Garcetti travels to New York City for mayoral meeting and fundraising

Mayor Eric Garcetti plans to leave Los Angeles for a quick weekend trip to New York City, where he will meet with mayors from around the country.

The occasion is a conference on urban innovations: “City Lab: Urban Solutions for Global Challenges.” It will cover a range of topics of keen interest to L.A.’s new mayor, most notably some new ideas on bringing high-tech efficiency and environmental sustainability to city governments.

“He wants to make sure that he is hearing about, and perhaps taking back to Los Angeles with him, the best possible ideas to boost our economy and make city government work better,” Garcetti spokesman Yusef Robb said Thursday.

Garcetti, accompanied by Deputy Mayors Rick Cole and Kelli Bernard, will arrive in New York late Saturday and return Monday, Robb said. He will attend a dinner with mayors from around the country on Sunday.

Garcetti plans to attend panels on Monday morning but will miss presentations later by Vice President Al Gore, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and candidates running in a November election to succeed the three-term New York mayor.

The conference is sponsored by the Aspen Institute, The Atlantic, and Bloomberg Philanthropies, the mayor’s philanthropic organization.

While in Manhattan, Robb said, Garcetti also plans to raise money to retire debt from his mayoral campaign.

ALSO:

Robert Rizzo blames assistant for Bell corruption, gets prison

Exide records excess lead emissions, despite cutbacks

Road conditions in L.A. region considered the worst in the country

Twitter: @finneganlatimes

[email protected]