Mayor Hazelle Rogers presented Mayor Demosthenes with the Key to the City

Mayor Hazelle Rogers presented Mayor Demosthenes with the Key to the City

From l to r: Commissioner Sandra Davey, Commissioner Beverly Williams, Mayor Demosthenes,  Mayor Hazelle Rogers and Vice Mayor Veronica Edwards Phillips.

LAUDERDALE LAKES, FL — Rodriguez Demosthenes, Mayor of the City of Petite Riviere de l’Artibonite, Haiti visited the City of Lauderdale Lakes, Florida on March 28, 2017.  Prior to the opening of the regular Commission Meeting, Lauderdale Lakes Mayor Hazelle Rogers presented Mayor Demosthenes with the Key to the City, the highest honor one can receive from a city.

The purpose of Mayor Rodriguez Demosthenes’ visit to the City of Lauderdale Lakes was to meet Haitian diaspora businessmen from his city to discuss the needs of their native city. The richly historical City of Petite Rivière de l’Artibonite has an estimated population of 80-90 thousand residents. Dessalines is a quarter of the Artibonite department of Haiti. It is named after its main city, Dessalines, where there are four communes: the City of Dessalines, Desdunes, Grande Saline, and Petite Rivière de l’Artibonite.

The City was named after the Haitian Revolution leader, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, and  several expatriated Lauderdale Lakes’ residents and business owners who have remained in close contact with their native country. “The City of Lauder-dale Lakes is home to many Haitian friends and neighbors, people who are making a positive dent in our community both socially and economically. It is extremely important for us all to remember that Lauderdale Lakes has become home for many who are from different countries which makes us even more interesting and capable of becoming great,” said Mayor Rogers.

Mayor Rogers and Mayor Demosthenes are not strangers to one another. During his acceptance speech, Mayor Demosthenes paid respect to Mayor Hazelle Rogers as someone who stood shoulder to shoulder with him and the Haitian people during the earthquake in 2010 when she was a State Representative. He also congratulated her for becoming the first female Mayor of Lauderdale Lakes, Fla. and ad-mired her dedication and commitment to serve such a diverse community. He agreed there should be more communication between the two cities since the majority of her Haitian constituents are from the Petite Rivière de l’Artibonite region.

For more information on this visit, please contact the Public Information Office at (954) 535-2838.