Municipal Leaders Gain Valuable Training at Mayors' Day Conference
Elected officials from cities throughout Georgia got the opportunity to enhance their leadership skills at the 2013 Mayors' Day Conference held January 25-28 in Atlanta by the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA).
Approximately 670 city officials attended Municipal Training Institute seminars led by faculty from the Vinson Institute and GMA instructors on topics such as neighborhood revitalization, council-staff relationships, and persuasive ways to present municipal issues to state legislators.
In addition, members of the GMA Municipal Government Policy Committee heard a presentation about city-county consolidation and service delivery negotiations by Ted Baggett, the Vinson Institute's manager for local government services, and state Rep. Andrew Welch, of McDonough.
The Mayors' Day Conference, one of the largest GMA sessions of the year, is timed to coincide with the Georgia General Assembly's annual legislative session so that municipal officials can visit their legislators at the state Capitol. The conference featured legislative updates from Gov. Nathan Deal, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, and David Ralston, speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives.
Ray LaHood, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation, delivered the keynote address.
Municipal leaders received certificates in acknowledgement of their commitment to leadership development from Stacy Jones, head of the Vinson Institute's Governmental Training, Education, and Development Division, and Albany Mayor Dorothy Hubbard, chair of the GMA Municipal Training Board.
