Providence Firefighter Mike Mederios dresses as Pinocchio, with a sign on his head that reads "Mayor," during Friday’s protest.

The Providence Journal Ruben W. Perez

PROVIDENCE — The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ annual meeting, making its first appearance in Rhode Island in its 77-year history, began in earnest on Friday amid a backdrop of protests and an apparent peace offering from the Obama administration for backing out of the conference.

City firefighters, in a decade-long contract dispute with the city, made good on their threat to picket, as did other groups protesting a variety of issues. One group, a union representing Head Start workers, was protesting issues not related to the conference.

The protesters, nearly 300 of them at times, were noisy but caused no major disruptions downtown.

Throughout the day, mayors from Los Angeles to Chattanooga, Tenn., expressed their disappointment in President Obama’s administration for missing their annual gathering in a lurch after hearing rumblings of the planned union protest.

They voiced support for their host Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline in his fight with the city firefighters union whose plan to picket prompted federal officials, including Vice President Joe Biden and eight Cabinet members, to cancel their appearances at the Rhode Island Convention Center.

"We’re with you 100 percent in this stuff,” said Highland Park (Ill.) Mayor Michael D. Belsky, speaking to Cicilline during a morning workshop. The unions “don’t recognize we’re in a tough time and that when they ask for increases in pay and benefits, they are hurting local taxpayers. They are biting the hand that feeds them.”

Meanwhile Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama, sent a letter to members of the mayors conference on Thursday offering a meeting at the White House on June 29.

Jarrett said in the letter that the “working session” would allow mayors to engage in the same level of dialogue with senior White House officials that was anticipated in Providence.

Reaction from mayors to the White House offer was understandably mixed. “It’s a little bit short notice and I’m not sure another meeting, at this point, is the right answer,” said Norwalk (Conn.) Mayor Richard A. Moccia.

“I’m disappointed that they were not able to attend now,” Chattanooga Mayor Ronald Littlefield said. “I appreciate [the president’s] efforts to accommodate us, and I’ll take every opportunity to engage in conversation with the administration about the stimulus finds, but my schedule gets pretty crowded in June.”

“I’m more than happy to do it,” said North Miami Mayor Andre D. Pierre. “Hopefully they’re going to pay for the travel though.”

Under Mr. Obama, the relationship between city governments and the White House has been better than at any time before, said mayors, but many felt that president had wrongly weighed in on a local labor dispute this time.

“We supported [Mr. Obama’s stimulus plan] despite the opposition, and we expect the administration to support us when we have to make hard decisions,” said Miami Mayor Manuel Diaz, who is president of the mayors conference.

Many said they hoped to move past this week to resume the work of getting the nation’s ailing economy back on track.

“The administration is trying to build real change and to do that, you have to keep certain coalitions together,” said Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. “I believe this administration has the best interests of cities in mind.”

What had been billed as a great victory for the Capital City –– bringing nearly 200 American mayors, close to $2 million of estimated investment in the hard-hit state, and national media attention –– was left in tatters as the threat of union protest compelled the Obama administration, which has strongly supported organized labor, to pull out of the program last Friday.

Cicilline reached out to the firefighters over the past two days for what were fruitless discussions to salvage the conference. Conference officials, meanwhile, scrambled to revise their agenda on short notice.

On Friday, mayors and others spoke on the intricacies of Mr. Obama’s stimulus plan where once Cabinet members and other high-ranking administration officials were to lead discussions. Mayors tried to frame the meeting in a more positive light.

“There’s a lot going on at the conference. And there is a lot not going on,” Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter said. “We owe Mayor David Cicilline recognition for what he is dealing with. We are going to have a great conference with the folks who are here.”

Rain eventually dampened their efforts, but for much of the day, nearly 100 firefighters, including some from North Providence and Johnston, were picketing, starting about an hour and a half after the conference’s 8 a.m. opening.

They stood on Sabin Street across from the convention center, beside the Providence Journal building, in the city’s specially designated protest area for the conference. They were passive for the most part. Many wore white “Fire Cicilline” T-shirts and held signs saying “First Responders, Second-Class Citizens” and “Cicilline = DemoRat.”

But they erupted in cheers of “Buddy! Buddy!” as former mayor and convicted felon Vincent Cianci Jr. walked the picket line, shaking hands with firefighters and showing off his press pass for the conference. Cianci, now a radio talk-show host, has been consistently critical of the current mayor on his show.

There was also a brief news conference later in the morning by a group opposing Cicilline’s request that it register for and stay within designated protest areas during the four-day conference.

And at night, Right to the City –– a national alliance committed to urban justice and human rights –– marched downtown to the skating rink, where mayors’ conference attendees were enjoying a New England-themed dinner under a white tent.

The group demanded the mayors support a proposal to track the impact of federal stimulus funds according to race, class, gender and sexuality.

— With reports from staff writers Richard C. Dujardin, John E. Mulligan, Peter B. Lord, Kate Bramson and Tom Mooney.

pmarcelo@projo.com