By Patrick Sullivan
I always knew that our members give a lot to our organization. They are passionate about supporting our profession. You see it at conferences. You read about it in our e-newsletter. You hear about it when you attend regional luncheons. But when you serve as president, you get to see it firsthand.
Probably the most visible examples of the hard work of our members are our conferences. Having served on conference planning committees, and now watching our Professional Development Committee put the Summer Workshop together, you realize that every slot on the program comes only after several hours of making phone calls, lining up speakers, writing descriptions for the program, and following up with the speakers to make sure the room assignments and the accommodations are in place. The PDC and the MML staff make it all look so seamless and easy, but a ton of work goes into a conference and I’ve always felt that it’s the most important thing we do as an association. In addition to conference planning, the PDC runs our scholarship and coaching efforts.
Our Ethics Committee members are the unsung heroes of our organization. Much of their work is necessarily confidential. Having served on the board, and now as president, I get to see their reports and recommendations on various ethical matters going on around the state. These come after hours of investigation and information gathering. Their work is no less sophisticated and thorough than what I have seen from good detective bureaus I have worked with over my career. They guard the ethical reputation of our profession but do it in a way that gives our managers a fair shake and a compassionate understanding that all of us make mistakes throughout our careers. The lighter side of their work is planning the lively ethical discussions we have at our conferences.
The Advocacy Committee was responsible for much of our rebranding efforts. They continue to promote the profession through community profiles and member profiles that appear in the e-newsletter. They work to explain to the public what managers do, why it’s important, and why students should consider our profession.
The Next Gen Committee continues to offer excellent training sessions and networking opportunities to our members. They also connect college students with our member communities through the MME Fellowship program.
Our Experience Committee looks after our group in many ways. They recruit new leaders to serve on our board and nominate new leaders to carry on the tradition of service. They recognize excellence through awards and help managers in transition.
All of this takes time and effort. Time that our members gladly give to their fellow managers. In many cases, it’s time spent after a full day of work, and then they stay late in the office to return emails and phone calls relating to MME business. I get a lot of those early evening emails and phone calls and they remind me that our organization is important enough to commit time to.
So I hope to see you all in Charlevoix. Take the time to thank those who serve on our committees and do all this good work. If you’re not already a member of an MME committee, I hope you will sign on next year. What we do is important, and MME helps us all do it better.
Patrick Sullivan
President, Michigan Municipal Executives; Manager, City of Northville
Patrick Sullivan has been the Northville city manager since March 2006. His previous governmental experience included 10 years as superintendent of the City of St. Clair; four years as assistant village manager and village clerk of Beverly Hills; manager of the Village of New Haven; and township clerk of Lenox Township.You may reach him at phone or email