by Lynn Tipton
Four years ago, the Florida Local Government Coalition was ‘born’ out of a great idea to bring all of the local government professional associations together. Carl Harness, then-president, knew that there were many plusses to joining these associations, and their members, into something that could bring focus and energy to the respective common concerns of the professionals. One of the Coalition’s new traditions is celebrating the local public service that is provided 24/7 across this great state, on the first Friday of the new fiscal year. Local Works Day is a terrific opportunity to showcase how public servants give back, and how the quality of life received by over 19 million Floridians (and many visitors) is no accident. From the seemingly invisible services like water, waste water and water re-use, storm water management, road building and road maintenance to the more visible services like courthouses, jails, elections, parks, sidewalks and police, fire and EMS. All of these services and many more can be celebrated on October 3rd.
Professional city and county staff make a difference every day in the lives of Floridians; let’s use 10/3/14 to give credit where credit is due. I will be staffing a career development table for middle school students all day, doing my best to help engage our youth into considering careers in public service at the city and county level. What will YOU be doing?
Sample resolutions, ideas for activities, and materials for your elected officials and the public can all be found at this link: http://floridagovcoalition.com/local-works-day/
I look forward to hearing about your city and county celebrations!
