finalists: www.mml.org/newsroom/press_releases/2018-8-6-Community-Ex... and checkout the CEA website here: cea.mml.org/.

- Michigan Municipal Executive (MME) Colloquium: Empowering Communities to Set Their Own Destinies with keynote general session speaker Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center – 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

- Great Place to Live Townhall general session featuring Phil Power and the Center for Michigan’s Truth Tour – 11 am -12:15 p.m. Thursday.

- The New Localism: Utilizing Public, Private, and Civic Partnerships to Become a Change Engine general session featuring Bruce.Katz,.Co-Author, The New Localism, noon-1:45 Friday, Sept. 21

- Closing General Session about Civic Engagement Strategy: Inclusivity for the Win moderated by Carla Gribbs, Regional Manager, DTE Energy; and featuring Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana; 1st Vice President, National League of Cities, 10:30-noon Saturday, Sept. 22

- Michigan Green Communities (MGC) Awards Lunch and Workshop, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday

- Selection of the 2018-19 new League board members and board president and vice president, Friday, Sept. 21.

- Michigan Municipal League Foundation fund-raising event, Friday evening

- Michigan Association of Mayors breakfast and annual meeting, Friday morning.

- Michigan Women in Municipal Government meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Michigan Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Amazon: Michigan’s Wake Up Call or the Beginning of the End featuring the League’s Anthony Minghine and Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive, Wayne County, 2-3:15 p.m.Thursday.

- HR Up in Smoke: The Intersection between Marihuana legislation and empowerment law featuring Charles Mitchell, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office, Denver CO; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, State and Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League, 1:45-3:15 Thursday.

- Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act: Back to the Basics featuring Anne Seurynck, Attorney, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Hit Them with Your Best Shot: Attracting Businesses and Developers featuring Katharine Czarnecki, Senior Vice President, Community Development, MEDC; Nicole Whitehead, Director, Sales & Service Operations, MEDC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Mobile workshops: Envision Ada: Transforming a Suburban Strip Commercial Center into an Integral Part of an Historic Village; All Around Downtown, Uptown, Eastown; New Urbanism in Practice; Viva la Avenida: Planning for a Cultural Corridor, all 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Unleash the Power of Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss, Recast City LLC, 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Creating Sustainable Retail Districts featuring Bobby Boone, AICP, LEED AP, Small Business Retail Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Martha Potere, AICP, Strategy and Special Projects Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thursday

- Host City reception by Urban Metro Mayors and Managers at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thursday

- Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy with speakers Tyler Kilfman, Planner, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); Kevin Vettraino, AICP, Plan Implementation Manager, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), 9-10:15 a.m. Friday

- Fostering an Inclusive Community Environment Hosted by the Michigan Black Caucus with speakers : Lois Allen-Richardson, Councilmember, Ypsilanti; President, MBC-LEO; Oronde Miller, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Stacy Stout, Assistant to the City Manager, Grand Rapids; Howard Walters, Program and Evaluation Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 9-noon Friday

- Mobility: The Community Conversation with speakers Sarah Latta Rainero, Regional Director, Community Assistance Team, Community Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Tyler Bevier, Transportation Planner, Bay Area Transportation Authority; Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research, 9-10:30 am Friday

- CNU Rules for Great Places: The Project for Code Reform featuring Mary Madden, AICP, Principal, Ferrell Madden; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League; Heather Seyfarth, AICP, Community Engagement Specialist, Ann Arbor; Vice President, Michigan Association of Planning, 9-10:30 am Friday

- More mobile workshops: Explore: ArtPrize10; From Grand Rapids’ Downtown to Your Town: Idea Tour for Building Reuse; Vital Streets in Action Bike Tour; The Modern Orchard at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, all are 9-noon Friday

- Master Planning: The Critical Role of Elected Leaders and the Planning Commission with speakers Adam Young, AICP, Senior Project Manager, Wade Trim; Chris McLeod, AICP, City Planner, Sterling Heights; Mark Vanderpool, City Manager, Sterling Heights, 10:45-noon Friday

- Social Media Pitfalls and Upsides for Communities with speakers Amy Snow-Buckner, Acting Managing Director of Communications, Grand Rapids; Matt Bach, Director, Communications, Michigan Municipal League; Jim Thorburn, Detective/Social Media Director, Allen Park Police Department, 10:45-noon Friday

- We Need More Parking! (But Do We Really?) with Tom Brown, Principle, Nelson\Nygaard; Bradley Strader, AICP, PTP, Transportation Planner, MKSK; Nicole VanNess, Manager, Traverse City DDA, 10:45-noon Friday

- Even more mobile workshops: Frederik Meijer Gardens; Terra Square and the Seeds of a New Downtown in Hudsonville; Under, Over, and All Around, all are 2-5 p.m. Friday

- Improving the Tone and Quality of our Civic Discourse with speakers John Bebow, President & CEO, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine; Melanie Piana, Councilmember, Ferndale, Vice President, Michigan Municipal League Board, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- The Keys to Putting Ethics into Action with Christopher Johnson, General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League; Marlon Brown, Mayor Pro Tem, Mason; Michael McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Miller Canfield; Eleanor Siewert, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Assignment: Effective Procedures, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- Smart, Accessible, Connected - this high-level panel discussion covers the future of cities in the context of advanced mobility technologies, including connected and automated vehicles, ridesharing, carsharing, ridehailing, mobility-as-a-service, and microtransit with speakers Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Speakers: Kelly Bartlett, Senior Policy & Legislative Advisor, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

The Power of the Wind: A Michigan Story with a focus on renewable energy featuring speakers Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy; Emily Palacios, Principal, Miller Canfield, 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday

- The Sky’s the Limit: Big Data, Drones, and the Internet of Things with Daniel Brooks, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Zachary Halberd, Co-Founder, Quantifly, 3:45-5 p.m. Friday

It’s Budget Time. Do you Know Where Your Revenue Is? With John Hoppough, Mayor, Greenville; Jacob Kain, City Planner, Mount Pleasant; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League, Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, East Lansing, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

Short Term Rentals: Trends, Impacts & Options with speakers Robert Monetza, Councilmember, Grand Haven; Ulrik Binzer, CEO, Host Compliance; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday

And yes even more mobile tours: Farmers Markets and Food Halls as Catalysts for Business and Real Estate Development; Restoring the Rapids: A Tour of Grand River Restoration Efforts, both 9-noon Friday

Photos of the 2018 Convention will be uploaded to flickr throughout the Convention can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page: flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given like this: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org. Thanks!

Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalking

Saad-

while i don't feel like explaining this, especially since i am

stressed right now, i think you need to understand what happened.

the girl who stayed at your house with me was not my friend. she

stalked me to Europe from San Francisco. i met her when i was looking

for a rideshare to burning man. i didn't know her before that.

imagine if you met someone on the plane coming to SF, they find out

your e-mail and that you are from France. then when you return to

France they call you and say that you invited them to come to France,

they show up at your doorstep with no money and and now they are your

responsibility. that's what happened to me, except i was traveling

when this happened. your country owes me one for containing her for a

whole month to the detriment of my business trip.

she imposed herself upon me, and clearly continues to do so (as you

have witnessed/ been made an accessory to yourself.) this is stalking.

there are laws against this.

she is severely mentally ill and a danger to herself and people around

her. she is a fetish prostitute by her own choice yet she pretends she

is not one. this is another thing about San Francisco, because

everything is tolerated, there are some serious perverts here. but the

other side of that is there are some really good people, too.

i don't know her.

the point of stalking is to usurp time and energy from the stalkee, so

you can understand that i only want to talk about this once.

just because someone thinks they deserve your time/ demand of your

time, doesn't mean you have to give it to them. in fact, you should

definitely not give in to their harassment.

here's an example: that bum on Valencia St yesterday when we were

walking to Elixir, he thinks you have money because you don't look

like a bum like him. given that, he thought: because he asked you for

change, therefore he deserved your money. when you gave him the coin

he looked at it with a dissatisfied look on his face.

and what i said while you were looking for the coin to give him was

true: he probably has more money/ stuff than i do. this is fact. you

know this. i don't even use money. but he thought he deserved your or

my hypothetical money because he walks around looking like a bum.

... but it's also true that i am definitely 'richer' than this person.

i have much more valuable things than he, which i totally made an

effort to obtain. and unlike money and stuff, he cannot demand it of

me/ take it away from me. see why i don't use money now? heehee.

back to stalking: she is not my first stalker.

when i worked at EA there was a young man who worked in my department.

i made conversation with him on a smoke break and he began instant

messaging me over work IM to chat, which is fine, i spoke to him. but

then he started to talk to me as if i was his boyfriend. it got weird

enough that i told him i didn't want to talk to him anymore. i told

him as such, and exactly why i didn't want to speak to him anymore. at

this point he demanded that i talk to him. and when i refused, he

repeatedly waited at my car for me at 2/ 3AM, (i worked the night

shift.) i even gave him a ride home the first time and told him to

stop doing that (for his benefit,) but he just kept doing this. i

realized this guy was not well and i told the company. they verbally

warned him at first. after he got the warning, he went back to his

shared office and threw stuff around and almost hurt someone, at that

point they fired him.

after he was fired, he sent me naked pictures of himself that he

posted on the internet just for me, and continued to e-mail me long,

unintelligible letters. he started going to forums that i visited and

posted messages there. i showed this to the company; at this point the

company contacted the police. he ended up going to a mental

institution for 4 years. i was satisfied with this because he

obviously needed help. the court also ruled that if he ever contacts

me again he is going back to the mental institution for another year.

during the time when the was waiting at my car for me at 3AM, there

were people who commented that i was unkind to this young man, until

the young man began to talk crazy to them. there was a friend at work

who talked to the young man and felt sorry for him, the friend's

solution to the problem was to bring me and this person out on a

social outing with a group. this is a normal reaction and i agreed to

go, (for my friend's sake.) after the outing, the young man told my

friend that the friend was probably a pimp and i was a prostitute and

so was his girlfriend, who was also at the outing. only at this point

did my friend realize that this young man was totally out of his mind.

but before that, he believed the young man more than he believed me,

because on the surface it appeared to him that i was being a bitch and

told the young man to fuck off. after this, my friend completely

stopped talking to the young man; and he receded from me as well,

because he didn't know what to think probably. to this day my friend

Greg doesn't hit me up, the stalker took my friend away from me.

i was the kindest one to this young man of all: i realized he had a

problem, didn't pretend like he didn't like everyone else, and i got

him help. you know how expensive mental health care is in the United

States?

Brent, who was my boyfriend at the time, thought of the situation with

a similar attitude as my friend even though i told him exactly what

was happening.

there are lots of people who act like they can never understand

'women' and do not try to, when in fact they are just too lazy to make

an effort to understand other people. it's OK when you're like in your

20s and still learning, but it's not OK when you are like 40+. it's

misanthropy.

people that get this crazy are victims of their environment, so i am

not mad at them, but it doesn't mean i cave to them, or let them hurt

me and other people. that's the only way to deal with it. all crime is

product of social problems, most people make excuses to not take a

stand even when the victim is themselves.

because of that, lots of people put up with this type of harassment,

sometimes even allowing their harassers into their lives. i'm not that

stupid.

this doesn't mean that i don't continue meeting people, or trust

people, you know that i do. i couchsurf and i host people, not just

people who have hosted me like you, but like anybody. the important

thing is to not cave to irrational demands, because the moment that

you validate these demands, you become just as irrational as the

aggressor.

i'm really happy that you are visiting me here. my memories of you do

not involve this woman, (she was too busy turning tricks, this is a

fact; when she said she was going on a date, she was going out to have

sex with a rich guy she met on the train. and let me tell you this,

she was so stupid, she didn't make any money or get a place to stay

out of the deal, she just fucked with his head and then ran off, and i

had to continue taking care of her crazy ass, PLUS i had to deal with

the trick.)

when i think of my time at your place, i mostly remember when we went

clubbing in Montparnasse and you were hella drunk and the bus never

came and you started to freeze and we walked and walked and walked.

anyway, i wanted to tell you so you know what the deal is. sorry this

is so long, but like i said, i'm only doing this once.

-elle-

More than 1,000 mayors, managers, community planners, locally elected officials and guests from throughout Michigan will descend on Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 20-22 for the joint 2018 Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) convention. This is the first time ever the League and MAP have joined forces to combine their two annual fall conferences (the League’s Convention and MAP’s Planning Michigan Conference) into a single massive gathering. And it’s all happening during the 2018 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Most convention education sessions and trainings will take place in Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Place, but there also is an extensive series of mobile workshops throughout the area that will put a spotlight on the positive things happening in the community.

