Mayors from across the country have gathered in Washington D.C., at the United States Conference of Mayors' 91st Winter Meeting to discuss how they can improve their cities.

What You Need To Know

  • Mayors from across the country have gathered at the United States Conference of Mayors' 91st Winter Meeting, in Washington, D.C., to discuss how they can improve their cities

  • Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg says he feels a “sense of urgency to address the biggest challenges” in the city which includes improving public safety, reducing homelessness and creating more good-paying jobs

  • A group of mayors from the conference will meet with President Joe Biden at the White House on Friday

Craig Greenberg has been serving as mayor of Louisville for just a little over two weeks. He was sworn in on Jan. 2.

“So far it’s been an amazing experience working with great people," Greenberg told Spectrum News. "Over 5,000 people in our city government that are working hard to improve the services that are offered to Louisvillians every day. Learning a lot and starting to make a lot of decisions."

Greenberg says he feels a “sense of urgency to address the biggest challenges” in the city.

He says those challenges include addressing homelessness, creating more good-paying jobs and increasing public safety.

The conference included a session that focused specifically on reducing gun violence in communities.

“It is way too big of a problem," Greenberg said. "One death by guns is too many. We’ve already had 12 this year in Louisville. That is simply unacceptable."

Greenberg said his team is working on a detailed strategy to reduce gun crime.

“How we are going to provide more community outreach and investments in communities that need support to give youth hope and opportunity, how we are going to support police so they have more resources to prevent crime from happening and what we are going to do specifically to address gun violence in Louisville," he said.

Greenberg said that plan will be completed in the next couple of weeks.

He also listed the homelessness crisis as a key focus for his administration. Greenberg said other mayors at the conference are sharing their comprehensive strategies to address the homelessness crisis, including providing mental health services, addiction treatment services and shelter.  Greenberg added he plans to lead those types of initiatives in Louisville as well.

On Friday, President Joe Biden is expected to host a group of mayors at the White House, marking the final day of the conference.