I attended the National Association of Counties (NACo) annual conference this past weekend in Nashville. Elmore county is very involved with the Association of County Commissions of Alabama where they focus on State issue affecting counties and NACo serves counties in the same manner on a Federal level. I serve on the NACo Community Economic and Workforce Development policy steering committee where we met to adopt policies that will be used to by NACo staff to deal with related issues facing counties.
There are many areas of our county that we could improve, I know. However, each time I am with other Commissioners from around the State and especially from around the US, I can tell you we are really blessed in Elmore County. I sat next to one Commissioner in a meeting that was from a mid-west state and to hear her talk about how their commission fights with the city mayors in their county is just foreign to me, and that is just one example. Homelessness in many counties is a huge issue but everyone seemed to have to deal with the opioid epidemic which we face in Elmore county as well. I was able to learn how other counties are dealing with specific issues we see in Elmore county and learned about some new resources available.
The picture below is where Commissioner Stubbs and I had the honor of representing Elmore county in the election of the incoming president of NACo.
Below is information the County Commission office released this morning on the conference.
Thanks
Bart
Elmore County Commissioners Troy Stubbs, Kenny Holt and Bart Mercer joined more than 3,000 county leaders July 13-16 in Nashville/Davidson County, Tenn. at the 83rd National Association of Counties (NACo) Annual Conference and Exhibition.
Attendees adopted positions on pressing federal policies affecting counties and exchanged innovative solutions to challenges facing American communities. Conference delegates discussed federal policy and legislation on a wide range of key topics like transportation and infrastructure; rural and urban development; energy; federal public lands and active forest management; public safety; emergency preparedness and response; housing and community development; health and other topics.
More than three dozen educational workshops and meetings explored topics including affordable housing, technology, reducing the number of mentally ill individuals in jails, the opioid epidemic, disaster preparedness and recovery and other topics important to counties across the country.
