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Fairfield City Council member Paul Gandy becomes Certified Elected Official
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – Fairfield City Council member Paul Gandy was among 15 elected officials to receive the Certified Elected Municipal Official (CEMO) designation this year from the Iowa League of Cities.
The organization created this designation as a way to recognize officials who commit to continuing their professional development while in office, according to the group.
“The recognition program allows attendees to build towards the CEMO designation while receiving meaningful, informative and useful information on topics that expand the elected official's knowledge and capabilities,” stated a news release from the Iowa League of Cities.
Iowa League of Cities Executive Director Alan Kemp said those who achieve the CEMO designation must spend many hours, often on weekends, attending workshops and conferences “on the finer points of municipal government.”
“This is a significant commitment to local government and I commend these individuals for their dedication and motivation to become more effective municipal officials,” Kemp said.
Gandy was elected to the Fairfield City Council in 2017, and re-elected in 2021. According to the city’s website, he is a graduate of the 2017-2018 Iowa League of Cities Municipal Leadership Academy.
Gandy said one of the topics covered in the CEMO course was city finances.
“Municipal governments are unique in a sense in how they finance operations,” he said. “We learned what it means to have a budget, what it means to incur debt, to allocate money and how to maintain a high credit rating.”
Gandy said some of the course touches on issues that might seem obvious but are still important.
“It could be on how to be civil, how to function in a way that is productive and useful that meets expectations and doesn’t escalate confrontation,” he said.
Gandy said that ever since he assumed office in January 2018, he wanted to be the best city council member he could be. He wanted to know the job inside and out.
“Whenever I had the opportunity, and the course was relevant to my duties, I wanted to take it, to get better at it,” he said. “I feel fortunate that we have the Iowa League of Cities that offers that kind of education.”
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
