By Bill Herman, CPM
townadmin@townofauburnnh.com

The months of change are upon us once again. As I write this in early October, we are beginning my favorite time of year in New Hampshire when the leaves are turning brilliant colors of red, yellow, orange, brown and gold; the days are sunny and warm, while the nights are cool and comfortable. It is weather that we would almost like to have on a year-round basis.

But there are other changes in the air as well. In most states, we are facing elections for state and national offices. Here in New Hampshire, we have a month to go before an election that will likely see many changes in office holders at all levels. But with the largest State Legislature in the country (a 400-member House of Representatives and a 24-member State Senate), just normal attrition of nearly one-third of the members will lead to interesting internal Statehouse changes, including the election of a new Speaker of the House and potentially a new Senate President.

It seems like just last week that I was writing my first President’s Message for The CPM Connection. Soon my time as your President will come to an end. This has been a very productive and exciting year for the Academy on many fronts. As your President, I have been extremely fortunate and thankful that you have provided me with a team of tremendously dedicated and talented Board members to act as fellow stewards of the Academy’s affairs. I emphasize the term “fellow” stewards because this Board is definitely not comprised of followers and ‘hangers on’. Your Board is a collection of visionaries, process experts, detailers, planners and financial wizards, all of whom make a first-rate professional leadership team to represent you…and they have been a great joy to serve with, both professionally and personally.

At the Orientation Program at our most recent Professional Development Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, I said that I felt my job on the Board was the easiest of the lot. I merely had to oversee the work efforts of the Board. To a person, the Board members are active, engaged, performing and dedicated…so my job was nothing like herding cats!

By the time you read this, it will be close to the end of my term as President and a shifting of the Board seats. I will replace Debbie Smith of Oklahoma as Immediate Past President, Julie Felice of Utah becomes President, and Greg Hyland of Arizona will serve as President-elect. Judy Dennis of Oklahoma will continue for another year as Secretary, while Larry Gordon of Arizona will begin a new two-year term as Treasurer. Robinil Jameson of Kentucky will continue in her role as Member at Large for Member Affairs, and Becky Bryant of Arkansas will fill the position of Member at Large for Conferences & Communications.

My intentions for my year as your President were to provide stability, visibility and accountability to this office and to the Board. Collectively, we set out to enhance the work efforts of past Presidents and Boards, and we committed to make ourselves visible and more available to our Societies. During the course of the past year, Academy Board members have participated in a dozen graduations, conferences or society meetings across the country in the states of Arkansas, Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia and Utah. This built on last year’s effort that saw Academy Board members participate in 10 events in nine states. Hopefully, this activity can continue in the future…More >