The Convention is the League's premiere annual event and a chance to inform and highlight community accomplishments. The League is especially excited to be in Grand Rapids this year with MAP because the west-Michigan community has a lot of the placemaking assets the League has identified as making up vibrant communities, including walkability and physical design, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, strong education base and much more.

Both the League and MAP serve the education and advocacy needs of elected and appointed leaders and the staff that support them: managers and administrators, professional planners, and other city, village and township leaders that make up the teams that work in tandem to create vibrant, successful, and healthy communities. Because the League and MAP are collaborating on this event, we’ll have double the power to bring more of what our members want. Attendees have more breakout sessions, more topics, and more mobile tours to choose from than ever before.

The event View the Convention program here: blogs.mml.org/wp/events/files/2014/06/2018-Convention-Pro....

Other Convention highlights include:

- The official launch of the next phase of the SaveMICity municipal finance reform effort.

- The selection of the 2018 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner. The CEA is the League’s most prestigious community award. The 12th annual CEA competition started earlier this year and is down to four final projects. The finalists will give presentations Thursday and Convention attendees will vote, with the winner announced Saturday (Sept. 22) morning. Go here to read a press release about the four finalists: www.mml.org/newsroom/press_releases/2018-8-6-Community-Ex... and checkout the CEA website here: cea.mml.org/.

- Michigan Municipal Executive (MME) Colloquium: Empowering Communities to Set Their Own Destinies with keynote general session speaker Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center – 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

- Great Place to Live Townhall general session featuring Phil Power and the Center for Michigan’s Truth Tour – 11 am -12:15 p.m. Thursday.

- The New Localism: Utilizing Public, Private, and Civic Partnerships to Become a Change Engine general session featuring Bruce.Katz,.Co-Author, The New Localism, noon-1:45 Friday, Sept. 21

- Closing General Session about Civic Engagement Strategy: Inclusivity for the Win moderated by Carla Gribbs, Regional Manager, DTE Energy; and featuring Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana; 1st Vice President, National League of Cities, 10:30-noon Saturday, Sept. 22

- Michigan Green Communities (MGC) Awards Lunch and Workshop, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday

- Selection of the 2018-19 new League board members and board president and vice president, Friday, Sept. 21.

- Michigan Municipal League Foundation fund-raising event, Friday evening

- Michigan Association of Mayors breakfast and annual meeting, Friday morning.

- Michigan Women in Municipal Government meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Michigan Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Amazon: Michigan’s Wake Up Call or the Beginning of the End featuring the League’s Anthony Minghine and Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive, Wayne County, 2-3:15 p.m.Thursday.

- HR Up in Smoke: The Intersection between Marihuana legislation and empowerment law featuring Charles Mitchell, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office, Denver CO; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, State and Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League, 1:45-3:15 Thursday.

- Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act: Back to the Basics featuring Anne Seurynck, Attorney, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Hit Them with Your Best Shot: Attracting Businesses and Developers featuring Katharine Czarnecki, Senior Vice President, Community Development, MEDC; Nicole Whitehead, Director, Sales & Service Operations, MEDC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Mobile workshops: Envision Ada: Transforming a Suburban Strip Commercial Center into an Integral Part of an Historic Village; All Around Downtown, Uptown, Eastown; New Urbanism in Practice; Viva la Avenida: Planning for a Cultural Corridor, all 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Unleash the Power of Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss, Recast City LLC, 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Creating Sustainable Retail Districts featuring Bobby Boone, AICP, LEED AP, Small Business Retail Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Martha Potere, AICP, Strategy and Special Projects Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thursday

- Host City reception by Urban Metro Mayors and Managers at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thursday

- Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy with speakers Tyler Kilfman, Planner, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); Kevin Vettraino, AICP, Plan Implementation Manager, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), 9-10:15 a.m. Friday

- Fostering an Inclusive Community Environment Hosted by the Michigan Black Caucus with speakers : Lois Allen-Richardson, Councilmember, Ypsilanti; President, MBC-LEO; Oronde Miller, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Stacy Stout, Assistant to the City Manager, Grand Rapids; Howard Walters, Program and Evaluation Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 9-noon Friday

- Mobility: The Community Conversation with speakers Sarah Latta Rainero, Regional Director, Community Assistance Team, Community Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Tyler Bevier, Transportation Planner, Bay Area Transportation Authority; Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research, 9-10:30 am Friday

- CNU Rules for Great Places: The Project for Code Reform featuring Mary Madden, AICP, Principal, Ferrell Madden; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League; Heather Seyfarth, AICP, Community Engagement Specialist, Ann Arbor; Vice President, Michigan Association of Planning, 9-10:30 am Friday

- More mobile workshops: Explore: ArtPrize10; From Grand Rapids’ Downtown to Your Town: Idea Tour for Building Reuse; Vital Streets in Action Bike Tour; The Modern Orchard at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, all are 9-noon Friday

- Master Planning: The Critical Role of Elected Leaders and the Planning Commission with speakers Adam Young, AICP, Senior Project Manager, Wade Trim; Chris McLeod, AICP, City Planner, Sterling Heights; Mark Vanderpool, City Manager, Sterling Heights, 10:45-noon Friday

- Social Media Pitfalls and Upsides for Communities with speakers Amy Snow-Buckner, Acting Managing Director of Communications, Grand Rapids; Matt Bach, Director, Communications, Michigan Municipal League; Jim Thorburn, Detective/Social Media Director, Allen Park Police Department, 10:45-noon Friday

- We Need More Parking! (But Do We Really?) with Tom Brown, Principle, Nelson\Nygaard; Bradley Strader, AICP, PTP, Transportation Planner, MKSK; Nicole VanNess, Manager, Traverse City DDA, 10:45-noon Friday

- Even more mobile workshops: Frederik Meijer Gardens; Terra Square and the Seeds of a New Downtown in Hudsonville; Under, Over, and All Around, all are 2-5 p.m. Friday

- Improving the Tone and Quality of our Civic Discourse with speakers John Bebow, President & CEO, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine; Melanie Piana, Councilmember, Ferndale, Vice President, Michigan Municipal League Board, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- The Keys to Putting Ethics into Action with Christopher Johnson, General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League; Marlon Brown, Mayor Pro Tem, Mason; Michael McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Miller Canfield; Eleanor Siewert, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Assignment: Effective Procedures, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- Smart, Accessible, Connected - this high-level panel discussion covers the future of cities in the context of advanced mobility technologies, including connected and automated vehicles, ridesharing, carsharing, ridehailing, mobility-as-a-service, and microtransit with speakers Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Speakers: Kelly Bartlett, Senior Policy & Legislative Advisor, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

The Power of the Wind: A Michigan Story with a focus on renewable energy featuring speakers Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy; Emily Palacios, Principal, Miller Canfield, 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday

- The Sky’s the Limit: Big Data, Drones, and the Internet of Things with Daniel Brooks, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Zachary Halberd, Co-Founder, Quantifly, 3:45-5 p.m. Friday

It’s Budget Time. Do you Know Where Your Revenue Is? With John Hoppough, Mayor, Greenville; Jacob Kain, City Planner, Mount Pleasant; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League, Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, East Lansing, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

Short Term Rentals: Trends, Impacts & Options with speakers Robert Monetza, Councilmember, Grand Haven; Ulrik Binzer, CEO, Host Compliance; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday

And yes even more mobile tours: Farmers Markets and Food Halls as Catalysts for Business and Real Estate Development; Restoring the Rapids: A Tour of Grand River Restoration Efforts, both 9-noon Friday

Photos of the 2018 Convention will be uploaded to flickr throughout the Convention can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page: flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given like this: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org. Thanks!

Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe), the agency’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Follow On–Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) spacecraft atop stands vertical at Launch Complex 39A as the sun sets on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The missions will each focus on different effects of the solar wind — the continuous stream of particles emitted by the Sun — and space weather — the changing conditions in space driven by the Sun — from their origins at the Sun to their farthest reaches billions of miles away at the edge of our solar system. Photo credit: SpaceX

NASA image use policy.

More than 1,000 mayors, managers, community planners, locally elected officials and guests from throughout Michigan will descend on Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 20-22 for the joint 2018 Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) convention. This is the first time ever the League and MAP have joined forces to combine their two annual fall conferences (the League’s Convention and MAP’s Planning Michigan Conference) into a single massive gathering. And it’s all happening during the 2018 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Most convention education sessions and trainings will take place in Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Place, but there also is an extensive series of mobile workshops throughout the area that will put a spotlight on the positive things happening in the community.

The Convention is the League's premiere annual event and a chance to inform and highlight community accomplishments. The League is especially excited to be in Grand Rapids this year with MAP because the west-Michigan community has a lot of the placemaking assets the League has identified as making up vibrant communities, including walkability and physical design, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, strong education base and much more.

Both the League and MAP serve the education and advocacy needs of elected and appointed leaders and the staff that support them: managers and administrators, professional planners, and other city, village and township leaders that make up the teams that work in tandem to create vibrant, successful, and healthy communities. Because the League and MAP are collaborating on this event, we’ll have double the power to bring more of what our members want. Attendees have more breakout sessions, more topics, and more mobile tours to choose from than ever before.

The event View the Convention program here: blogs.mml.org/wp/events/files/2014/06/2018-Convention-Pro....

Other Convention highlights include:

- The official launch of the next phase of the SaveMICity municipal finance reform effort.

- The selection of the 2018 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner. The CEA is the League’s most prestigious community award. The 12th annual CEA competition started earlier this year and is down to four final projects. The finalists will give presentations Thursday and Convention attendees will vote, with the winner announced Saturday (Sept. 22) morning. Go here to read a press release about the four finalists: www.mml.org/newsroom/press_releases/2018-8-6-Community-Ex... and checkout the CEA website here: cea.mml.org/.

- Michigan Municipal Executive (MME) Colloquium: Empowering Communities to Set Their Own Destinies with keynote general session speaker Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center – 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

- Great Place to Live Townhall general session featuring Phil Power and the Center for Michigan’s Truth Tour – 11 am -12:15 p.m. Thursday.

- The New Localism: Utilizing Public, Private, and Civic Partnerships to Become a Change Engine general session featuring Bruce.Katz,.Co-Author, The New Localism, noon-1:45 Friday, Sept. 21

- Closing General Session about Civic Engagement Strategy: Inclusivity for the Win moderated by Carla Gribbs, Regional Manager, DTE Energy; and featuring Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana; 1st Vice President, National League of Cities, 10:30-noon Saturday, Sept. 22

- Michigan Green Communities (MGC) Awards Lunch and Workshop, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday

- Selection of the 2018-19 new League board members and board president and vice president, Friday, Sept. 21.

- Michigan Municipal League Foundation fund-raising event, Friday evening

- Michigan Association of Mayors breakfast and annual meeting, Friday morning.

- Michigan Women in Municipal Government meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Michigan Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Amazon: Michigan’s Wake Up Call or the Beginning of the End featuring the League’s Anthony Minghine and Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive, Wayne County, 2-3:15 p.m.Thursday.

- HR Up in Smoke: The Intersection between Marihuana legislation and empowerment law featuring Charles Mitchell, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office, Denver CO; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, State and Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League, 1:45-3:15 Thursday.

- Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act: Back to the Basics featuring Anne Seurynck, Attorney, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Hit Them with Your Best Shot: Attracting Businesses and Developers featuring Katharine Czarnecki, Senior Vice President, Community Development, MEDC; Nicole Whitehead, Director, Sales & Service Operations, MEDC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Mobile workshops: Envision Ada: Transforming a Suburban Strip Commercial Center into an Integral Part of an Historic Village; All Around Downtown, Uptown, Eastown; New Urbanism in Practice; Viva la Avenida: Planning for a Cultural Corridor, all 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Unleash the Power of Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss, Recast City LLC, 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Creating Sustainable Retail Districts featuring Bobby Boone, AICP, LEED AP, Small Business Retail Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Martha Potere, AICP, Strategy and Special Projects Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thursday

- Host City reception by Urban Metro Mayors and Managers at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thursday

- Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy with speakers Tyler Kilfman, Planner, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); Kevin Vettraino, AICP, Plan Implementation Manager, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), 9-10:15 a.m. Friday

- Fostering an Inclusive Community Environment Hosted by the Michigan Black Caucus with speakers : Lois Allen-Richardson, Councilmember, Ypsilanti; President, MBC-LEO; Oronde Miller, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Stacy Stout, Assistant to the City Manager, Grand Rapids; Howard Walters, Program and Evaluation Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 9-noon Friday

- Mobility: The Community Conversation with speakers Sarah Latta Rainero, Regional Director, Community Assistance Team, Community Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Tyler Bevier, Transportation Planner, Bay Area Transportation Authority; Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research, 9-10:30 am Friday

- CNU Rules for Great Places: The Project for Code Reform featuring Mary Madden, AICP, Principal, Ferrell Madden; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League; Heather Seyfarth, AICP, Community Engagement Specialist, Ann Arbor; Vice President, Michigan Association of Planning, 9-10:30 am Friday

- More mobile workshops: Explore: ArtPrize10; From Grand Rapids’ Downtown to Your Town: Idea Tour for Building Reuse; Vital Streets in Action Bike Tour; The Modern Orchard at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, all are 9-noon Friday

- Master Planning: The Critical Role of Elected Leaders and the Planning Commission with speakers Adam Young, AICP, Senior Project Manager, Wade Trim; Chris McLeod, AICP, City Planner, Sterling Heights; Mark Vanderpool, City Manager, Sterling Heights, 10:45-noon Friday

- Social Media Pitfalls and Upsides for Communities with speakers Amy Snow-Buckner, Acting Managing Director of Communications, Grand Rapids; Matt Bach, Director, Communications, Michigan Municipal League; Jim Thorburn, Detective/Social Media Director, Allen Park Police Department, 10:45-noon Friday

- We Need More Parking! (But Do We Really?) with Tom Brown, Principle, Nelson\Nygaard; Bradley Strader, AICP, PTP, Transportation Planner, MKSK; Nicole VanNess, Manager, Traverse City DDA, 10:45-noon Friday

- Even more mobile workshops: Frederik Meijer Gardens; Terra Square and the Seeds of a New Downtown in Hudsonville; Under, Over, and All Around, all are 2-5 p.m. Friday

- Improving the Tone and Quality of our Civic Discourse with speakers John Bebow, President & CEO, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine; Melanie Piana, Councilmember, Ferndale, Vice President, Michigan Municipal League Board, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- The Keys to Putting Ethics into Action with Christopher Johnson, General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League; Marlon Brown, Mayor Pro Tem, Mason; Michael McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Miller Canfield; Eleanor Siewert, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Assignment: Effective Procedures, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- Smart, Accessible, Connected - this high-level panel discussion covers the future of cities in the context of advanced mobility technologies, including connected and automated vehicles, ridesharing, carsharing, ridehailing, mobility-as-a-service, and microtransit with speakers Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Speakers: Kelly Bartlett, Senior Policy & Legislative Advisor, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

The Power of the Wind: A Michigan Story with a focus on renewable energy featuring speakers Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy; Emily Palacios, Principal, Miller Canfield, 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday

- The Sky’s the Limit: Big Data, Drones, and the Internet of Things with Daniel Brooks, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Zachary Halberd, Co-Founder, Quantifly, 3:45-5 p.m. Friday

It’s Budget Time. Do you Know Where Your Revenue Is? With John Hoppough, Mayor, Greenville; Jacob Kain, City Planner, Mount Pleasant; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League, Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, East Lansing, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

Short Term Rentals: Trends, Impacts & Options with speakers Robert Monetza, Councilmember, Grand Haven; Ulrik Binzer, CEO, Host Compliance; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday

And yes even more mobile tours: Farmers Markets and Food Halls as Catalysts for Business and Real Estate Development; Restoring the Rapids: A Tour of Grand River Restoration Efforts, both 9-noon Friday

Photos of the 2018 Convention will be uploaded to flickr throughout the Convention can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page: flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given like this: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org. Thanks!

Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.

More than 1,000 mayors, managers, community planners, locally elected officials and guests from throughout Michigan will descend on Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 20-22 for the joint 2018 Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) convention. This is the first time ever the League and MAP have joined forces to combine their two annual fall conferences (the League’s Convention and MAP’s Planning Michigan Conference) into a single massive gathering. And it’s all happening during the 2018 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Most convention education sessions and trainings will take place in Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Place, but there also is an extensive series of mobile workshops throughout the area that will put a spotlight on the positive things happening in the community.

The Convention is the League's premiere annual event and a chance to inform and highlight community accomplishments. The League is especially excited to be in Grand Rapids this year with MAP because the west-Michigan community has a lot of the placemaking assets the League has identified as making up vibrant communities, including walkability and physical design, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, strong education base and much more.

Both the League and MAP serve the education and advocacy needs of elected and appointed leaders and the staff that support them: managers and administrators, professional planners, and other city, village and township leaders that make up the teams that work in tandem to create vibrant, successful, and healthy communities. Because the League and MAP are collaborating on this event, we’ll have double the power to bring more of what our members want. Attendees have more breakout sessions, more topics, and more mobile tours to choose from than ever before.

The event View the Convention program here: blogs.mml.org/wp/events/files/2014/06/2018-Convention-Pro....

Other Convention highlights include:

- The official launch of the next phase of the SaveMICity municipal finance reform effort.

- The selection of the 2018 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner. The CEA is the League’s most prestigious community award. The 12th annual CEA competition started earlier this year and is down to four final projects. The finalists will give presentations Thursday and Convention attendees will vote, with the winner announced Saturday (Sept. 22) morning. Go here to read a press release about the four finalists: www.mml.org/newsroom/press_releases/2018-8-6-Community-Ex... and checkout the CEA website here: cea.mml.org/.

- Michigan Municipal Executive (MME) Colloquium: Empowering Communities to Set Their Own Destinies with keynote general session speaker Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center – 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

- Great Place to Live Townhall general session featuring Phil Power and the Center for Michigan’s Truth Tour – 11 am -12:15 p.m. Thursday.

- The New Localism: Utilizing Public, Private, and Civic Partnerships to Become a Change Engine general session featuring Bruce.Katz,.Co-Author, The New Localism, noon-1:45 Friday, Sept. 21

- Closing General Session about Civic Engagement Strategy: Inclusivity for the Win moderated by Carla Gribbs, Regional Manager, DTE Energy; and featuring Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana; 1st Vice President, National League of Cities, 10:30-noon Saturday, Sept. 22

- Michigan Green Communities (MGC) Awards Lunch and Workshop, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday

- Selection of the 2018-19 new League board members and board president and vice president, Friday, Sept. 21.

- Michigan Municipal League Foundation fund-raising event, Friday evening

- Michigan Association of Mayors breakfast and annual meeting, Friday morning.

- Michigan Women in Municipal Government meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Michigan Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Amazon: Michigan’s Wake Up Call or the Beginning of the End featuring the League’s Anthony Minghine and Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive, Wayne County, 2-3:15 p.m.Thursday.

- HR Up in Smoke: The Intersection between Marihuana legislation and empowerment law featuring Charles Mitchell, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office, Denver CO; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, State and Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League, 1:45-3:15 Thursday.

- Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act: Back to the Basics featuring Anne Seurynck, Attorney, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Hit Them with Your Best Shot: Attracting Businesses and Developers featuring Katharine Czarnecki, Senior Vice President, Community Development, MEDC; Nicole Whitehead, Director, Sales & Service Operations, MEDC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Mobile workshops: Envision Ada: Transforming a Suburban Strip Commercial Center into an Integral Part of an Historic Village; All Around Downtown, Uptown, Eastown; New Urbanism in Practice; Viva la Avenida: Planning for a Cultural Corridor, all 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Unleash the Power of Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss, Recast City LLC, 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Creating Sustainable Retail Districts featuring Bobby Boone, AICP, LEED AP, Small Business Retail Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Martha Potere, AICP, Strategy and Special Projects Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thursday

- Host City reception by Urban Metro Mayors and Managers at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thursday

- Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy with speakers Tyler Kilfman, Planner, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); Kevin Vettraino, AICP, Plan Implementation Manager, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), 9-10:15 a.m. Friday

- Fostering an Inclusive Community Environment Hosted by the Michigan Black Caucus with speakers : Lois Allen-Richardson, Councilmember, Ypsilanti; President, MBC-LEO; Oronde Miller, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Stacy Stout, Assistant to the City Manager, Grand Rapids; Howard Walters, Program and Evaluation Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 9-noon Friday

- Mobility: The Community Conversation with speakers Sarah Latta Rainero, Regional Director, Community Assistance Team, Community Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Tyler Bevier, Transportation Planner, Bay Area Transportation Authority; Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research, 9-10:30 am Friday

- CNU Rules for Great Places: The Project for Code Reform featuring Mary Madden, AICP, Principal, Ferrell Madden; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League; Heather Seyfarth, AICP, Community Engagement Specialist, Ann Arbor; Vice President, Michigan Association of Planning, 9-10:30 am Friday

- More mobile workshops: Explore: ArtPrize10; From Grand Rapids’ Downtown to Your Town: Idea Tour for Building Reuse; Vital Streets in Action Bike Tour; The Modern Orchard at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, all are 9-noon Friday

- Master Planning: The Critical Role of Elected Leaders and the Planning Commission with speakers Adam Young, AICP, Senior Project Manager, Wade Trim; Chris McLeod, AICP, City Planner, Sterling Heights; Mark Vanderpool, City Manager, Sterling Heights, 10:45-noon Friday

- Social Media Pitfalls and Upsides for Communities with speakers Amy Snow-Buckner, Acting Managing Director of Communications, Grand Rapids; Matt Bach, Director, Communications, Michigan Municipal League; Jim Thorburn, Detective/Social Media Director, Allen Park Police Department, 10:45-noon Friday

- We Need More Parking! (But Do We Really?) with Tom Brown, Principle, Nelson\Nygaard; Bradley Strader, AICP, PTP, Transportation Planner, MKSK; Nicole VanNess, Manager, Traverse City DDA, 10:45-noon Friday

- Even more mobile workshops: Frederik Meijer Gardens; Terra Square and the Seeds of a New Downtown in Hudsonville; Under, Over, and All Around, all are 2-5 p.m. Friday

- Improving the Tone and Quality of our Civic Discourse with speakers John Bebow, President & CEO, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine; Melanie Piana, Councilmember, Ferndale, Vice President, Michigan Municipal League Board, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- The Keys to Putting Ethics into Action with Christopher Johnson, General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League; Marlon Brown, Mayor Pro Tem, Mason; Michael McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Miller Canfield; Eleanor Siewert, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Assignment: Effective Procedures, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- Smart, Accessible, Connected - this high-level panel discussion covers the future of cities in the context of advanced mobility technologies, including connected and automated vehicles, ridesharing, carsharing, ridehailing, mobility-as-a-service, and microtransit with speakers Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Speakers: Kelly Bartlett, Senior Policy & Legislative Advisor, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

The Power of the Wind: A Michigan Story with a focus on renewable energy featuring speakers Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy; Emily Palacios, Principal, Miller Canfield, 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday

- The Sky’s the Limit: Big Data, Drones, and the Internet of Things with Daniel Brooks, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Zachary Halberd, Co-Founder, Quantifly, 3:45-5 p.m. Friday

It’s Budget Time. Do you Know Where Your Revenue Is? With John Hoppough, Mayor, Greenville; Jacob Kain, City Planner, Mount Pleasant; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League, Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, East Lansing, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

Short Term Rentals: Trends, Impacts & Options with speakers Robert Monetza, Councilmember, Grand Haven; Ulrik Binzer, CEO, Host Compliance; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday

And yes even more mobile tours: Farmers Markets and Food Halls as Catalysts for Business and Real Estate Development; Restoring the Rapids: A Tour of Grand River Restoration Efforts, both 9-noon Friday

Photos of the 2018 Convention will be uploaded to flickr throughout the Convention can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page: flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given like this: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org. Thanks!

Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.

I entered a logo design contest for Bike Month in San Luis Obispo. I am hoping to get enough votes to actually win. Please be so kind to follow the link below and vote for image 5.

www.surveymonkey.com/s/DYMBN7V

Thank you!

