Dublin Mayor Phil Best is sworn in as GMA president
This writer was proud to represent InsiderAdvantage/James Magazine during the Georgia Municipal Association’s 86th annual convention in Savannah which ended yesterday. It concluded with Dublin Mayor Phil Best being elected the organization’s president.
GMA communications director Amy Henderson estimated that this was the biggest convention in terms of attendees. Also, for the first time, the 538 cities in Georgia are now GMA members. And over 200 exhibitors had booths in the sprawling exhibit hall of the Savannah Convention and Trade Center. There was an amazing array of products and services there that all help to enhance a city’s quality of life.
There were a myriad number of meetings that addressed and discussed legislative and public policy issues of interest to cities. One of many that stood out to this writer was the Federal Policy Council meeting, presided over by LaGrange Mayor Jim Thornton. Attendees heard reports relating to Georgia from William Crozer, the White House deputy director of intergovernmental affairs; John Eunice, the legislative director and general counsel for Sen. David Perdue of Georgia; and Angela Panettieri, a National League of Cities technology/communications guru.
One major takeaway from that meeting is that the massive Savannah harbor expansion and dredging project – after some 16 years of plodding along– is on track for full funding in Congress this summer. Eunice said he was “cautiously optimistic.”
In his presidential acceptance speech, Best encouraged Georgia city leaders to embody the convention’s theme, “Cities United: Lead to Succeed” and practice humble leadership. He shared four steps necessary in working toward that common good, “Listen to and seek to understand others, admit when we are wrong, actively cultivate and engage the talents of others and cooperate to meet our collective goals,” he said. “We can’t work toward the common good unless we decide to get real, drop the pretense and bring some humility to the table.”
“You see, what we do in our cities isn’t just about our hometowns— as important as that is— it’s really about the health and success of our 243-year-old experiment in democracy,” Best said. “If that doesn’t encourage us to take stock and bring a little humility to the table, I don’t know what will. We’ve been given the privilege of leadership. I encourage you to govern with a spirit of humility.”
