Mayor Shlomo Danzinger recently traveled to Israel to join mayors from around the world at MUNI EXPO 2026, Israel’s premier municipal innovation conference, held in Tel Aviv. The event brought together mayors, municipal leaders, and industry innovators to explore the future of cities and share solutions to shared urban challenges. The trip was fully sponsored by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at no cost to Surfside taxpayers.
The conference held particular meaning for Surfside. As a coastal community still healing from the Champlain Towers collapse, one of the most difficult chapters in the Town’s history, Surfside understands the weight of recovery in ways few communities do. Mayor Danzinger brought that lived experience into conversation with Israeli municipal leaders who have spent recent years navigating their own recovery from frequent missile attacks, rebuilding communities, restoring local economies, and helping residents heal psychologically after sustained periods of loss and fear. Those exchanges offered practical insight into community healing, economic recovery, and infrastructure built to withstand the unexpected, lessons directly relevant to a Town working to strengthen both its buildings and its residents for whatever comes next.
The relationships Mayor Danzinger built at MUNI EXPO also opened the door to infrastructure and environmental collaboration that goes beyond what’s typically available locally or nationally, including resilient building design and sustainable coastal planning approaches shaped by necessity. For a community like Surfside, where rising sea levels, aging infrastructure, and building safety remain ongoing concerns, these international partnerships offer access to ideas and technical expertise that can directly inform how the Town plans for its future.
For Surfside, the trip reflects the kind of initiative that defines Mayor Danzinger’s leadership: seeking out hard won knowledge and global partnerships, wherever they exist, to bring new resources and tested strategies home, without spending a single taxpayer dollar to do it.
