On the road again

By Casey Fields, Manager for Municipal Advocacy

Cue Willie Nelson’s 1980 hit “On the road again.” I know you know it. The Municipal Association legislative team is very familiar with this catchy tune. We sing it every year about this time. Why? Because it’s time for Regional Advocacy Meetings.

We hit the open road to visit a hometown near you, share a meal, some fellowship and talk legislative politics. I love hearing about kids, grandkids, summer trips, and new ideas to make your cities and towns better places to live and work.

The Regional Advocacy Meetings start next Wednesday, August 19, in Columbia. If you haven’t already registered, consider coming to one of the ten meetings that’s closest or most convenient to you. 

I know everyone is busy and has second and third jobs in addition to be an elected official. But there is real value in gathering together, discussing local issues, learning about new laws in place and forming strategy for the upcoming legislative session.

This year we will go over new laws from the 2015 session that cities and towns have to follow. Topics like requiring agendas for meetings, Uber regulations and indigent defense on are deck. We will also take some time to discuss local issues that are on your mind and talk politics about General Assembly elections and the overall mood at the State House.

Over lunch, we will tackle the big issues coming up in the 2016 session. Business licensing, local accommodations taxes and dilapidated buildings are just three issues that cities and towns are facing in the second year of this two-year session. 

I promise, these meetings are not lectures or boring presentations. They are a fast-paced discussion of local issues important to you, your colleagues and us - who represent you at the State House.

Doesn’t this sound like something you don’t want to miss? Of course it does. Register for a Regional Advocacy Meeting and let me buy you lunch. I will make Scott, Melissa and Tiger sing Willie Nelson. See you on the road!

Throwback Thursday - The first Annual Meeting and the early years

If you’re on Facebook, you’ll be familiar with fun old photos people post on Throwback Thursdays. So this week, we’ll throwback a photo from the early days of the Association.

At the recent Annual Meeting, the Association rolled out its 85^th anniversary history book. With lots of photos, timelines and stories, the book chronicles how the Association grew from an organization primarily focused on advocacy to a multi-faceted association providing a variety of programs and services to the state’s local elected officials and city staff. Click here to watch a short video that describes the book.

One of the many comments the Association received about the book is how its photos illustrate the gradual evolution of local elected officials from a white male dominated group to a more diverse cross-section that included an increasing number of minorities and women as time progressed. Look closely at this photo, and you’ll see one woman in the top right corner.

This Throwback Thursday photo is one of the earliest in the Association’s archives. This meeting in 1940 at Columbia’s iconic Jefferson Hotel was the Association’s first after hiring its first executive director, James N. Caldwell, in 1940. While mayors had been meeting informally since 1930 as the Municipal Association, the hiring of Caldwell marked the beginning of the formal organization we know today.

Before Caldwell’s hiring, Columbia’s city attorney, R.W. Wade, had been serving as secretary-treasurer of the loosely organized Association. He monitored legislation, prepared testimony and planned annual meetings. He was paid about $50 per month plus expenses during legislative sessions.

One of Association's top priorities Wade worked on in the early 1930s was getting state law changed to give cities with populations above 2,500 access to state funds to pave roads. Check out Chapter 3 in the book to learn more about this early legislative challenge.

All municipal officials attending the Annual Meeting received a copy of the book, and the Association mailed a copy to every city last month. Additional copies are available for order here.

Annual meeting highlights from the Twitter feed and app

This year’s Annual Meeting saw a jump in the use of the meeting app and Twitter as a way to keep participants updated and informed during the meeting.

Take a look below at a few of these social media highlights. Handouts and other collateral material from the meeting are here.

In celebration of the Association's 85th anniversary of service to the state's cities and towns, every municipal registrant received a complimentary copy of the book. Order one here.

Past presidents were honored for their service to the Association at a dinner on Thursday night. Former Spartanburg Mayor John Behr's service went back the furthest. He was president of the Association in 1976 and traveled from his home in Florida for the event.

Keynote speaker Rebecca Ryan wowed the 600+ registrants with insight and advice on preparing for the future beyond just 3 - 5 year strategic plans.

The Association's legislative team briefed participants on bills that passed this session. Tiger Wells explained in detail about new FOIA requirements resulting from legislation and a court case. Learn more about these here.

All the tweets from the meeting can be found here. For anyone attending the meeting, a quick survey is here.

Annual Meeting Day 2 - Lots of High Energy

Day two of the 2015 Annual Meeting started off with the business of the Association electing new officers and congratulating the most recent graduates of the Municipal Elected Officials Institute. The focus of celebrating the past and embracing the future continued through today's activities.

Next up was the unveiling of the Association's history book recognizing its 85-year history. Former Executive Director Howard Duvall spent the past seven years researching the history of the Association which resulted in the 80-page history book. 

