Athens City Councilman Harold Wales

Athens City Councilman Harold Wales was recently named an Advanced Certified Municipal Official by the Alabama League of Municipalities.

Wales was part of the 18th graduating class of ACMOs who were recognized Dec. 8 during a graduation ceremony in Montgomery.

Wales, who lives in District 2, attained the professional designation first by completing 40 credit hours of training conducted or endorsed by the League and then by earning 40 more credit hours of training toward the advanced certification.

Through statewide and regional educational conferences, participants receive formal classroom training in subjects such as council meeting procedures, parliamentary procedure, the Alabama Open Meetings Act, public records, ordinance drafting, conflicts of interest, state ethics law, duties of the mayor and council, tort liability, competitive bid law, planning and zoning, annexation, municipal regulatory powers, municipal revenues and expenditures, personnel actions and leadership development.

Ken Smith, executive director of the League of Municipalities, said of the other graduates: “All CMO graduates spend many hours over several years attending daylong workshops and lectures on the finer points of municipal government. Earning the advanced CMO designation is a significant achievement, and I commend our graduates for their dedication and motivation to become better informed, more effective municipal officials.”

Wales said he attended workshops in Huntsville, Birmingham and Montgomery in pursuit of the designation.

He was first elected to the council in 2004 and has served ever since. In August, he was re-elected to another four-year term.