SpaceX launched the Transporter-3 rideshare mission to a sun-synchronous orbit with 105 small microsatellites and nanosatellites for commercial and government customers Thurday morning at 10:25 a.m. EST. The first stage booster B1058-10 completed its' 10th flight with a RTLS landing at LZ-1 on the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

More than 1,000 mayors, managers, community planners, locally elected officials and guests from throughout Michigan will descend on Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 20-22 for the joint 2018 Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) convention. This is the first time ever the League and MAP have joined forces to combine their two annual fall conferences (the League’s Convention and MAP’s Planning Michigan Conference) into a single massive gathering. And it’s all happening during the 2018 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Most convention education sessions and trainings will take place in Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Place, but there also is an extensive series of mobile workshops throughout the area that will put a spotlight on the positive things happening in the community.

The Convention is the League's premiere annual event and a chance to inform and highlight community accomplishments. The League is especially excited to be in Grand Rapids this year with MAP because the west-Michigan community has a lot of the placemaking assets the League has identified as making up vibrant communities, including walkability and physical design, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, strong education base and much more.

Both the League and MAP serve the education and advocacy needs of elected and appointed leaders and the staff that support them: managers and administrators, professional planners, and other city, village and township leaders that make up the teams that work in tandem to create vibrant, successful, and healthy communities. Because the League and MAP are collaborating on this event, we’ll have double the power to bring more of what our members want. Attendees have more breakout sessions, more topics, and more mobile tours to choose from than ever before.

The event View the Convention program here: blogs.mml.org/wp/events/files/2014/06/2018-Convention-Pro....

Other Convention highlights include:

- The official launch of the next phase of the SaveMICity municipal finance reform effort.

- The selection of the 2018 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner. The CEA is the League’s most prestigious community award. The 12th annual CEA competition started earlier this year and is down to four final projects. The finalists will give presentations Thursday and Convention attendees will vote, with the winner announced Saturday (Sept. 22) morning. Go here to read a press release about the four finalists: www.mml.org/newsroom/press_releases/2018-8-6-Community-Ex... and checkout the CEA website here: cea.mml.org/.

- Michigan Municipal Executive (MME) Colloquium: Empowering Communities to Set Their Own Destinies with keynote general session speaker Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center – 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

- Great Place to Live Townhall general session featuring Phil Power and the Center for Michigan’s Truth Tour – 11 am -12:15 p.m. Thursday.

- The New Localism: Utilizing Public, Private, and Civic Partnerships to Become a Change Engine general session featuring Bruce.Katz,.Co-Author, The New Localism, noon-1:45 Friday, Sept. 21

- Closing General Session about Civic Engagement Strategy: Inclusivity for the Win moderated by Carla Gribbs, Regional Manager, DTE Energy; and featuring Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana; 1st Vice President, National League of Cities, 10:30-noon Saturday, Sept. 22

- Michigan Green Communities (MGC) Awards Lunch and Workshop, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday

- Selection of the 2018-19 new League board members and board president and vice president, Friday, Sept. 21.

- Michigan Municipal League Foundation fund-raising event, Friday evening

- Michigan Association of Mayors breakfast and annual meeting, Friday morning.

- Michigan Women in Municipal Government meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Michigan Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Amazon: Michigan’s Wake Up Call or the Beginning of the End featuring the League’s Anthony Minghine and Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive, Wayne County, 2-3:15 p.m.Thursday.

- HR Up in Smoke: The Intersection between Marihuana legislation and empowerment law featuring Charles Mitchell, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office, Denver CO; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, State and Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League, 1:45-3:15 Thursday.

- Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act: Back to the Basics featuring Anne Seurynck, Attorney, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Hit Them with Your Best Shot: Attracting Businesses and Developers featuring Katharine Czarnecki, Senior Vice President, Community Development, MEDC; Nicole Whitehead, Director, Sales & Service Operations, MEDC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Mobile workshops: Envision Ada: Transforming a Suburban Strip Commercial Center into an Integral Part of an Historic Village; All Around Downtown, Uptown, Eastown; New Urbanism in Practice; Viva la Avenida: Planning for a Cultural Corridor, all 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Unleash the Power of Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss, Recast City LLC, 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Creating Sustainable Retail Districts featuring Bobby Boone, AICP, LEED AP, Small Business Retail Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Martha Potere, AICP, Strategy and Special Projects Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thursday

- Host City reception by Urban Metro Mayors and Managers at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thursday

- Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy with speakers Tyler Kilfman, Planner, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); Kevin Vettraino, AICP, Plan Implementation Manager, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), 9-10:15 a.m. Friday

- Fostering an Inclusive Community Environment Hosted by the Michigan Black Caucus with speakers : Lois Allen-Richardson, Councilmember, Ypsilanti; President, MBC-LEO; Oronde Miller, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Stacy Stout, Assistant to the City Manager, Grand Rapids; Howard Walters, Program and Evaluation Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 9-noon Friday

- Mobility: The Community Conversation with speakers Sarah Latta Rainero, Regional Director, Community Assistance Team, Community Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Tyler Bevier, Transportation Planner, Bay Area Transportation Authority; Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research, 9-10:30 am Friday

- CNU Rules for Great Places: The Project for Code Reform featuring Mary Madden, AICP, Principal, Ferrell Madden; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League; Heather Seyfarth, AICP, Community Engagement Specialist, Ann Arbor; Vice President, Michigan Association of Planning, 9-10:30 am Friday

- More mobile workshops: Explore: ArtPrize10; From Grand Rapids’ Downtown to Your Town: Idea Tour for Building Reuse; Vital Streets in Action Bike Tour; The Modern Orchard at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, all are 9-noon Friday

- Master Planning: The Critical Role of Elected Leaders and the Planning Commission with speakers Adam Young, AICP, Senior Project Manager, Wade Trim; Chris McLeod, AICP, City Planner, Sterling Heights; Mark Vanderpool, City Manager, Sterling Heights, 10:45-noon Friday

- Social Media Pitfalls and Upsides for Communities with speakers Amy Snow-Buckner, Acting Managing Director of Communications, Grand Rapids; Matt Bach, Director, Communications, Michigan Municipal League; Jim Thorburn, Detective/Social Media Director, Allen Park Police Department, 10:45-noon Friday

- We Need More Parking! (But Do We Really?) with Tom Brown, Principle, Nelson\Nygaard; Bradley Strader, AICP, PTP, Transportation Planner, MKSK; Nicole VanNess, Manager, Traverse City DDA, 10:45-noon Friday

- Even more mobile workshops: Frederik Meijer Gardens; Terra Square and the Seeds of a New Downtown in Hudsonville; Under, Over, and All Around, all are 2-5 p.m. Friday

- Improving the Tone and Quality of our Civic Discourse with speakers John Bebow, President & CEO, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine; Melanie Piana, Councilmember, Ferndale, Vice President, Michigan Municipal League Board, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- The Keys to Putting Ethics into Action with Christopher Johnson, General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League; Marlon Brown, Mayor Pro Tem, Mason; Michael McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Miller Canfield; Eleanor Siewert, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Assignment: Effective Procedures, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- Smart, Accessible, Connected - this high-level panel discussion covers the future of cities in the context of advanced mobility technologies, including connected and automated vehicles, ridesharing, carsharing, ridehailing, mobility-as-a-service, and microtransit with speakers Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Speakers: Kelly Bartlett, Senior Policy & Legislative Advisor, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

The Power of the Wind: A Michigan Story with a focus on renewable energy featuring speakers Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy; Emily Palacios, Principal, Miller Canfield, 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday

- The Sky’s the Limit: Big Data, Drones, and the Internet of Things with Daniel Brooks, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Zachary Halberd, Co-Founder, Quantifly, 3:45-5 p.m. Friday

It’s Budget Time. Do you Know Where Your Revenue Is? With John Hoppough, Mayor, Greenville; Jacob Kain, City Planner, Mount Pleasant; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League, Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, East Lansing, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

Short Term Rentals: Trends, Impacts & Options with speakers Robert Monetza, Councilmember, Grand Haven; Ulrik Binzer, CEO, Host Compliance; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday

And yes even more mobile tours: Farmers Markets and Food Halls as Catalysts for Business and Real Estate Development; Restoring the Rapids: A Tour of Grand River Restoration Efforts, both 9-noon Friday

Photos of the 2018 Convention will be uploaded to flickr throughout the Convention can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page: flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given like this: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org. Thanks!

Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.

More than 1,000 mayors, managers, community planners, locally elected officials and guests from throughout Michigan will descend on Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 20-22 for the joint 2018 Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) convention. This is the first time ever the League and MAP have joined forces to combine their two annual fall conferences (the League’s Convention and MAP’s Planning Michigan Conference) into a single massive gathering. And it’s all happening during the 2018 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Most convention education sessions and trainings will take place in Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Place, but there also is an extensive series of mobile workshops throughout the area that will put a spotlight on the positive things happening in the community.

The Convention is the League's premiere annual event and a chance to inform and highlight community accomplishments. The League is especially excited to be in Grand Rapids this year with MAP because the west-Michigan community has a lot of the placemaking assets the League has identified as making up vibrant communities, including walkability and physical design, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, strong education base and much more.

Both the League and MAP serve the education and advocacy needs of elected and appointed leaders and the staff that support them: managers and administrators, professional planners, and other city, village and township leaders that make up the teams that work in tandem to create vibrant, successful, and healthy communities. Because the League and MAP are collaborating on this event, we’ll have double the power to bring more of what our members want. Attendees have more breakout sessions, more topics, and more mobile tours to choose from than ever before.

The event View the Convention program here: blogs.mml.org/wp/events/files/2014/06/2018-Convention-Pro....

Other Convention highlights include:

- The official launch of the next phase of the SaveMICity municipal finance reform effort.

- The selection of the 2018 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner. The CEA is the League’s most prestigious community award. The 12th annual CEA competition started earlier this year and is down to four final projects. The finalists will give presentations Thursday and Convention attendees will vote, with the winner announced Saturday (Sept. 22) morning. Go here to read a press release about the four finalists: www.mml.org/newsroom/press_releases/2018-8-6-Community-Ex... and checkout the CEA website here: cea.mml.org/.

- Michigan Municipal Executive (MME) Colloquium: Empowering Communities to Set Their Own Destinies with keynote general session speaker Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center – 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

- Great Place to Live Townhall general session featuring Phil Power and the Center for Michigan’s Truth Tour – 11 am -12:15 p.m. Thursday.

- The New Localism: Utilizing Public, Private, and Civic Partnerships to Become a Change Engine general session featuring Bruce.Katz,.Co-Author, The New Localism, noon-1:45 Friday, Sept. 21

- Closing General Session about Civic Engagement Strategy: Inclusivity for the Win moderated by Carla Gribbs, Regional Manager, DTE Energy; and featuring Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana; 1st Vice President, National League of Cities, 10:30-noon Saturday, Sept. 22

- Michigan Green Communities (MGC) Awards Lunch and Workshop, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday

- Selection of the 2018-19 new League board members and board president and vice president, Friday, Sept. 21.

- Michigan Municipal League Foundation fund-raising event, Friday evening

- Michigan Association of Mayors breakfast and annual meeting, Friday morning.

- Michigan Women in Municipal Government meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Michigan Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Amazon: Michigan’s Wake Up Call or the Beginning of the End featuring the League’s Anthony Minghine and Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive, Wayne County, 2-3:15 p.m.Thursday.

- HR Up in Smoke: The Intersection between Marihuana legislation and empowerment law featuring Charles Mitchell, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office, Denver CO; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, State and Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League, 1:45-3:15 Thursday.

- Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act: Back to the Basics featuring Anne Seurynck, Attorney, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Hit Them with Your Best Shot: Attracting Businesses and Developers featuring Katharine Czarnecki, Senior Vice President, Community Development, MEDC; Nicole Whitehead, Director, Sales & Service Operations, MEDC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Mobile workshops: Envision Ada: Transforming a Suburban Strip Commercial Center into an Integral Part of an Historic Village; All Around Downtown, Uptown, Eastown; New Urbanism in Practice; Viva la Avenida: Planning for a Cultural Corridor, all 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Unleash the Power of Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss, Recast City LLC, 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Creating Sustainable Retail Districts featuring Bobby Boone, AICP, LEED AP, Small Business Retail Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Martha Potere, AICP, Strategy and Special Projects Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thursday

- Host City reception by Urban Metro Mayors and Managers at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thursday

- Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy with speakers Tyler Kilfman, Planner, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); Kevin Vettraino, AICP, Plan Implementation Manager, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), 9-10:15 a.m. Friday

- Fostering an Inclusive Community Environment Hosted by the Michigan Black Caucus with speakers : Lois Allen-Richardson, Councilmember, Ypsilanti; President, MBC-LEO; Oronde Miller, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Stacy Stout, Assistant to the City Manager, Grand Rapids; Howard Walters, Program and Evaluation Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 9-noon Friday

- Mobility: The Community Conversation with speakers Sarah Latta Rainero, Regional Director, Community Assistance Team, Community Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Tyler Bevier, Transportation Planner, Bay Area Transportation Authority; Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research, 9-10:30 am Friday

- CNU Rules for Great Places: The Project for Code Reform featuring Mary Madden, AICP, Principal, Ferrell Madden; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League; Heather Seyfarth, AICP, Community Engagement Specialist, Ann Arbor; Vice President, Michigan Association of Planning, 9-10:30 am Friday

- More mobile workshops: Explore: ArtPrize10; From Grand Rapids’ Downtown to Your Town: Idea Tour for Building Reuse; Vital Streets in Action Bike Tour; The Modern Orchard at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, all are 9-noon Friday

- Master Planning: The Critical Role of Elected Leaders and the Planning Commission with speakers Adam Young, AICP, Senior Project Manager, Wade Trim; Chris McLeod, AICP, City Planner, Sterling Heights; Mark Vanderpool, City Manager, Sterling Heights, 10:45-noon Friday

- Social Media Pitfalls and Upsides for Communities with speakers Amy Snow-Buckner, Acting Managing Director of Communications, Grand Rapids; Matt Bach, Director, Communications, Michigan Municipal League; Jim Thorburn, Detective/Social Media Director, Allen Park Police Department, 10:45-noon Friday

- We Need More Parking! (But Do We Really?) with Tom Brown, Principle, Nelson\Nygaard; Bradley Strader, AICP, PTP, Transportation Planner, MKSK; Nicole VanNess, Manager, Traverse City DDA, 10:45-noon Friday

- Even more mobile workshops: Frederik Meijer Gardens; Terra Square and the Seeds of a New Downtown in Hudsonville; Under, Over, and All Around, all are 2-5 p.m. Friday

- Improving the Tone and Quality of our Civic Discourse with speakers John Bebow, President & CEO, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine; Melanie Piana, Councilmember, Ferndale, Vice President, Michigan Municipal League Board, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- The Keys to Putting Ethics into Action with Christopher Johnson, General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League; Marlon Brown, Mayor Pro Tem, Mason; Michael McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Miller Canfield; Eleanor Siewert, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Assignment: Effective Procedures, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- Smart, Accessible, Connected - this high-level panel discussion covers the future of cities in the context of advanced mobility technologies, including connected and automated vehicles, ridesharing, carsharing, ridehailing, mobility-as-a-service, and microtransit with speakers Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Speakers: Kelly Bartlett, Senior Policy & Legislative Advisor, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

The Power of the Wind: A Michigan Story with a focus on renewable energy featuring speakers Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy; Emily Palacios, Principal, Miller Canfield, 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday

- The Sky’s the Limit: Big Data, Drones, and the Internet of Things with Daniel Brooks, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Zachary Halberd, Co-Founder, Quantifly, 3:45-5 p.m. Friday

It’s Budget Time. Do you Know Where Your Revenue Is? With John Hoppough, Mayor, Greenville; Jacob Kain, City Planner, Mount Pleasant; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League, Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, East Lansing, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

Short Term Rentals: Trends, Impacts & Options with speakers Robert Monetza, Councilmember, Grand Haven; Ulrik Binzer, CEO, Host Compliance; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday

And yes even more mobile tours: Farmers Markets and Food Halls as Catalysts for Business and Real Estate Development; Restoring the Rapids: A Tour of Grand River Restoration Efforts, both 9-noon Friday

Photos of the 2018 Convention will be uploaded to flickr throughout the Convention can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page: flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given like this: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org. Thanks!

Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.

View from entrance to Union Station Bus Terminal along H between First and Second Street, NE, Washington DC on Saturday morning, 24 August 2019 by Elvert Barnes Photography

LYFT passenger

LYFT Washington DC at www.lyft.com/cities/washington-dc

Trip to Philadelphia / Union Station Walk About Before MegaBus Departure

Elvert Barnes 11th PHILLY NAKED BIKE RIDE 2019 docu-project at elvertbarnes.com/PNBR2019.html

An early rush-hour train to New York stretches across River Drawbridge spanning the Raritan River at Perth Amboy. Four of the eight coaches in this set are wrapped for the Lyft ridesharing app.

NJTR 4514

This is Cody. He had JUST bought this school bus and he's driving it down to Portland to stash it for a few months while he finishes medical school, then he's gonna drive it up to Alaska!

View from entrance to Union Station Bus Terminal along H between First and Second Street, NE, Washington DC on Saturday morning, 24 August 2019 by Elvert Barnes Photography

LYFT passenger

LYFT Washington DC at www.lyft.com/cities/washington-dc

Trip to Philadelphia / Union Station Walk About Before MegaBus Departure

Elvert Barnes 11th PHILLY NAKED BIKE RIDE 2019 docu-project at elvertbarnes.com/PNBR2019.html

New for model year 2017 was the Hyundai Ioniq, initially released in hybrid and electric versions, adding a plug-in variant in 2018. The hybrid version gets 55 to 58 miles per gallon depending on equipment, and is the most serious challenger to the supremacy of the Toyota Prius in the hybrid market.

The Hybrid Limited is the top trim level for the hybrid variant, and can be decked out with the Ultimate package which includes navigation, BlueLink telematics, wireless phone charging, and more. This fully loaded Ioniq stickers around $31,000.

Love the exterior blue!

I still love my 2009 Hyundai Genesis, but due to excessive driving in stop-and-go city driving under rideshare duty conditions, the car has taken a lot of abuse. My goal is to never drive my own car for such services, but even then, a hybrid powertrain that uses electric power for the stop-and-go driving (which is normally the worst weakness of gasoline engines) is definitely a winning formula. Between the Ioniq being better than the Prius in many ways, and my hatred of Toyota in general and Prius in particular, the Ioniq is most likely to be my next car.

People loading into a rideshare with their umbrellas

Los Angeles, California

More than 1,000 mayors, managers, community planners, locally elected officials and guests from throughout Michigan will descend on Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 20-22 for the joint 2018 Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) convention. This is the first time ever the League and MAP have joined forces to combine their two annual fall conferences (the League’s Convention and MAP’s Planning Michigan Conference) into a single massive gathering. And it’s all happening during the 2018 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Most convention education sessions and trainings will take place in Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Place, but there also is an extensive series of mobile workshops throughout the area that will put a spotlight on the positive things happening in the community.

The Convention is the League's premiere annual event and a chance to inform and highlight community accomplishments. The League is especially excited to be in Grand Rapids this year with MAP because the west-Michigan community has a lot of the placemaking assets the League has identified as making up vibrant communities, including walkability and physical design, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, strong education base and much more.

Both the League and MAP serve the education and advocacy needs of elected and appointed leaders and the staff that support them: managers and administrators, professional planners, and other city, village and township leaders that make up the teams that work in tandem to create vibrant, successful, and healthy communities. Because the League and MAP are collaborating on this event, we’ll have double the power to bring more of what our members want. Attendees have more breakout sessions, more topics, and more mobile tours to choose from than ever before.

The event View the Convention program here: blogs.mml.org/wp/events/files/2014/06/2018-Convention-Pro....

Other Convention highlights include:

- The official launch of the next phase of the SaveMICity municipal finance reform effort.

- The selection of the 2018 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner. The CEA is the League’s most prestigious community award. The 12th annual CEA competition started earlier this year and is down to four final projects. The finalists will give presentations Thursday and Convention attendees will vote, with the winner announced Saturday (Sept. 22) morning. Go here to read a press release about the four finalists: www.mml.org/newsroom/press_releases/2018-8-6-Community-Ex... and checkout the CEA website here: cea.mml.org/.

- Michigan Municipal Executive (MME) Colloquium: Empowering Communities to Set Their Own Destinies with keynote general session speaker Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center – 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

- Great Place to Live Townhall general session featuring Phil Power and the Center for Michigan’s Truth Tour – 11 am -12:15 p.m. Thursday.

- The New Localism: Utilizing Public, Private, and Civic Partnerships to Become a Change Engine general session featuring Bruce.Katz,.Co-Author, The New Localism, noon-1:45 Friday, Sept. 21

- Closing General Session about Civic Engagement Strategy: Inclusivity for the Win moderated by Carla Gribbs, Regional Manager, DTE Energy; and featuring Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana; 1st Vice President, National League of Cities, 10:30-noon Saturday, Sept. 22

- Michigan Green Communities (MGC) Awards Lunch and Workshop, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday

- Selection of the 2018-19 new League board members and board president and vice president, Friday, Sept. 21.

- Michigan Municipal League Foundation fund-raising event, Friday evening

- Michigan Association of Mayors breakfast and annual meeting, Friday morning.

- Michigan Women in Municipal Government meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Michigan Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Amazon: Michigan’s Wake Up Call or the Beginning of the End featuring the League’s Anthony Minghine and Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive, Wayne County, 2-3:15 p.m.Thursday.

- HR Up in Smoke: The Intersection between Marihuana legislation and empowerment law featuring Charles Mitchell, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office, Denver CO; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, State and Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League, 1:45-3:15 Thursday.

- Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act: Back to the Basics featuring Anne Seurynck, Attorney, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Hit Them with Your Best Shot: Attracting Businesses and Developers featuring Katharine Czarnecki, Senior Vice President, Community Development, MEDC; Nicole Whitehead, Director, Sales & Service Operations, MEDC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Mobile workshops: Envision Ada: Transforming a Suburban Strip Commercial Center into an Integral Part of an Historic Village; All Around Downtown, Uptown, Eastown; New Urbanism in Practice; Viva la Avenida: Planning for a Cultural Corridor, all 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Unleash the Power of Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss, Recast City LLC, 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Creating Sustainable Retail Districts featuring Bobby Boone, AICP, LEED AP, Small Business Retail Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Martha Potere, AICP, Strategy and Special Projects Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thursday

- Host City reception by Urban Metro Mayors and Managers at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thursday

- Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy with speakers Tyler Kilfman, Planner, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); Kevin Vettraino, AICP, Plan Implementation Manager, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), 9-10:15 a.m. Friday

- Fostering an Inclusive Community Environment Hosted by the Michigan Black Caucus with speakers : Lois Allen-Richardson, Councilmember, Ypsilanti; President, MBC-LEO; Oronde Miller, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Stacy Stout, Assistant to the City Manager, Grand Rapids; Howard Walters, Program and Evaluation Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 9-noon Friday

- Mobility: The Community Conversation with speakers Sarah Latta Rainero, Regional Director, Community Assistance Team, Community Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Tyler Bevier, Transportation Planner, Bay Area Transportation Authority; Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research, 9-10:30 am Friday

- CNU Rules for Great Places: The Project for Code Reform featuring Mary Madden, AICP, Principal, Ferrell Madden; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League; Heather Seyfarth, AICP, Community Engagement Specialist, Ann Arbor; Vice President, Michigan Association of Planning, 9-10:30 am Friday

- More mobile workshops: Explore: ArtPrize10; From Grand Rapids’ Downtown to Your Town: Idea Tour for Building Reuse; Vital Streets in Action Bike Tour; The Modern Orchard at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, all are 9-noon Friday

- Master Planning: The Critical Role of Elected Leaders and the Planning Commission with speakers Adam Young, AICP, Senior Project Manager, Wade Trim; Chris McLeod, AICP, City Planner, Sterling Heights; Mark Vanderpool, City Manager, Sterling Heights, 10:45-noon Friday

- Social Media Pitfalls and Upsides for Communities with speakers Amy Snow-Buckner, Acting Managing Director of Communications, Grand Rapids; Matt Bach, Director, Communications, Michigan Municipal League; Jim Thorburn, Detective/Social Media Director, Allen Park Police Department, 10:45-noon Friday

- We Need More Parking! (But Do We Really?) with Tom Brown, Principle, Nelson\Nygaard; Bradley Strader, AICP, PTP, Transportation Planner, MKSK; Nicole VanNess, Manager, Traverse City DDA, 10:45-noon Friday

- Even more mobile workshops: Frederik Meijer Gardens; Terra Square and the Seeds of a New Downtown in Hudsonville; Under, Over, and All Around, all are 2-5 p.m. Friday

- Improving the Tone and Quality of our Civic Discourse with speakers John Bebow, President & CEO, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine; Melanie Piana, Councilmember, Ferndale, Vice President, Michigan Municipal League Board, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- The Keys to Putting Ethics into Action with Christopher Johnson, General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League; Marlon Brown, Mayor Pro Tem, Mason; Michael McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Miller Canfield; Eleanor Siewert, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Assignment: Effective Procedures, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- Smart, Accessible, Connected - this high-level panel discussion covers the future of cities in the context of advanced mobility technologies, including connected and automated vehicles, ridesharing, carsharing, ridehailing, mobility-as-a-service, and microtransit with speakers Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Speakers: Kelly Bartlett, Senior Policy & Legislative Advisor, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

The Power of the Wind: A Michigan Story with a focus on renewable energy featuring speakers Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy; Emily Palacios, Principal, Miller Canfield, 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday

- The Sky’s the Limit: Big Data, Drones, and the Internet of Things with Daniel Brooks, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Zachary Halberd, Co-Founder, Quantifly, 3:45-5 p.m. Friday

It’s Budget Time. Do you Know Where Your Revenue Is? With John Hoppough, Mayor, Greenville; Jacob Kain, City Planner, Mount Pleasant; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League, Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, East Lansing, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

Short Term Rentals: Trends, Impacts & Options with speakers Robert Monetza, Councilmember, Grand Haven; Ulrik Binzer, CEO, Host Compliance; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday

And yes even more mobile tours: Farmers Markets and Food Halls as Catalysts for Business and Real Estate Development; Restoring the Rapids: A Tour of Grand River Restoration Efforts, both 9-noon Friday

Photos of the 2018 Convention will be uploaded to flickr throughout the Convention can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page: flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given like this: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org. Thanks!

Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.

Waiting at Bus Stop No. 511 on St. Paul near East Centre Street in Baltimore MD on Sunday afternoon, 27 August 2017 by Elvert Barnes Photography

Man Waiting in front of Waterloo Place Apartments for Arrival of UBER Driver

RIDE-SHARING Project / Uber Series

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY: Waiting At Bus Stop Series 2017

En route to Catering Gig @ Baltimore Inner Harbor

2022 Bus History Association convention tour

A dozen or so RideShare program vans being stored at the operations yard. DART owns and maintains their vanpool fleet directly vs. contracting.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Please do not use this image without first asking for permission. Thank you.

More than 1,000 mayors, managers, community planners, locally elected officials and guests from throughout Michigan will descend on Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 20-22 for the joint 2018 Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) convention. This is the first time ever the League and MAP have joined forces to combine their two annual fall conferences (the League’s Convention and MAP’s Planning Michigan Conference) into a single massive gathering. And it’s all happening during the 2018 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Most convention education sessions and trainings will take place in Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Place, but there also is an extensive series of mobile workshops throughout the area that will put a spotlight on the positive things happening in the community.

The Convention is the League's premiere annual event and a chance to inform and highlight community accomplishments. The League is especially excited to be in Grand Rapids this year with MAP because the west-Michigan community has a lot of the placemaking assets the League has identified as making up vibrant communities, including walkability and physical design, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, strong education base and much more.

Both the League and MAP serve the education and advocacy needs of elected and appointed leaders and the staff that support them: managers and administrators, professional planners, and other city, village and township leaders that make up the teams that work in tandem to create vibrant, successful, and healthy communities. Because the League and MAP are collaborating on this event, we’ll have double the power to bring more of what our members want. Attendees have more breakout sessions, more topics, and more mobile tours to choose from than ever before.

The event View the Convention program here: blogs.mml.org/wp/events/files/2014/06/2018-Convention-Pro....

Other Convention highlights include:

- The official launch of the next phase of the SaveMICity municipal finance reform effort.

- The selection of the 2018 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner. The CEA is the League’s most prestigious community award. The 12th annual CEA competition started earlier this year and is down to four final projects. The finalists will give presentations Thursday and Convention attendees will vote, with the winner announced Saturday (Sept. 22) morning. Go here to read a press release about the four finalists: www.mml.org/newsroom/press_releases/2018-8-6-Community-Ex... and checkout the CEA website here: cea.mml.org/.

- Michigan Municipal Executive (MME) Colloquium: Empowering Communities to Set Their Own Destinies with keynote general session speaker Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center – 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

- Great Place to Live Townhall general session featuring Phil Power and the Center for Michigan’s Truth Tour – 11 am -12:15 p.m. Thursday.

- The New Localism: Utilizing Public, Private, and Civic Partnerships to Become a Change Engine general session featuring Bruce.Katz,.Co-Author, The New Localism, noon-1:45 Friday, Sept. 21

- Closing General Session about Civic Engagement Strategy: Inclusivity for the Win moderated by Carla Gribbs, Regional Manager, DTE Energy; and featuring Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana; 1st Vice President, National League of Cities, 10:30-noon Saturday, Sept. 22

- Michigan Green Communities (MGC) Awards Lunch and Workshop, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday

- Selection of the 2018-19 new League board members and board president and vice president, Friday, Sept. 21.

- Michigan Municipal League Foundation fund-raising event, Friday evening

- Michigan Association of Mayors breakfast and annual meeting, Friday morning.

- Michigan Women in Municipal Government meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Michigan Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Amazon: Michigan’s Wake Up Call or the Beginning of the End featuring the League’s Anthony Minghine and Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive, Wayne County, 2-3:15 p.m.Thursday.

- HR Up in Smoke: The Intersection between Marihuana legislation and empowerment law featuring Charles Mitchell, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office, Denver CO; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, State and Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League, 1:45-3:15 Thursday.

- Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act: Back to the Basics featuring Anne Seurynck, Attorney, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Hit Them with Your Best Shot: Attracting Businesses and Developers featuring Katharine Czarnecki, Senior Vice President, Community Development, MEDC; Nicole Whitehead, Director, Sales & Service Operations, MEDC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Mobile workshops: Envision Ada: Transforming a Suburban Strip Commercial Center into an Integral Part of an Historic Village; All Around Downtown, Uptown, Eastown; New Urbanism in Practice; Viva la Avenida: Planning for a Cultural Corridor, all 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Unleash the Power of Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss, Recast City LLC, 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Creating Sustainable Retail Districts featuring Bobby Boone, AICP, LEED AP, Small Business Retail Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Martha Potere, AICP, Strategy and Special Projects Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thursday

- Host City reception by Urban Metro Mayors and Managers at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thursday

- Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy with speakers Tyler Kilfman, Planner, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); Kevin Vettraino, AICP, Plan Implementation Manager, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), 9-10:15 a.m. Friday

- Fostering an Inclusive Community Environment Hosted by the Michigan Black Caucus with speakers : Lois Allen-Richardson, Councilmember, Ypsilanti; President, MBC-LEO; Oronde Miller, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Stacy Stout, Assistant to the City Manager, Grand Rapids; Howard Walters, Program and Evaluation Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 9-noon Friday

- Mobility: The Community Conversation with speakers Sarah Latta Rainero, Regional Director, Community Assistance Team, Community Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Tyler Bevier, Transportation Planner, Bay Area Transportation Authority; Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research, 9-10:30 am Friday

- CNU Rules for Great Places: The Project for Code Reform featuring Mary Madden, AICP, Principal, Ferrell Madden; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League; Heather Seyfarth, AICP, Community Engagement Specialist, Ann Arbor; Vice President, Michigan Association of Planning, 9-10:30 am Friday

- More mobile workshops: Explore: ArtPrize10; From Grand Rapids’ Downtown to Your Town: Idea Tour for Building Reuse; Vital Streets in Action Bike Tour; The Modern Orchard at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, all are 9-noon Friday

- Master Planning: The Critical Role of Elected Leaders and the Planning Commission with speakers Adam Young, AICP, Senior Project Manager, Wade Trim; Chris McLeod, AICP, City Planner, Sterling Heights; Mark Vanderpool, City Manager, Sterling Heights, 10:45-noon Friday

- Social Media Pitfalls and Upsides for Communities with speakers Amy Snow-Buckner, Acting Managing Director of Communications, Grand Rapids; Matt Bach, Director, Communications, Michigan Municipal League; Jim Thorburn, Detective/Social Media Director, Allen Park Police Department, 10:45-noon Friday

- We Need More Parking! (But Do We Really?) with Tom Brown, Principle, Nelson\Nygaard; Bradley Strader, AICP, PTP, Transportation Planner, MKSK; Nicole VanNess, Manager, Traverse City DDA, 10:45-noon Friday

- Even more mobile workshops: Frederik Meijer Gardens; Terra Square and the Seeds of a New Downtown in Hudsonville; Under, Over, and All Around, all are 2-5 p.m. Friday

- Improving the Tone and Quality of our Civic Discourse with speakers John Bebow, President & CEO, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine; Melanie Piana, Councilmember, Ferndale, Vice President, Michigan Municipal League Board, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- The Keys to Putting Ethics into Action with Christopher Johnson, General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League; Marlon Brown, Mayor Pro Tem, Mason; Michael McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Miller Canfield; Eleanor Siewert, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Assignment: Effective Procedures, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- Smart, Accessible, Connected - this high-level panel discussion covers the future of cities in the context of advanced mobility technologies, including connected and automated vehicles, ridesharing, carsharing, ridehailing, mobility-as-a-service, and microtransit with speakers Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Speakers: Kelly Bartlett, Senior Policy & Legislative Advisor, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

The Power of the Wind: A Michigan Story with a focus on renewable energy featuring speakers Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy; Emily Palacios, Principal, Miller Canfield, 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday

- The Sky’s the Limit: Big Data, Drones, and the Internet of Things with Daniel Brooks, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Zachary Halberd, Co-Founder, Quantifly, 3:45-5 p.m. Friday

It’s Budget Time. Do you Know Where Your Revenue Is? With John Hoppough, Mayor, Greenville; Jacob Kain, City Planner, Mount Pleasant; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League, Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, East Lansing, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

Short Term Rentals: Trends, Impacts & Options with speakers Robert Monetza, Councilmember, Grand Haven; Ulrik Binzer, CEO, Host Compliance; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday

And yes even more mobile tours: Farmers Markets and Food Halls as Catalysts for Business and Real Estate Development; Restoring the Rapids: A Tour of Grand River Restoration Efforts, both 9-noon Friday

Photos of the 2018 Convention will be uploaded to flickr throughout the Convention can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page: flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given like this: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org. Thanks!

Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.

More than 1,000 mayors, managers, community planners, locally elected officials and guests from throughout Michigan will descend on Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 20-22 for the joint 2018 Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) convention. This is the first time ever the League and MAP have joined forces to combine their two annual fall conferences (the League’s Convention and MAP’s Planning Michigan Conference) into a single massive gathering. And it’s all happening during the 2018 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Most convention education sessions and trainings will take place in Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Place, but there also is an extensive series of mobile workshops throughout the area that will put a spotlight on the positive things happening in the community.

The Convention is the League's premiere annual event and a chance to inform and highlight community accomplishments. The League is especially excited to be in Grand Rapids this year with MAP because the west-Michigan community has a lot of the placemaking assets the League has identified as making up vibrant communities, including walkability and physical design, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, strong education base and much more.

Both the League and MAP serve the education and advocacy needs of elected and appointed leaders and the staff that support them: managers and administrators, professional planners, and other city, village and township leaders that make up the teams that work in tandem to create vibrant, successful, and healthy communities. Because the League and MAP are collaborating on this event, we’ll have double the power to bring more of what our members want. Attendees have more breakout sessions, more topics, and more mobile tours to choose from than ever before.

The event View the Convention program here: blogs.mml.org/wp/events/files/2014/06/2018-Convention-Pro....

Other Convention highlights include:

- The official launch of the next phase of the SaveMICity municipal finance reform effort.

- The selection of the 2018 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner. The CEA is the League’s most prestigious community award. The 12th annual CEA competition started earlier this year and is down to four final projects. The finalists will give presentations Thursday and Convention attendees will vote, with the winner announced Saturday (Sept. 22) morning. Go here to read a press release about the four finalists: www.mml.org/newsroom/press_releases/2018-8-6-Community-Ex... and checkout the CEA website here: cea.mml.org/.

- Michigan Municipal Executive (MME) Colloquium: Empowering Communities to Set Their Own Destinies with keynote general session speaker Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center – 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

- Great Place to Live Townhall general session featuring Phil Power and the Center for Michigan’s Truth Tour – 11 am -12:15 p.m. Thursday.

