MMA Annual Meeting

I represented the Town of Winchester at last week’s annual meeting of the Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA) in Boston. The MMA is an organization that represents the interests of local government. In attendance were local officials from throughout the state, including town managers, selectmen, mayors, councilors and finance committee members.

Within the annual meeting, local officials were addressed by Mayor Menino of Boston, Governor Deval Patrick, United States Senator John Kerry and Michael Widmer of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. A number of workshops are provided on a variety of issues facing local government and there is a trade show featuring vendors of services and equipment.

The MMA annual meeting comes at a critical time as I am finalizing my budget submission for the next fiscal year. The meeting is a great opportunity to review budget assumptions and to secure financial and political information necessary to plan for the upcoming year.