by Lynn Tipton, Executive Director
We reported in last week’s Manager that our profession lost a true friend, Ken Hammons, city manager of Panama City. Throughout Ken’s career he was known for his commitment to ethics, his generosity to colleagues and his warm regard for the elected officials he served. I’m so pleased that we were able to present Ken with the inaugural FCCMA Lifetime Achievement Award in May, named for one of his mentors, Dick Simmons. Dick hired Ken as an administrative assistant to the city manager in West Palm Beach; and from that collegial beginning, a great friendship grew. Ken served many Florida cities, and all of them were better for his service. We will miss Ken’s commitment to FCCMA and to excellence in city management. This is a sad goodbye to a dear friend. Some of you have asked about memorial donations in Ken’s memory; I’ve included the information below for a program at his church that he believed in and supported. Checks should be made payable to the church with the notation: Celebrate Recovery.
Celebrate Recovery
First United Methodist Church
903 East Fourth Street
Panama City, FL 32401
This month’s hellos are to new members; welcome! I also wanted to send a warm greeting to the various new committees of FCCMA who have started their meetings and work plans. Each year, your President creates several committees and all work plans for these teams are designed during June. We plan the Association’s budget in July for August adoption. Just like city and county budgets are finalized over the summer, we also finalize FCCMA’s budget so that we’re ready for the new fiscal year. I wanted to say hello to those serving on a committee for the first time, and welcome! We’ve got most committees meeting through conference calls and through Go To Meetings; two of my favorite technological advances! I don’t know how we ever got as much work done prior to the advent of these very welcome systems…but we are able to save members time and money by meeting this way. So, hello to each committee and thank you in advance for your hard work!
