Tennessee County Mayors Meeting in Nashville

Annual Strategic Leadership Conference to Focus on Disaster Preparedness, Ethics, Legislation Nashville Tenn. -- The Tennessee Association of County Mayors’ (ACM) Annual Strategic Leadership Conference will be held at the Holiday Inn Express Downtown Nashville November 29-December 1, 2006. The Conference will begin Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. with a Board of Directors meeting convened by Knox County Mayor Mike Ragsdale, president of the Association. The group of mayors from Tennessee’s 95 counties will hear from Judge Robert Eckels at 9 a.m. on Thursday, November 30th, when he speaks on the Katrina aftermath and disaster preparedness. Eckels is County Judge of Harris County Texas, a county larger than 27 states. He has been featured in numerous magazines for his quick response to the Katrina Disaster. The program will also feature on Thursday at 3:45 Michael Griffin, executive director of the County Executives of America, and Jack Peterson, a Washington, D.C. lobbyist and consultant, who will present a Washington Update. Other topics of the Leadership Conference include cable television franchising, the impact of water quality regulations, and updates on ethics legislation. During the closing day of the conference on Friday, the group will hold its Legislative Business Meeting at which they will discuss possible legislative initiatives for county government. The ACM is headquartered in Nashville and is an affiliate organization of the Tennessee County Services Association. Members represent each of the 95 counties across Tennessee. Formed in 1954, the Tennessee County Services Association is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group representing county mayors and executives, commissioners and highway officials from across the state.