Officials discuss a variety of issues
By Kyle Alspach
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Feb 04, 2010
BROCKTON — Mayor Linda Balzotti and other officials introduced the new consul general of Cape Verde to the city this week, discussing with him issues including education, civic engagement and youth violence.
It was Balzotti’s first meeting as mayor with an official from Cape Verde, an African island nation that is the native land to thousands of Brockton residents.
The consul general, Pedro Graciano Gomes de Carvalho, took his post as the country’s government representative in Boston last month.
Before his appointment, de Carvalho, a native of the Cape Verdean island of Santiago, served as special adviser to the country’s prime minister.
On Wednesday, de Carvalho met with Balzotti, members of her staff and local Cape Verdean leaders at City Hall. On Tuesday, he met with Police Chief William Conlon and School Superintendent Matthew Malone, and toured the East Middle School.
Through a translator, de Carvalho said on Wednesday he came to Brockton “to tell the mayor that he’s here as a partner, to work with her in whatever needs that will come up.”
Some of the issues, he said, “may include the interests of Cape Verdean business people, the education of the children of Cape Verdeans who are in the public school system in Brockton and also the issues of violence that also affect some of the Cape Verdean community.”
Balzotti said many of the discussions revolved around the city’s young Cape Verdean population, including ways to encourage more parental involvement and keep students in school.
The mayor said connecting with de Carvalho will prove important in helping reach her goal of uniting the city.
“I really want to make this one community,” she said. “I think the two of us working together gives the public the opportunity to see that we both want the same thing.
“If they see us working together,” she said, “it’s a big example of how everybody should be working together.”
Kyle Alspach can be reached at kalspach@enterprisenews.com.
Source: http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/x573996397/Cape-Verde-diplomat-meets-with-Brockton-mayor
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