A Celebration of Municipal Service

(from Maine Townsman, January 2011)
by Christopher Lockwood, Executive Director

As we enter 2011, Maine Municipal Association begins our 75th year of serving and advocating on behalf of Maine’s local governments.  We are proud and honored to have such an important mission and to serve thousands of dedicated local government public servants.

MMA was initially formed in 1936 by a small group of elected officials who recognized the importance of having a unified municipal government voice in the state Legislature and the value of sharing information and ideas to strengthen and improve local government and the delivery of services. 

Clearly much has changed in the intervening years, but much remains the same.  Municipal governments continue to be on the front line of providing to citizens and businesses the basic services that are essential to public safety and for the functioning of our economy. Municipal governments continue to be accountable, frugal and resourceful, as confirmed by several recent independent studies. Likewise, municipal governments are significantly affected by policy decisions at both the state and federal levels.

While MMA’s basic mission has remained the same, we have adapted our programs to reflect the changing needs of our members. Our advocacy efforts have broadened to reflect the importance of having a unified voice not only in the legislature, but throughout our state and federal system to maintain respect for the role of municipal governments and to enable local officials to serve as responsible partners in our intergovernmental system.

The MMA Legal Services program has been a mainstay of our technical assistance efforts, responding to over 8,000 inquiries a year. These inquiries have become increasingly complex and often arrive via fax or e-mail, compared to the more traditional letter or telephone call, with an expectation for quick turnaround responses.

Another staple of MMA’s technical assistance, Personnel Services and Labor Relations, continues to offer advice and assistance on the broad array of human resources issues, including the requirements of various recent statutes such as the Fair Labor Standards Act, Americans with Disabilities Act and Family and Medical Leave Act.      

Beginning in the late 1970s, MMA undertook a series of initiatives in the insurance and risk management arena. The MMA Workers Compensation Fund, MMA Property & Casualty Pool, MMA Unemployment Compensation Fund and various programs offered through the Maine Municipal Employees Health Trust enable municipalities to take advantage of group purchasing power and the financial tool of self insurance to achieve significant cost savings and to obtain coverage and options tailored to local government operations.

Communication and Educational Services is another area in which MMA’s traditional offerings have been augmented to reflect the dramatic changes in how people receive information and communicate. MMA’s traditional Resource Center Library has been transformed into a website (www.memun.org) containing literally thousands of reference materials, all MMA manuals and Legal Information packets and links to an array of outside resources – all of which are available to members online 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We continue to recognize the value of delivering in-person training programs but also offer a variety of online programs.

As MMA begins our 75th year, we maintain our commitment to provide high quality services and to keep in touch with the changing needs of our members. Working with the MMA Executive Committee, we will commemorate our 75th anniversary during 2011 in a low-key manner by focusing on municipal government and the officials who serve at the local level. A few of the ideas under discussion include compiling oral histories from a few long time municipal officials, a “then and now” municipal photo contest – with winning photos to be displayed on a Municipal Calendar to be distributed to MMA members and an open house in conjunction with the MMA annual convention on Oct. 5-6.  Our primary focus will be to celebrate and recognize the important work of municipal government in Maine.

Thank you for the privilege of serving you.

MMA HISTORY

To read more about the history of Maine Municipal Association please visit the website (www.memun.org) and click on the 75th anniversary logo in the upper left.

There, you can read an article, written in 1986, that chronicled MMA’s history over its first 50 years. We also have posted articles about the construction of MMA’s headquarters in 1994 and conference center in 2009.

Throughout 2011, we will produce and add new items – at the website and in the Maine Townsman – as we profile and record oral histories of elected officials and municipal employees who dedicated themselves to many years of municipal service.

If you have suggestions of long-time municipal leaders or employees who MMA should consider interviewing, please contact Eric Conrad, Director of Communication & Educational Services, at econrad@memun.org or by calling 1-800-452-8786.