Jan Webster was a new Nicholson City Council member when she first attended the Newly Elected Municipal Officials Institute at the University of Georgia several years ago.
Over two days, she learned about planning and zoning, city finances, ethics and legal issues, such as the state’s open meetings law, among many other things.
“I walked out going, ‘Oh my goodness, what have I gotten myself into,’ ” said Webster, now in her first term as mayor of Nicholson, which is located in Jackson County.
But, she said she also left with a lot of good advice, relationships with fellow city officials across Georgia, and a promise from UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government and the Georgia Municipal Association that they would help her if she needed it.
Since then, she has accumulated hours of additional training on specific topics related to small town governance.
“Every time, I come back with something I can hand down to the city,” Webster said.
Mandated by state law in 1990, the Georgia General Assembly directed UGA and the GMA to introduce new officeholders to the legal, financial and ethical responsibilities of city officials. Besides exploring their roles and responsibilities, first-term officials study government finance and budgeting, land use, and staff relations to fulfill the six-hour training minimum set by law.
More than 250 new city officials attended the training held at the UGA Center for Continuing Education & Hotel on Feb. 16 and 17. A second Newly Elected Municipal Officials Institute will be held in Tifton in March.
Richard Parr, elected to his first term as a council member in the City of Maysville, attended the February training in Athens.
Parr decided to run for city council as he approached his retirement from Jackson County emergency management last year.
“I’ve lived here 50 years; this is my home,” Parr said. “I want to be able to give back to my city.”
The training, he says, provides him a basic understanding of city government, “what we can and can’t do.”
“I’ve seen a lot of things done I didn’t agree with. I want to get in there and do something about it.”
Webster says her training has taught her that some things the city might consider simply aren’t feasible. Like having a municipal police department or a city court, which was something the Nicholson City Council was discussing several years ago.
They dismissed the idea after learning that they would have to hire a defense attorney, an interpreter and a clerk of court, and pay for all of their training.
“It wasn’t ‘let’s just go hire an attorney to be a judge,’ ” Webster said.
Other tasks were easier to accomplish. After she attended a training session on parks and recreation, she began work on a plan to improve outdoor recreation opportunities for city residents.
Nicholson now has an improved walking trail and a fitness park.
“I thought parks were swings and a slide,” Webster said. “Training gets you into things you might not ordinarily do.”
In addition to her own training, Webster encourages city employees to take classes through the Institute of Government and GMA “anytime they can go, whenever they can fit it into their schedules,” she said.
“It’s money well spent.”
Writer
Kelly Simmons, simmonsk@uga.edu, 706-542-2512
Contact
Laura Meadows, lmeadows@uga.edu, 706-542-6192