Filled with organizational history overlaid with state and local politics, the book makes for a quick and really interesting read. All municipal registrants at the meeting received a copy of the book, and it's for sale from the Association for $25. All cities will receive a copy of the book in the next week.

The keynote speaker, Rebecca Ryan, wowed the 600+ officials gathered for opening session with her ideas about how to plan for the future beyond the basics of strategic planning. Her remarks left officials inspired and awed with her high energy aspirations for South Carolina cities and towns. Following the session, Ryan was swamped like a rock star with officials thanking her for her insights and direction.

After the keynote address, Ryan led a break-out session focusing on the Charleston metro area's long-range planning project she led last year with the business community. In a matter of three days, the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce pared hundreds of challenges for the future into  the two major priorities for the next 15 years...and a plan to meet those challenges.

At the beginning of that session, Ryan had a conversation with Mayor Joe Riley who gave his recollection of the first hours following the Emmanuel Church shootings. The room was still and silent as he recounted how the people of Charleston quickly came together in a spirit of grace and forgiveness. 

Riley said he knew his community would react with "love and unity." He noted that this type of community unity is important not only in times of tragedy like this but also when things are going well.

Afternoon sessions gave participants a chance to see demonstrations of drones, a Tesla and Microsoft products. Others participated in sessions about the sharing economy, avoiding financial pitfalls and disaster recovery.

The Achievement Awards and exhibition hall are highlights of Saturday's agenda.

Annual Meeting Day One...Lots of Learning Going On!

Every year, the Municipal Association’s Annual Meeting brings together hundreds of local elected officials and city staff for three days of learning and networking. Day one of the 2015 Annual Meeting kicked off to a great start with more than 300 local officials participating in three in-depth training sessions.

Wharf Street affordable housing in Bluffton

A group of 100+ officials took a morning field trip to Bluffton where they learned how this coastal town has grown from a sleepy fishing village to a thriving town of 15,000 attracting high tech businesses along with tourists and downtown shoppers.

Leadership was the theme of a second intensive training session. Officials learned how great leadership comes from the courage to have the dialogues that move toward solutions that unify rather than divide.

A third session focused on fine-tuning speaking skills to help leaders find new ways to connect with their audience.

Packed meeting rooms were the scene of afternoon sessions focusing on the complexities of implementing the new body worn camera legislation and lessons learned in law enforcement. Leaders from Hartsville, Hilton Head and Rock Hill shared their economic development success stories, and officials got briefings on a variety technology options to increase efficiency in their cities.

Friday’s sessions focus on celebrating the past and embracing the future that includes a look back at the Association’s 85 years of service to the state’s cities and towns.

Past successes and future trends focus of Annual Meeting this week

The Association’s Annual Meeting starts Thursday! More than 1200 municipal officials, guests, speakers and exhibitors will gather to take advantage of 40 educational and networking sessions that include topics as diverse as the “sharing economy” to contracting services and leadership training to technology planning.

This year’s meeting has an added perspective with the Association celebrating 85 years of service to the state’s cities and towns. Read about that in this month’s Columbia Business Monthly magazine. Twenty-four of the 35 living past presidents will be on hand at the meeting to share their experiences and recollections. Former Spartanburg Mayor John Baeher was president of the Association in 1972 and will be the mayor whose tenure as president goes back the farthest.

A highlight of the celebration will be the introduction of a history book published by the Association. The book chronicles how the Association has grown over the years to help cities tackle increasingly challenging issues while, at the same time, also illustrates how the Association’s mission has remained the same over almost nine decades.

Futurist Rebecca Ryan’s keynote address will get local leaders thinking about what they need to do to follow today’s trends so they can be prepared for the future. Eight 15-minute “Tech Talks” throughout the meeting will give elected officials quick briefings on a variety of technology topics.

All of this....plus the Association unveils its new website with responsive design to work with all mobile devices and a much improved search engine. Lots to look forward to at the Annual Meeting!

Gov. Haley signs Uber bill

Governor Haley has signed H3525 allowing Transportation Network Companies, such as Uber and Lyft, to continue operating in the state. In January of this year, the Public Service Commission had ruled that TNCs could operate in the state only through June unless the legislature acted.

The Municipal Association was deeply involved with the negotiations to ensure that cities and towns have adequate public safety enforcement control over these companies and that the companies were taxed fairly relative to their competition.

According to the new law, the state Office of Regulatory Staff is charged with collecting a local assessment fee of 1 percent of the total gross trip fare collected from TNC passengers. ORS then distributes this revenue to the individual cities quarterly.

Local governments will enforce local traffic and parking regulations as well as other municipal laws not addressed in the Act.

To learn more about how this new law will affect individual cities, click here.