Georgia Municipal Association

✨Meet Randy Meacham, Managing Director, Gwinnett Municipal Association✨

For the past 18 years, Randy Mecham has served Georgia’s cities through his work at GMA, building strong relationships and fostering collaboration among local government leaders. Randy serves as the first Managing Director of the Gwinnett Municipal Association (GwMA), an organization representing elected officials and staff from the 17 cities in Gwinnett County. In this role, he supports regional cooperation and helps advance initiatives that strengthen local governments and the communities they serve.

💡Fun Fact: Through his years of service with GMA and GwMA, Randy has become something of a Gwinnett County historian in the local government space. Whether it's the history of a city project, a past elected official, or a regional partnership, Randy is often the go-to source for institutional knowledge and historical perspective.

Cc:
Partnership Gwinnett
City of Auburn, GA
Town of Braselton, Georgia
Gwinnett County Government
City of Dacula, Georgia - Government
City of Duluth, Georgia - City Hall
Get Into Grayson
City of Lawrenceville
City of Lilburn
City of Loganville - Government
City of Norcross - Government
City of Peachtree Corners, Georgia
City of Snellville, GA - City Hall
City of Sugar Hill, Georgia
City of Suwanee, Georgia - City Hall
City of Mulberry, Georgia

Advocating for starts with ensuring local voices are heard where federal policy decisions are made. GMA officers traveled to Washington, D.C., for the annual federal fly-in, meeting with members of Congress and Senate staff to discuss issues that matter most to Georgia's cities.

Conversations focused on transportation funding, water infrastructure investment, PFAS mitigation, and brownfields redevelopment--priorities that directly impact communities across the state.

These meetings help ensure local perspectives are represented in federal policy discussions and strengthen partnerships that support economic growth, infrastructure improvements, and quality of life in Georgia's cities.

Read more about GMA's advocacy efforts in D.C.:https://www.gacities.com/articles/gma-officers-meet-with-lawmakers-in-washington-dc-for-annual-fly-in?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Individually, GIRMA has awarded more than 30 safety grant checks to member cities.

The grants will support essential employee training that helps reduce risk, protect employees, and prevent losses.

Visit https://partnersinsafetygrant.gacities.com/ to learn more about the Partners in Safety Grant Program.

This week’s shines on the City of Doerun! Incorporated in 1900, Doerun is known for the annual May Day parade and festival as well as its unique name.

The town’s name originated when early hunters described the local landscape as “a perfect doerun,” and the name stuck!

✨Meet Rashida Cloud, Member Services Consultant & Managing Director of the DeKalb Municipal Association ✨

Rashida Cloud serves as the strategic connector for DeKalb County’s cities through her role as Managing Director of the DeKalb Municipal Association.

Focused on building strong relationships between local governments, elected officials and community stakeholders, she helps ensure every city has a voice in the regional conversation. Rashida specializes in aligning policy, governance and collaboration efforts across DeKalb County so municipalities are not only operating effectively, but thriving together.

With an extensive background in grants management and community development, she is passionate about strengthening local government operations, supporting economic vitality and using storytelling to highlight the unique identity and character of the communities she serves.

💡Fun Fact: Rashida prefers the road less traveled and often takes local routes across Georgia instead of expressways to better experience the unique character of the state’s communities.

Cc: It's In DeKalb

The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority is hosting a free webinar on Tuesday, June 23 at 2 p.m.

Learn how Energy Savings Performance Contracting lets cities use guaranteed energy and water savings to pay for critical infrastructure upgrades over time.

GEFA will walk you through candidate projects, basic steps, and how they support you from exploration to construction.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Unlocking Energy Savings with Performance Contracting—GEFA Support for Local Governments. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. The webinar will introduce how Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPC) can help cities and counties address aging infrastructure, reduce energy and water costs, and tackle deferred maintenance by using guaranteed savings to pay for improvements over time. Participants will learn the basic step...

Ready to connect with municipal leaders from all over Georgia? 🏙️

Join us for GMA's Annual Convention and Marketplace for top-tier training, networking, and local gov solutions!

Details & schedule: www.gacities.com/events/gma-annual-convention