BY TRACY LEE TATE
Times Editor
Two Union County commissioners and the county coordinator recently attended the annual conference of the Florida Association of Counties in Orlando, June 28 – July 1, 2022, and brought home honors as well as valuable information to benefit the county.
Commissioners Lacey Cannon and Ryan Perez, along with County Coordinator Jimmy Williams, attended the convention, with the commissioners having to take time off from the jobs to attend – for Williams it was part of his job to attend. The convention offered the advantage of contact, conversation and programs on diverse topics and also the opportunity for the UC representatives to attend a meeting of the Small County Coalition as well.
Topics of workshops attended by them included the current program to provide broadband Internet service to all areas of the state, rural infrastructure, new state grant programs, economic development, cybersecurity, healthcare and retirement for small counties, disaster recovery and the opioid settlement received by the state. Both commissioners attended as many of the workshops as their time would allow, as well as participating in meet-and-greets and other events where they met counterparts from other counties and from several corporations represented there.
In addition to gaining knowledge to help them do their jobs well, all three collected certifications and one award at the event. Perez and Cannon both received their designation as Certified County Commissioners – a recognition requiring both online coursework and live instruction to ensure that trains participants in the program in being effective in their position.
“The training for certification took about a year,” said Commissioner Lacey Cannon. “It was real work, taking hours of the online classes and then on-site training as well. I think it will be worth the effort, though.”
Williams was honored with an award for Outstanding County Manager, by the Small County Association, one of only two people recognized this year for the award. Although Williams is technically a county coordinator, rather than a manager, his job description met the criteria for the award.
“Attending these conventions is a great way to acquire a great deal of information in a short period of time,” Williams said. “It was very educational and also gave us the opportunity to meet with other county officials from demographically similar counties to discuss common issues, explore problems and possible solutions. It was a great opportunity to compare notes and see what other counties are doing and learn from their experiences.”
“I think the conference gave us the opportunity to learn about ways to nurture economic development in our county and deal with a variety of issues that are important to our citizens, like Internet access (broadband). The meetings and other events also gave us the opportunities to make connections with officials from other counties and corporations. It was a great opportunity to be exposed to new ideas and initiatives from around the state.”
All three Union County representative said they were glad they attended the conference and were eager to share the information they gathered with other county officials and discuss ways to put some of what they learned into action to benefit the county and its citizens.
