County Commission | The Magazine October 2018 | Page 6

His commitment to this
organization, and to our mission,
only grew stronger the more this
organization was criticized for being
so active in our support. He pulled
together the leadership of other
organizations, used his marvelous
interpersonal skills and helped us
forge a legislative proposal that should
have been passed two years ago. Bill,
I want you to hear me promise you
that as our new president, I will do
everything humanly possible to finish
the mission that has been set before
me. And when we are successful, we
will have you back here to celebrate
with us.
At this time, we would like to
provide each of you with a little
remembrance of this convention and
of this Association’s origins in 1929.
We have asked one of your Past
President colleagues to present you
with an official map of the State of
Alabama from 1929 — the year this
Association was organized.
We hope each of you will find a
place to hang this map so that you
will remember all of us, how grateful
we are for your leadership and —
most importantly — the friendships
we have all built as we have created
One strong voice for our 67
counties. Hardy, Tim, Debbie and
Bill — Thank you, again.
Our Association will continue
to move forward; continue to
provide statewide leadership on the
important policy issues of the day;
and we will continue to give each of
you the tools you need to succeed.
But we can only do that if the people
in this room will resolve to pick up
the slack that is being created by the
loss of these four past presidents —
and at least 50 more commissioners
who will not be returning when we
gather here again next year.
The clock continues to tick, and it
will be time to welcome a new group
6 | OCTOBER 2018
During the Association’s Business Session, 2017-2018 President Steve McKinnon, right,
officially passed the ACCA gavel to 2018-2019 President Tony Cherry.