- The New Localism: Utilizing Public, Private, and Civic Partnerships to Become a Change Engine general session featuring Bruce.Katz,.Co-Author, The New Localism, noon-1:45 Friday, Sept. 21

- Closing General Session about Civic Engagement Strategy: Inclusivity for the Win moderated by Carla Gribbs, Regional Manager, DTE Energy; and featuring Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana; 1st Vice President, National League of Cities, 10:30-noon Saturday, Sept. 22

- Michigan Green Communities (MGC) Awards Lunch and Workshop, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday

- Selection of the 2018-19 new League board members and board president and vice president, Friday, Sept. 21.

- Michigan Municipal League Foundation fund-raising event, Friday evening

- Michigan Association of Mayors breakfast and annual meeting, Friday morning.

- Michigan Women in Municipal Government meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Michigan Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Amazon: Michigan’s Wake Up Call or the Beginning of the End featuring the League’s Anthony Minghine and Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive, Wayne County, 2-3:15 p.m.Thursday.

- HR Up in Smoke: The Intersection between Marihuana legislation and empowerment law featuring Charles Mitchell, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office, Denver CO; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, State and Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League, 1:45-3:15 Thursday.

- Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act: Back to the Basics featuring Anne Seurynck, Attorney, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Hit Them with Your Best Shot: Attracting Businesses and Developers featuring Katharine Czarnecki, Senior Vice President, Community Development, MEDC; Nicole Whitehead, Director, Sales & Service Operations, MEDC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Mobile workshops: Envision Ada: Transforming a Suburban Strip Commercial Center into an Integral Part of an Historic Village; All Around Downtown, Uptown, Eastown; New Urbanism in Practice; Viva la Avenida: Planning for a Cultural Corridor, all 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Unleash the Power of Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss, Recast City LLC, 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Creating Sustainable Retail Districts featuring Bobby Boone, AICP, LEED AP, Small Business Retail Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Martha Potere, AICP, Strategy and Special Projects Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thursday

- Host City reception by Urban Metro Mayors and Managers at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thursday

- Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy with speakers Tyler Kilfman, Planner, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); Kevin Vettraino, AICP, Plan Implementation Manager, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), 9-10:15 a.m. Friday

- Fostering an Inclusive Community Environment Hosted by the Michigan Black Caucus with speakers : Lois Allen-Richardson, Councilmember, Ypsilanti; President, MBC-LEO; Oronde Miller, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Stacy Stout, Assistant to the City Manager, Grand Rapids; Howard Walters, Program and Evaluation Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 9-noon Friday

- Mobility: The Community Conversation with speakers Sarah Latta Rainero, Regional Director, Community Assistance Team, Community Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Tyler Bevier, Transportation Planner, Bay Area Transportation Authority; Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research, 9-10:30 am Friday

- CNU Rules for Great Places: The Project for Code Reform featuring Mary Madden, AICP, Principal, Ferrell Madden; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League; Heather Seyfarth, AICP, Community Engagement Specialist, Ann Arbor; Vice President, Michigan Association of Planning, 9-10:30 am Friday

- More mobile workshops: Explore: ArtPrize10; From Grand Rapids’ Downtown to Your Town: Idea Tour for Building Reuse; Vital Streets in Action Bike Tour; The Modern Orchard at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, all are 9-noon Friday

- Master Planning: The Critical Role of Elected Leaders and the Planning Commission with speakers Adam Young, AICP, Senior Project Manager, Wade Trim; Chris McLeod, AICP, City Planner, Sterling Heights; Mark Vanderpool, City Manager, Sterling Heights, 10:45-noon Friday

- Social Media Pitfalls and Upsides for Communities with speakers Amy Snow-Buckner, Acting Managing Director of Communications, Grand Rapids; Matt Bach, Director, Communications, Michigan Municipal League; Jim Thorburn, Detective/Social Media Director, Allen Park Police Department, 10:45-noon Friday

- We Need More Parking! (But Do We Really?) with Tom Brown, Principle, Nelson\Nygaard; Bradley Strader, AICP, PTP, Transportation Planner, MKSK; Nicole VanNess, Manager, Traverse City DDA, 10:45-noon Friday

- Even more mobile workshops: Frederik Meijer Gardens; Terra Square and the Seeds of a New Downtown in Hudsonville; Under, Over, and All Around, all are 2-5 p.m. Friday

- Improving the Tone and Quality of our Civic Discourse with speakers John Bebow, President & CEO, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine; Melanie Piana, Councilmember, Ferndale, Vice President, Michigan Municipal League Board, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- The Keys to Putting Ethics into Action with Christopher Johnson, General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League; Marlon Brown, Mayor Pro Tem, Mason; Michael McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Miller Canfield; Eleanor Siewert, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Assignment: Effective Procedures, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- Smart, Accessible, Connected - this high-level panel discussion covers the future of cities in the context of advanced mobility technologies, including connected and automated vehicles, ridesharing, carsharing, ridehailing, mobility-as-a-service, and microtransit with speakers Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Speakers: Kelly Bartlett, Senior Policy & Legislative Advisor, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

The Power of the Wind: A Michigan Story with a focus on renewable energy featuring speakers Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy; Emily Palacios, Principal, Miller Canfield, 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday

- The Sky’s the Limit: Big Data, Drones, and the Internet of Things with Daniel Brooks, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Zachary Halberd, Co-Founder, Quantifly, 3:45-5 p.m. Friday

It’s Budget Time. Do you Know Where Your Revenue Is? With John Hoppough, Mayor, Greenville; Jacob Kain, City Planner, Mount Pleasant; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League, Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, East Lansing, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

Short Term Rentals: Trends, Impacts & Options with speakers Robert Monetza, Councilmember, Grand Haven; Ulrik Binzer, CEO, Host Compliance; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday

And yes even more mobile tours: Farmers Markets and Food Halls as Catalysts for Business and Real Estate Development; Restoring the Rapids: A Tour of Grand River Restoration Efforts, both 9-noon Friday

Photos of the 2018 Convention will be uploaded to flickr throughout the Convention can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page: flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given like this: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org. Thanks!

Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with NASA’s IMAP (Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe), the agency’s Carruthers Geocorona Observatory, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Weather Follow On–Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) spacecraft atop stands vertical at Launch Complex 39A as the sun sets on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The missions will each focus on different effects of the solar wind — the continuous stream of particles emitted by the Sun — and space weather — the changing conditions in space driven by the Sun — from their origins at the Sun to their farthest reaches billions of miles away at the edge of our solar system. Photo credit: SpaceX

NASA image use policy.

More than 1,000 mayors, managers, community planners, locally elected officials and guests from throughout Michigan will descend on Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 20-22 for the joint 2018 Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) convention. This is the first time ever the League and MAP have joined forces to combine their two annual fall conferences (the League’s Convention and MAP’s Planning Michigan Conference) into a single massive gathering. And it’s all happening during the 2018 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Most convention education sessions and trainings will take place in Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Place, but there also is an extensive series of mobile workshops throughout the area that will put a spotlight on the positive things happening in the community.

The Convention is the League's premiere annual event and a chance to inform and highlight community accomplishments. The League is especially excited to be in Grand Rapids this year with MAP because the west-Michigan community has a lot of the placemaking assets the League has identified as making up vibrant communities, including walkability and physical design, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, strong education base and much more.

Both the League and MAP serve the education and advocacy needs of elected and appointed leaders and the staff that support them: managers and administrators, professional planners, and other city, village and township leaders that make up the teams that work in tandem to create vibrant, successful, and healthy communities. Because the League and MAP are collaborating on this event, we’ll have double the power to bring more of what our members want. Attendees have more breakout sessions, more topics, and more mobile tours to choose from than ever before.

The event View the Convention program here: blogs.mml.org/wp/events/files/2014/06/2018-Convention-Pro....

Other Convention highlights include:

- The official launch of the next phase of the SaveMICity municipal finance reform effort.

- The selection of the 2018 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner. The CEA is the League’s most prestigious community award. The 12th annual CEA competition started earlier this year and is down to four final projects. The finalists will give presentations Thursday and Convention attendees will vote, with the winner announced Saturday (Sept. 22) morning. Go here to read a press release about the four finalists: www.mml.org/newsroom/press_releases/2018-8-6-Community-Ex... and checkout the CEA website here: cea.mml.org/.

- Michigan Municipal Executive (MME) Colloquium: Empowering Communities to Set Their Own Destinies with keynote general session speaker Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center – 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

- Great Place to Live Townhall general session featuring Phil Power and the Center for Michigan’s Truth Tour – 11 am -12:15 p.m. Thursday.

- The New Localism: Utilizing Public, Private, and Civic Partnerships to Become a Change Engine general session featuring Bruce.Katz,.Co-Author, The New Localism, noon-1:45 Friday, Sept. 21

- Closing General Session about Civic Engagement Strategy: Inclusivity for the Win moderated by Carla Gribbs, Regional Manager, DTE Energy; and featuring Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana; 1st Vice President, National League of Cities, 10:30-noon Saturday, Sept. 22

- Michigan Green Communities (MGC) Awards Lunch and Workshop, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday

- Selection of the 2018-19 new League board members and board president and vice president, Friday, Sept. 21.

- Michigan Municipal League Foundation fund-raising event, Friday evening

- Michigan Association of Mayors breakfast and annual meeting, Friday morning.

- Michigan Women in Municipal Government meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Michigan Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Amazon: Michigan’s Wake Up Call or the Beginning of the End featuring the League’s Anthony Minghine and Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive, Wayne County, 2-3:15 p.m.Thursday.

- HR Up in Smoke: The Intersection between Marihuana legislation and empowerment law featuring Charles Mitchell, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office, Denver CO; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, State and Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League, 1:45-3:15 Thursday.

- Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act: Back to the Basics featuring Anne Seurynck, Attorney, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Hit Them with Your Best Shot: Attracting Businesses and Developers featuring Katharine Czarnecki, Senior Vice President, Community Development, MEDC; Nicole Whitehead, Director, Sales & Service Operations, MEDC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Mobile workshops: Envision Ada: Transforming a Suburban Strip Commercial Center into an Integral Part of an Historic Village; All Around Downtown, Uptown, Eastown; New Urbanism in Practice; Viva la Avenida: Planning for a Cultural Corridor, all 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Unleash the Power of Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss, Recast City LLC, 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Creating Sustainable Retail Districts featuring Bobby Boone, AICP, LEED AP, Small Business Retail Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Martha Potere, AICP, Strategy and Special Projects Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thursday

- Host City reception by Urban Metro Mayors and Managers at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thursday

- Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy with speakers Tyler Kilfman, Planner, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); Kevin Vettraino, AICP, Plan Implementation Manager, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), 9-10:15 a.m. Friday

- Fostering an Inclusive Community Environment Hosted by the Michigan Black Caucus with speakers : Lois Allen-Richardson, Councilmember, Ypsilanti; President, MBC-LEO; Oronde Miller, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Stacy Stout, Assistant to the City Manager, Grand Rapids; Howard Walters, Program and Evaluation Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 9-noon Friday

- Mobility: The Community Conversation with speakers Sarah Latta Rainero, Regional Director, Community Assistance Team, Community Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Tyler Bevier, Transportation Planner, Bay Area Transportation Authority; Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research, 9-10:30 am Friday

- CNU Rules for Great Places: The Project for Code Reform featuring Mary Madden, AICP, Principal, Ferrell Madden; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League; Heather Seyfarth, AICP, Community Engagement Specialist, Ann Arbor; Vice President, Michigan Association of Planning, 9-10:30 am Friday

- More mobile workshops: Explore: ArtPrize10; From Grand Rapids’ Downtown to Your Town: Idea Tour for Building Reuse; Vital Streets in Action Bike Tour; The Modern Orchard at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, all are 9-noon Friday

- Master Planning: The Critical Role of Elected Leaders and the Planning Commission with speakers Adam Young, AICP, Senior Project Manager, Wade Trim; Chris McLeod, AICP, City Planner, Sterling Heights; Mark Vanderpool, City Manager, Sterling Heights, 10:45-noon Friday

- Social Media Pitfalls and Upsides for Communities with speakers Amy Snow-Buckner, Acting Managing Director of Communications, Grand Rapids; Matt Bach, Director, Communications, Michigan Municipal League; Jim Thorburn, Detective/Social Media Director, Allen Park Police Department, 10:45-noon Friday

- We Need More Parking! (But Do We Really?) with Tom Brown, Principle, Nelson\Nygaard; Bradley Strader, AICP, PTP, Transportation Planner, MKSK; Nicole VanNess, Manager, Traverse City DDA, 10:45-noon Friday

