The Alabama League of Municipalities is offering local elected officials across the state a training program to better develop them as community leaders.
The Certified Municipal Official program was first created in 1994 by the organization’s former executive director, Perry Roquemore Jr. Currently, it is the second oldest program of its kind in the country.
“Back in 1986, when I became executive director of the League, I noticed there were all kinds of training programs for municipal clerks, administrators, and revenue officers but nothing for elected municipal officials. Following in Georgia’s footsteps, we created the Certified Municipal Official program to develop quality leaders,” Roquemore said. “This program has exceeded every expectation and has helped our CMO graduates elevate their communities and serve in higher leadership positions from the state to the national level.”
In its first year close to 200 officials enrolled in the program. Since then it has grown to provide training in several formats including in-person multiday conferences, one-day regional trainings, and online training to teach the fundamentals of local government and share policy updates and resources.
“We are extremely proud of how the Certified Municipal Official program has evolved over the past three decades from offering the basic designation to an Advanced CMO and CMO Emeritus designation,” ALM Executive Director Greg Cochran said. “The success of this program is a reflection of our organization’s continued commitment to providing municipal officials with the necessary skills and resources to strengthen their leadership knowledge and cultivate vibrant communities.”
The training will focus on aspects of local leadership including the general powers of municipalities, duties of the mayor and council, ethics, annexations, authority to expend municipal funds, parliamentary procedure, conflicts of interests, and a variety of other courses.
Additionally, municipal officials have the incentive to obtain three different levels of CMO certification after completing 40, 80, and 120 credit hours of training as well as graduating. ALM also offers a Certified Municipality Achievement Award, which recognizes cities and towns where the mayor and all council members have earned the professional designation of Certified Municipal Official within the same year.
Beginning in January 2025, the program will become mandatory for all mayors and council members in Alabama. The officials must complete 10 hours of training annually, provided by ALM, during their first term in office. All elected local officials will be required to receive five hours of training credits annually after receiving the 40 hours required for ALM’s basic CMO certification.
The League has had more than 5,000 officials engage in the program since it was established and has presented 63 Certified Municipality Achievement Awards since creating the honor in 2018.
Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten
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