As I write my first blog as president of the Michigan Local Government Management Association (MLGMA), I would like to sincerely thank the membership for your confidence in electing me to serve as your president for the 2015 Association year. I remember like it was yesterday, the first Winter Institute I attended in 1990 while an intern with the Village of Spring Lake under the steady hand of Eric DeLong. Really knowing nothing about the profession or what it meant to be a city manager, I was in awe at the knowledge, dedication, and professionalism of the managers attending the conference. It struck me how inviting all of the managers were to a 22-year-old intern, following Eric around like a duckling throughout the conference. I took every chance I could to learn from these giants of the profession and to pick their brain about even the smallest issue surrounding local government. As time went on, I became involved in the committee structure, eventually chairing several committees throughout the years, until I was elected for my first stint on the board in the early 2000’s. Now, 25 years later, this association is vitally important to me, both personally and professionally, and has helped my career progress to where it is today. I am honored to be able to give back to this association that has given me so much.
I would like to take this time to thank immediate past president Pete Auger for his outstanding leadership during the 2014 association year. Thanks, Pete, and know that your term as president made a lasting impact on the association.
The 2015 association year is sure to be a dynamic one and we have an outstanding Board of Directors leading MLGMA. At our first board meeting in February, the board voted to create a standing committee called the Past Presidents Committee, which will be made up of all of the past presidents of the association and chaired by the immediate past president. This committee will serve as a resource to the MLGMA Board of Directors and association for high-level issues that come up during the year, as assigned by the board. We are already brainstorming several issues we would like the Past Presidents Committee to tackle in the coming months.
The board has also committed to taking a hard look at our ethics policy to ensure that the Ethics Committee is very engaged and that the ICMA Code of Ethics is in front of all of our members as we work through the various challenges that face us in our communities. The board is also going to have a detailed discussion on the state of the profession, and is working with the Michigan Municipal League (MML) to ensure that city councils, our members, and the public at large understand the importance and functions of the council-manager plan.
I plan to be very engaged with our membership throughout the 2015 association year and I encourage you to contact myself or any other board member with any ideas you may have to improve our service to our membership.
Michael Young, City Manager
Rockford
Michael’s public service work began in 1990 as an intern in Spring Lake and progressed to the role of assistant city manager in Greenville before he assumed the position of Rockford city manager in 1995. Throughout his career, he has been actively involved with MLGMA, serving on a variety of committees as well as on the board. In January 2015, Michael was selected by his peers as president of MLGMA.