- Even more mobile workshops: Frederik Meijer Gardens; Terra Square and the Seeds of a New Downtown in Hudsonville; Under, Over, and All Around, all are 2-5 p.m. Friday

- Improving the Tone and Quality of our Civic Discourse with speakers John Bebow, President & CEO, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine; Melanie Piana, Councilmember, Ferndale, Vice President, Michigan Municipal League Board, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- The Keys to Putting Ethics into Action with Christopher Johnson, General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League; Marlon Brown, Mayor Pro Tem, Mason; Michael McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Miller Canfield; Eleanor Siewert, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Assignment: Effective Procedures, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- Smart, Accessible, Connected - this high-level panel discussion covers the future of cities in the context of advanced mobility technologies, including connected and automated vehicles, ridesharing, carsharing, ridehailing, mobility-as-a-service, and microtransit with speakers Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Speakers: Kelly Bartlett, Senior Policy & Legislative Advisor, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

The Power of the Wind: A Michigan Story with a focus on renewable energy featuring speakers Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy; Emily Palacios, Principal, Miller Canfield, 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday

- The Sky’s the Limit: Big Data, Drones, and the Internet of Things with Daniel Brooks, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Zachary Halberd, Co-Founder, Quantifly, 3:45-5 p.m. Friday

It’s Budget Time. Do you Know Where Your Revenue Is? With John Hoppough, Mayor, Greenville; Jacob Kain, City Planner, Mount Pleasant; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League, Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, East Lansing, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

Short Term Rentals: Trends, Impacts & Options with speakers Robert Monetza, Councilmember, Grand Haven; Ulrik Binzer, CEO, Host Compliance; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday

And yes even more mobile tours: Farmers Markets and Food Halls as Catalysts for Business and Real Estate Development; Restoring the Rapids: A Tour of Grand River Restoration Efforts, both 9-noon Friday

Photos of the 2018 Convention will be uploaded to flickr throughout the Convention can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page: flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given like this: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org. Thanks!

Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.

Uber Lyft Car

Ofo operated a bike sharing service in Seattle few years ago, and this was sitting at the bottom of Lake Washington for some years.

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Apple iPhone XS Max.

View from entrance to Union Station Bus Terminal along H between First and Second Street, NE, Washington DC on Saturday morning, 24 August 2019 by Elvert Barnes Photography

LYFT passenger

LYFT Washington DC at www.lyft.com/cities/washington-dc

Trip to Philadelphia / Union Station Walk About Before MegaBus Departure

Elvert Barnes 11th PHILLY NAKED BIKE RIDE 2019 docu-project at elvertbarnes.com/PNBR2019.html

More than 1,000 mayors, managers, community planners, locally elected officials and guests from throughout Michigan will descend on Grand Rapids, Michigan, Sept. 20-22 for the joint 2018 Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Association of Planning (MAP) convention. This is the first time ever the League and MAP have joined forces to combine their two annual fall conferences (the League’s Convention and MAP’s Planning Michigan Conference) into a single massive gathering. And it’s all happening during the 2018 ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. Most convention education sessions and trainings will take place in Amway Grand Hotel and DeVos Place, but there also is an extensive series of mobile workshops throughout the area that will put a spotlight on the positive things happening in the community.

The Convention is the League's premiere annual event and a chance to inform and highlight community accomplishments. The League is especially excited to be in Grand Rapids this year with MAP because the west-Michigan community has a lot of the placemaking assets the League has identified as making up vibrant communities, including walkability and physical design, arts and culture, economic development, entrepreneurship, strong education base and much more.

Both the League and MAP serve the education and advocacy needs of elected and appointed leaders and the staff that support them: managers and administrators, professional planners, and other city, village and township leaders that make up the teams that work in tandem to create vibrant, successful, and healthy communities. Because the League and MAP are collaborating on this event, we’ll have double the power to bring more of what our members want. Attendees have more breakout sessions, more topics, and more mobile tours to choose from than ever before.

The event View the Convention program here: blogs.mml.org/wp/events/files/2014/06/2018-Convention-Pro....

Other Convention highlights include:

- The official launch of the next phase of the SaveMICity municipal finance reform effort.

- The selection of the 2018 Community Excellence Award (CEA) winner. The CEA is the League’s most prestigious community award. The 12th annual CEA competition started earlier this year and is down to four final projects. The finalists will give presentations Thursday and Convention attendees will vote, with the winner announced Saturday (Sept. 22) morning. Go here to read a press release about the four finalists: www.mml.org/newsroom/press_releases/2018-8-6-Community-Ex... and checkout the CEA website here: cea.mml.org/.

- Michigan Municipal Executive (MME) Colloquium: Empowering Communities to Set Their Own Destinies with keynote general session speaker Patrice Frey, President and CEO of the National Main Street Center – 9-10:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.

- Great Place to Live Townhall general session featuring Phil Power and the Center for Michigan’s Truth Tour – 11 am -12:15 p.m. Thursday.

- The New Localism: Utilizing Public, Private, and Civic Partnerships to Become a Change Engine general session featuring Bruce.Katz,.Co-Author, The New Localism, noon-1:45 Friday, Sept. 21

- Closing General Session about Civic Engagement Strategy: Inclusivity for the Win moderated by Carla Gribbs, Regional Manager, DTE Energy; and featuring Karen Freeman-Wilson, Mayor, Gary, Indiana; 1st Vice President, National League of Cities, 10:30-noon Saturday, Sept. 22

- Michigan Green Communities (MGC) Awards Lunch and Workshop, 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Thursday

- Selection of the 2018-19 new League board members and board president and vice president, Friday, Sept. 21.

- Michigan Municipal League Foundation fund-raising event, Friday evening

- Michigan Association of Mayors breakfast and annual meeting, Friday morning.

- Michigan Women in Municipal Government meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Michigan Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials meeting and breakfast, Friday morning.

- Amazon: Michigan’s Wake Up Call or the Beginning of the End featuring the League’s Anthony Minghine and Khalil Rahal, assistant county executive, Wayne County, 2-3:15 p.m.Thursday.

- HR Up in Smoke: The Intersection between Marihuana legislation and empowerment law featuring Charles Mitchell, Senior Assistant City Attorney, City Attorney’s Office, Denver CO; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, State and Federal Affairs, Michigan Municipal League, 1:45-3:15 Thursday.

- Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act: Back to the Basics featuring Anne Seurynck, Attorney, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Hit Them with Your Best Shot: Attracting Businesses and Developers featuring Katharine Czarnecki, Senior Vice President, Community Development, MEDC; Nicole Whitehead, Director, Sales & Service Operations, MEDC, 2-3:15 p.m. Thursday

- Mobile workshops: Envision Ada: Transforming a Suburban Strip Commercial Center into an Integral Part of an Historic Village; All Around Downtown, Uptown, Eastown; New Urbanism in Practice; Viva la Avenida: Planning for a Cultural Corridor, all 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Unleash the Power of Small-Scale Manufacturing with Ilana Preuss, Recast City LLC, 2-5 p.m. Thursday

- Creating Sustainable Retail Districts featuring Bobby Boone, AICP, LEED AP, Small Business Retail Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation; Martha Potere, AICP, Strategy and Special Projects Manager, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, 3:30-4:45 p.m. Thursday

- Host City reception by Urban Metro Mayors and Managers at the Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Thursday

- Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and the Blue Economy with speakers Tyler Kilfman, Planner, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG); Kevin Vettraino, AICP, Plan Implementation Manager, Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG), 9-10:15 a.m. Friday

- Fostering an Inclusive Community Environment Hosted by the Michigan Black Caucus with speakers : Lois Allen-Richardson, Councilmember, Ypsilanti; President, MBC-LEO; Oronde Miller, Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation; Stacy Stout, Assistant to the City Manager, Grand Rapids; Howard Walters, Program and Evaluation Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, 9-noon Friday

- Mobility: The Community Conversation with speakers Sarah Latta Rainero, Regional Director, Community Assistance Team, Community Development, Michigan Economic Development Corporation; Tyler Bevier, Transportation Planner, Bay Area Transportation Authority; Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research, 9-10:30 am Friday

- CNU Rules for Great Places: The Project for Code Reform featuring Mary Madden, AICP, Principal, Ferrell Madden; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League; Heather Seyfarth, AICP, Community Engagement Specialist, Ann Arbor; Vice President, Michigan Association of Planning, 9-10:30 am Friday

- More mobile workshops: Explore: ArtPrize10; From Grand Rapids’ Downtown to Your Town: Idea Tour for Building Reuse; Vital Streets in Action Bike Tour; The Modern Orchard at Robinette’s Apple Haus and Winery, all are 9-noon Friday

- Master Planning: The Critical Role of Elected Leaders and the Planning Commission with speakers Adam Young, AICP, Senior Project Manager, Wade Trim; Chris McLeod, AICP, City Planner, Sterling Heights; Mark Vanderpool, City Manager, Sterling Heights, 10:45-noon Friday

- Social Media Pitfalls and Upsides for Communities with speakers Amy Snow-Buckner, Acting Managing Director of Communications, Grand Rapids; Matt Bach, Director, Communications, Michigan Municipal League; Jim Thorburn, Detective/Social Media Director, Allen Park Police Department, 10:45-noon Friday

- We Need More Parking! (But Do We Really?) with Tom Brown, Principle, Nelson\Nygaard; Bradley Strader, AICP, PTP, Transportation Planner, MKSK; Nicole VanNess, Manager, Traverse City DDA, 10:45-noon Friday

- Even more mobile workshops: Frederik Meijer Gardens; Terra Square and the Seeds of a New Downtown in Hudsonville; Under, Over, and All Around, all are 2-5 p.m. Friday

- Improving the Tone and Quality of our Civic Discourse with speakers John Bebow, President & CEO, The Center for Michigan/Bridge Magazine; Melanie Piana, Councilmember, Ferndale, Vice President, Michigan Municipal League Board, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- The Keys to Putting Ethics into Action with Christopher Johnson, General Counsel, Michigan Municipal League; Marlon Brown, Mayor Pro Tem, Mason; Michael McGee, Chief Executive Officer, Miller Canfield; Eleanor Siewert, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Assignment: Effective Procedures, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

- Smart, Accessible, Connected - this high-level panel discussion covers the future of cities in the context of advanced mobility technologies, including connected and automated vehicles, ridesharing, carsharing, ridehailing, mobility-as-a-service, and microtransit with speakers Adela Spulber, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research (CAR) Speakers: Kelly Bartlett, Senior Policy & Legislative Advisor, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT); Zahra Bahrani Fard, Transportation Systems Analyst, Center for Automotive Research; Dr. Jonathan Levine, Professor of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Michigan, 2:15-3 p.m. Friday

The Power of the Wind: A Michigan Story with a focus on renewable energy featuring speakers Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager, University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy; Emily Palacios, Principal, Miller Canfield, 2:15-3:45 p.m. Friday

- The Sky’s the Limit: Big Data, Drones, and the Internet of Things with Daniel Brooks, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Adrianna Jordan, AICP, Co-Founder, Quantifly; Zachary Halberd, Co-Founder, Quantifly, 3:45-5 p.m. Friday

It’s Budget Time. Do you Know Where Your Revenue Is? With John Hoppough, Mayor, Greenville; Jacob Kain, City Planner, Mount Pleasant; Richard Murphy, Program Coordinator, Civic Innovations, Michigan Municipal League, Eilis Seide, Assistant to the City Manager, East Lansing, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

Short Term Rentals: Trends, Impacts & Options with speakers Robert Monetza, Councilmember, Grand Haven; Ulrik Binzer, CEO, Host Compliance; Jennifer Rigterink, Legislative Associate, 9-10:15 a.m. Saturday

And yes even more mobile tours: Farmers Markets and Food Halls as Catalysts for Business and Real Estate Development; Restoring the Rapids: A Tour of Grand River Restoration Efforts, both 9-noon Friday

Photos of the 2018 Convention will be uploaded to flickr throughout the Convention can be downloaded from the League’s flickr page: flickr.com/photos/michigancommunities for free. We just ask that the following photo credit be given like this: Michigan Municipal League/mml.org. Thanks!

Michigan Municipal League advocates on behalf of its member communities in Lansing, Washington, D.C., and the courts; provides educational opportunities for elected and appointed municipal officials; and assists municipal leaders in administering services to their communities through League programs and services.