Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick returned Wednesday from a trip to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
Myrick says while in Geneva, he took part in discussions with other local leaders from across the world about how to adapt to changing times and technology. He said one example was how municipalities could adapt to disappearing parking revenues with the advent of driverless cars.
Myrick says he was honored to attend, and that he was invited to go the conference.
“I guess they heard about me, who knows how nowadays,” he said. “They reached out and contacted me. I think they were looking for young people in leadership positions who they think might be in leadership positions in the future. So I was contacted and invited to go.”
When asked if the trip was an indicator that he might seek higher office, Myrick denied the idea.
“I’m seeking my office right now,” he said. “I’m hoping to win re-election here in the fall, but I hope that the connections that I made and the experts that I met–there were people from 180 countries there–will help me do better at the job that I have, which is being the mayor of the City of Ithaca.”