Florence mayor joins other women in attending White House conference
Florence Mayor Tara Walter, left, ran into Superior Mayor Mila Besich-Lira Sept. 20 at the Women Mayors of America White House Conference./Courtesy of Tara Walter via PinalCentral
Salisbury, North Carolina, mayor Al Heggins told her local news the best thing about the Women Mayors of America White House Conference was meeting the mayor of Florence on the shuttle from the airport to the hotel.
Florence Mayor Tara Walter remembers Heggins as well. Heggins asked Walter if she was in town for the conference, “and we just started right then and there talking about our communities,” Walter said. Heggins was especially interested in how Florence came to be routinely ranked among the safest cities in the state.
“What I shared with her — because you know, part of what motivated me to run back in 2012 — was our home was broken into,” Walter said. “We had a high response time. And from that response time, I learned only two officers were on duty, and both of them were downtown. So we didn’t have that even coverage in all areas of our community. Through working with the town staff and working with the chief, now we have the beats set up.
