We just wrapped up the 89th Annual Convention in the capital city of Little Rock, and wow…where do I even begin?! The speakers were fantastic, I think the sessions were some of the most timely and informative that we’ve seen recently, and the attendance, which was back to near pre-pandemic levels, was so encouraging. Overall, it was just an amazing time together, and I hope that you experienced the same feeling, whether you attended in person or virtually.

If I had to pick a macro-level theme for the convention this year—for me personally, anyway—it would be the word “family.” The Arkansas Municipal League is a diverse, engaging and incredibly supportive group of people from all over the state: mayors, council members, League staff and many different levels of city team members and others involved in local government. But when you boil it down to the base, we are really a huge family, with many of the same victories, defeats, issues and solutions. And I absolutely love that about us.

Every year since joining my city council in 2010, I’ve been in Little Rock at our Convention on my birthday (June 15). When the League staff found out that this year was my 40th, boy did they pull out all the stops. And that includes many of you reading this. You serenaded me with “Happy Birthday” during our luncheon (thank you Mayor Doug Kinslow, a dear friend, for that surprise!). You greeted and loved on my family as they joined me for sessions here and there and walked the halls with me. You took your time to come and tell me happy birthday in person over the course of the Convention, and that meant so much! It just really filled my heart with joy and appreciation, so thank you.

How about those sessions? The introduction to the League’s partnership with Forge Institute was incredible. As an IT guy, I am so happy that we are joining forces with them to help educate and equip cities to confront the real cyber challenges we face, now and in the future. Please stay engaged with the League on this critical issue and on this exciting new opportunity we have with the team at Forge.

Thursday’s concurrent session on establishing youth councils in our cities and towns especially resonated with me and I hope you’ll follow up on that one in particular. Please request a copy or download the League’s new guide on how to do that. We must engage and recruit the next generation of mayors, council members, police officers, water and sewer experts, firefighters, clerks…you get the idea. Nobody is getting any younger, right? Cities and towns must compete with the private sector and make the case that working and caring for our municipalities is a fun, rewarding career path that welcomes people from all walks of life and with many different skillsets.

We also had the big announcement of the forthcoming online training portal and revamp of the League’s educational outreach and certification program. This will be a gamechanger in helping us all access the kinds of training we need, when we need it. Please stay tuned for more on those exciting developments.

Finally, thank you, friends, for electing me as your president. I just cannot describe how humbling it is to have so many people from all over the state place this kind of trust in me. To my knowledge, I am the first from my home of Sharp County to serve the League as an officer. What an honor. I want to be a very active and engaged member of the team, so please reach out to me and stay in touch. Maybe I’ll get the chance to travel a bit and visit some of you here and there. In the meantime, please connect with me on social media. You can find links to my LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram accounts at www.jonasanderson.us. I look forward to hearing from you.

Also, here’s another shameless plug for the watermelon festival in Cave City, July 27-29. We’d love to have you join us! (You can then go to Hope’s festival in August. See, there’s plenty to go around! 😊)

For greater communities and a greater state,