Mayor Wayne Messam’s Appointment to African American Mayors Association a Boom for Miramar

by Howard Campbell

SOUTH FLORIDA – Miramar Mayor Wayne M. Messam sees his appointment to the Board of Trustees of the African American Mayors Association (AAMA) as a boom for the City of Miramar.

Messam and 16 colleagues were sworn in to their new posts by Zoom on May 5.

“Miramar has the opportunity to share our best practices; how we are addressing challenges which may be of benefit or interest to cities across the country who may face similar challenges,” said Messam, a Democrat. “We get a chance to work with other municipalities with shared interests so we can go much further than we had if we had gone alone.”

The 45-year-old Messam, whose parents are Jamaican immigrants, was first elected mayor in 2015. Last year, he won a second term to lead a city with a large Caribbean and Latin population.

With some of his colleagues on the Board of Trustees head of major cities like Atlanta, Washington DC and Houston, Messam believes his new post is a platform to present the dynamics of running a small, diverse city in a big state.

“Whatever committees I may be appointed on or positions I may take in association with the African American Mayors Association, I don’t only represent myself. Wherever I go the city of Miramar goes as well,” he stressed.

Last year, Messam launched a longshot run for the Democratic nomination to be President of the United States. He ended the campaign in November after failing to raise enough funding to participate in the Democratic debates.

The AAMA was established in May, 2014. Its main objective “includes taking positions on public policies that impact the vitality and sustainability of cities; providing mayors with leadership and management tools; and creating a forum for member mayors to share best practices related to municipal management.”

McKinley Price, mayor of Newport News, Virginia is current president of the AAMA. The organization is scheduled to hold their annual general meeting from September 8-10 in Atlanta, Georgia.