GMA taps Byars, Doss for panel
They will talk about the importance of collaboration.
Rome City Schools Superintendent Lou Byars and Mayor Jamie Doss will be featured speakers Friday at a Georgia Municipal Association training session.
The three-hour class for elected officials around the state is titled Economics of Education, aimed at showing how education is tied to a community’s prosperity.
“We’ll be giving feedback on how we work together as a government and a school system,” Doss said Tuesday.
Rome may be the only city in the state where a tripper bus service doubles as school buses and a public transportation system, he noted. Turning over management of Barron Stadium to the school system from Rome-Floyd Parks and Recreation is another innovation.
“It’s a benefit to the school system and a relief to the ... government,” Doss said. “It’s worked well up to this point.”
Coordination on transportation issues — the city is working on a new entrance to Main Elementary off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard — also is important. And the annual meeting where the school system presents its budget to the commission’s finance committee is beneficial.
“We just accept their budget, we don’t vet it, but it’s an exercise each year that brings both boards together,” Doss said.
The four-day GMA Mayors’ Day Conference runs through Monday. About 1,000 officials are slated to attend, including the Rome City Commission.
Two days are devoted to Municipal Training Institute offerings, both required and extracurricular. In addition to the education panel, courses range from ethics and municipal law to water management strategy and how to make citizen engagement work.
“It’s a packed weekend with a lot of opportunities,” Doss said. “The biggest opportunity is to collaborate with other city officials.”
Legislative policy committee meetings also are planned, along with forums with the announced party primary candidates for governor and lieutenant governor.