Around June 17, Mayor Wilmot Collins asked his translator what Armenians wear in politics.
He was soon to meet an Armenian mayor, and he couldn’t disappoint. He dressed in a full suit and tie and was stumped when his Armenian counterpart arrived in a white polo and jeans — he’d heard Americans like to dress casually.
They wanted to make each other comfortable, Collins said. It wouldn’t do to start what could be a yearslong relationship on the wrong foot.
Collins spent five days in Armenia last month for something called the U.S.-Armenia Local Democracy Forum. His goal: explain why a people-first government works on a grassroots level, and spark an intercontinental friendship.
Collins was joined by four other mayors and state directors, three from California and one from Pennsylvania. He was one of five applicants selected from a nationwide pool.
