Christian Wuerth | MME President
Like many of you, my late summer and early fall have been busy. It has been great to see so many of you along the way at the MML Convention, the ICMA Conference in Pittsburgh, and my trip to visit the UP Managers at their fall gathering in Negaunee. I have had some incredible conversations with a lot of you and I always come away with a sense of pride in our profession after hearing about and seeing some of the great things you are all doing in your communities.
The MME Board met on October 25 and adopted the 2025 budget, which maintains dues at their current level while also continuing to invest in the work our committees are doing on behalf of the membership and MME. We also extended our relationship with The Nonprofit Spot for another year, with some expanded scope to allow for the updating of strategic goals and planning for the financial sustainability of our organization.
As part of the Midwest Region for ICMA, the board voted to approve changes to the rotational agreement for the selection of our Regional ICMA Vice Presidents. These changes, which are expected to take effect ahead of the 2026 nominations process, better balance the rotation and make other improvements to ensure each state has opportunities to be represented on the ICMA Board.
The board also voted unanimously to contribute $5,000 to support the MML’s 16/50 Project, including the Women’s Municipal Leadership Program (WMLP)—a practice that has been in place for several years now. Since 2018, this program has had 135 graduates, fourteen of whom are currently serving in a CAO role, with one more expected to be sworn in before the end of the year. Another six graduates have moved into assistant/deputy roles since completing the program. I know many of us have contributed to this great program over the years by serving as speakers or by participating in the mock interviews at the end of the WMLP. Thank you to Emily Kieliszewski at MML for her leadership of this program and for sharing the impact of the program with the board. To read the full 16/50 Project impact report, click here.
MME also recently became an affiliate member of the Michigan Association of Counties. This was the result of some great groundwork laid by Pat McGinnis and the Advocacy Committee. I have also reached out to the Michigan Townships Association to explore a similar relationship with them as well. These partnerships are part of our overall effort to build new partnerships and better support our members and the council-manager form of government across all levels of local government.
Looking ahead, we have our annual board election process in early December. Voting members should keep an eye on their inboxes for details on December 1. Planning is well underway for the Winter Institute in Bay City, and I know the Professional Development Committee will have a great program in store for us—including some fantastic sessions that our other committees are putting together.
Wishing you all happy and healthy holidays over the next few months and I look forward to our time in Bay City. The event will be held January 28–31, MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
Christian Wuerth
President, Michigan Municipal Executives
Village Manager, Milford
Christian Wuerth currently serves as president of MME. He began his career in local government as an intern with the City of Birmingham in 2004 before moving to the Village of Milford, where he has served as village manager since 2014. Prior to his career in local government, Christian worked in the nonprofit sector and spent two years serving in AmeriCorps NCCC, a national service program. He has previously served on several MME committees, including serving as the chair of the Professional Development Committee, and previously served on the Board of Directors for MME.