06/17/2002

Who is it? - Who was widely quoted in the June 10 issue of Firehouse.com? Well, the subject matter gives it away. Ray Crouch was heavily quoted by Harry Carter in his column in Firehouse.com for June 10. Seems he and Ray are kindred spirits when it comes to the fire service being helped by cooperation.

Monterey - Monterey won an award at the TML conference for its water and wastewater improvements. The Cookeville paper gave the city a nice write up about the award and Mayor Ken Wiggins was very kind in his praise of Brett Ward.
"When we first contacted MTAS in January of 2001, we had been violating some of the water permit regulations and all sorts of stuff was happening that we didn't know how to correct," Wiggins said. "Brett Ward helped us across the board. Some of the equipment wasn't working and he told us who to contact. And he helped us analyze why our preventive maintenance wasn't working properly."

TML Executive Director - You may already have seen this email from TML, but if not, here it is:
RE: Notice to TML members regarding league staff

On Friday, June 14, 2002, the Executive Committee of the Tennessee Municipal League (TML) regretfully accepted the resignation of Rae Bond as TML executive director.

Bond has directed the League since January 2001. Her resignation is effective June 14, 2002. TML President Tom Rowland, mayor of Cleveland, said that a special board of directors meeting will be called in the near future to consider the selection of a new director. Ogden Stokes, a prominent Nashville attorney who specializes in government affairs, laws, and legal entities, will serve as interim director, a position he occupied four years ago when the League was between executive directors.

TML President Rowland said that during Bond's tenure, the League completed many successful endeavors including the completion of its strategic planning process of recent years. Bond, a successful director of nonprofit associations in Chattanooga, and her family retained their residence in that city. She plans to return to Chattanooga where she will work with nonprofit organizations in Chattanooga and outside of Tennessee.

TML Conference Evaluation - This year TML appointed an evaluation committee. We will be reviewing their comments soon. Last year I asked all staff who attended to send me a short email with your evaluation of the conference. We made several changes this year based on your comments last year. So, please, before you forget, email me with your comments about the conference. What do you think we should do more of and what should we do less of? What was the comment you heard the most from city officials? Thanks.