Convention to be held virtually
Several El Dorado city officials are planning to attend the Arkansas Municipal League’s 86th annual convention next month, but they will not have to travel far to do it.
City Clerk Heather McVay said Wednesday that she was busy canceling registrations and hotel reservations for the convention, which was to have been held Aug. 19 - 21 in Little Rock.
Because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the convention was postponed from its original schedule in June to August.
AML officials later decided to host a virtual convention amid reports of a surge in COVID-19 cases.
The virtual convention is also scheduled for Aug. 19 21.
McVay said the AML made arrangements for refunds for municipal officials around the state who had already made hotel reservations and paid registration fees to attend the convention in Little Rock.
To streamline the registration process, McVay said that when she signs up to attend the convention and reserves a hotel room for herself, she typically includes other city officials who plan to attend.
“So that it’s not confusing, I’ll register everyone, so when I canceled, it was actually very easy. When I contacted them, they were in the process of canceling everyone because they knew no one would be attending,” McVay said.
She said space had been reserved for herself, Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer and seven El Dorado City Council members.
The group had planned to stay in the Marriott Hotel. The AML convention was to be held in the Statehouse Convention Center.
McVay said city officials will have to undergo a separate registration process for the virtual convention, which will be hosted for free.
Internet links will be provided to participants to attend a mix of live and recorded sessions, including continuing education and programs that will cover current events.
Topics on the agenda for the 2020 AML convention include an update on the state’s opioid litigation, in which includes lawsuits against manufacturers and distributors of opioid-based prescription drugs in the battle against a opioid epidemic that has claimed lives across the country.
Also on the agenda are updates on the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act, a $2 trillion federal stimulus package that was passed in March to help stabilize the economy in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
McVay said she does not yet have all of the details on how attendees will be accounted for in the AML sessions, but she is looking forward to pursuing applicable certifications by completing the required continuing education hours.
“I hate to miss out on the opportunity to go to the municipal league convention because you get to network and ask questions and see how other cities are doing things, but you’ll still get the education and I look forward to getting my hours,” McVay said, adding, “And it’s free. Normally, it takes a lot for us to do that with the hotels and registrations.”
McVay said municipal clerks associations to which she belongs have been forced to cancel events and host others with video conferences in the months since COVID-19 hit.
With the city of El Dorado having been under a spending freeze for non-essential services since March — also as a result of COVID-19 — McVay said she has not had the opportunity to participate in some of the online workshops for municipal clerks.
The city’s Finance Committee is working on a comprehensive financial report to get a clearer picture of how the public health crisis has affected city revenues.