The 2018 Newly Elected Commissioner’s Conference will take place on December 4-7, 2018, at the UGA Center for Continuing Education & Hotel in Athens-Clarke County. 

This four day event is dedicated to preparing new officials with the tools needed to efficiently serve their constituents. During the conference, officials will hear firsthand testimonies from the 2016 newly elected commissioners about their experiences during their first term, learn the core basics about county government and establish relationships with their county and state counterparts.

Details regarding registration will be available in the coming weeks. 

To see the full conference agenda click here.

Prior to his internship with Fulton County’s Department of Real Estate and Assets Management (D.R.E.A.M.), Kaeland Chatman was relatively unfamiliar with the functioning of county government. As a mechanical engineering major at Georgia Tech, this internship offered Chatman an experience to broaden his horizons as it pertains to his career prospects and learn about the behind-the-scenes work involving construction and the maintenance of county buildings that goes into running and maintaining a county government.

Throughout his internship, Chatman worked hand in hand with Fulton County staff in developing spreadsheets to better track county construction and the maintenance of county buildings, as well as gaining that information from project managers, who oversee those projects. Chatman also had the opportunity to support other staff in the day to day functioning of the office.

Looking back on his experience, Chatman believes that the most successful part of his internship was the creation of the construction and maintenance tracking spreadsheet and the amount of information he learned about the function of county government. For Chatman, the most interesting parts of his internship were the interactions that he was able to have with real contractors that work with the county, an experience that was new for him.

Through his internship, Chatman now has a greater appreciation for the role that construction managers play in county building maintenance and better values the necessity of open communication between project managers, contractors, and other county employees throughout the construction and maintenance process. This knowledge and skill will prove useful, says Chatman, should he decide to pursue construction management as a career.

Chatman encourages anyone considering an internship to participate in the GCIP, as he values the knowledge that he has been able to gain as a result of his direct interactions with county personnel. Chatman noted that he would consider a future career in county government, recognizing the benefits that such a career would offer.

For more information on the GCIP, please visit the ACCG Civic Affairs Foundation website at http://www.civicaffairs.org.

Pictured left to right: Allen Bush, Hayley McCloud and Jarrett Faber.

ACCG welcomes summer policy and research interns Hayley McCloud and Jarrett Faber and legal intern Allen Bush. The interns will assist the policy, research, and legal staff with various projects and research assignments throughout the summer.

Jarrett Faber is returning to ACCG after completing fall and spring internships for the organization. Faber graduated from Georgia State University with a degree in Public Policy and Philosophy in December, 2017. He plans on attending Emory University School of Law in the fall. Although Faber has lived in Atlanta for the past three years, he is a Paulding County native. In his free time he enjoys running, cooking, and reading.

Hayley McCloud is a second year Master of Public Administration student from Kennesaw State University (KSU) seeking a career in local government management. She earned her B.S. in Political Science from KSU in 2011. Prior to starting her MPA full-time, McCloud served as the Senior Manager of State Affairs at the American College of Rheumatology where she managed legislative affairs for 50 states. She also served as a Senior Political Field Representative at the Georgia Association of REALTORS® and as a Legislative Correspondent/Field Representative at the U.S. House of Representatives.

McCloud has a passion for local government. She is the founder and President of the International City/County Management Association Student Chapter at KSU. In her free time, Hayley enjoys kayaking, photography, and spending time with her horse, Mr. Bob.

Allen Bush will begin his third year of law school in the fall at Georgia State University College of Law (GSU Law) where he is working toward a certification in Environmental and Land Use Law. Prior to law school, he graduated from Auburn University in 2012 with a degree in Chemistry. Bush is an Urban Fellow with the Center for Comparative Metropolitan Studies at GSU Law and has recently been selected to participate in the Center’s Study Space X: Singapore Program, a week-long international program focusing on urban development in the era of climate change. He has worked with private law firms performing work in a number of areas of law, including property, bankruptcy, criminal, and family law. Following law school, Bush hopes to work in private practice in land use and zoning law.

Over the course of the summer, McCloud and Faber will assist policy and research staff by compiling and analyzing county election results, collecting and reviewing data on county occupation tax methods, examining TAVT revenues, reviewing sales tax trends, surveying counties on capital needs, consolidating county data sources related to the opioid crisis, gathering data for and helping to prepare presentations for upcoming legislative study committees, and providing general research and meeting assistance as needed. Bush will assist the legal department by performing deed research, reviewing contracts, aiding with a records retention project, updating publications, and performing general legal research assistance as requested.

The Department of Community Affairs (DCA) administers the Government Management Indicators (GOMI) Survey and the Wage and Salary Survey. The deadline to submit each survey is June 30, 2018.The GOMI Survey is a mandatory requirement provided for in O.C.G.A. § 36-81-8. The Wage and Salary Survey is a voluntary survey, however, the information contained within this survey is the most popular research request that ACCG receives from counties each year. As such, it is strongly encouraged that your county participates in this survey. 

In terms of what type of information is collected through these surveys, GOMI collects data on county operations, including financial management practices, service delivery arrangements, public facilities provided, and planning efforts. This information is helpful in identifying trends in county operations. The Wage and Salary Survey collects data on the pay range, number of full time employees, and the number of hours worked each week for over 160 different local government jobs. Information from the survey is used to produce printable reports that can be used by counties.

The 2018 GOMI Survey can be accessed at: https://apps.dca.ga.gov/secured/dcasurveys/gomisurvey/login.aspx

The 2018 Wage and Salary Survey can be accessed at: https://apps.dca.ga.gov/secured/dcasurveys/wagesalary/login.aspx

If you need assistance in accessing these surveys, please contact DCA at DCA.Research@dca.ga.gov for assistance.