Colony Mayor Donnis Leeth, left, seen here with Colony Town Councilman Curtis Johnson, right, in a Tribune file photo from March 2017
COLONY – Colony Mayor Donnis Leeth last week attended the World Council of Mayors Conference in Detroit, Michigan, where he had an opportunity to meet mayors and other elected officials from around the globe and Alabama. Leeth also met Richard Hatcher, the first elected (1967) African-American mayor of a large U.S. city.
Leeth is a member of the Alabama Conference of Black Mayors, with a membership of 47. He is also a member of the National Historic Black Towns and Settlements Alliance, Cities United and the World Council of Mayors, which was founded by Johnny Ford of Tuskegee. The trip was made possible through a grant from Cities United to the World Council of Mayors.
Each of the organizations mentioned above is not exclusively for mayors. They also include retired mayors and council members.
Attendees in Detroit heard from trade representatives from Taiwan and Toronto, Canada who are looking to extend their trade bases to towns and cities the attendees represented.
Dr. Doris Brown, president of the National Medical Association, spoke about health care, mental health, and the opioid epidemic plaguing many towns and cities, as well as the lack of medical insurance for many.
A workshop was held on how to obtain funding for projects that all municipalities need.
Major Bob Tillman, a Tuskegee Airman, talked about the opportunities for youth to train as pilots starting at age 8. Tillman said that upon graduation from high school, these youths could be eligible for $80,000 scholarships to attend college.
Znergy held a workshop informing the attendees how municipalities can save and benefit from using LED lights. Leeth won a drawing from Znergy for a no-cost energy audit. He said he is interested to learn how Colony can save on its energy bill.
The conference ended with the attendees being welcomed and sitting in on a Detroit City Council meeting and a tour of the Detroit City Clerk’s office.
Attendees from Kenya, Nigeria, Taiwan, Toronto and Detroit invited the World Council to hold its 2018 conference in their towns and countries.
One of Leeth’s first acts on his return to Alabama was to schedule a focus group of Colony’s citizens and partners to conduct an asset and needs assessment to plan for the future of Colony, to be held Nov. 16, 2017.
Leeth said the conference provided an opportunity for him to network, learn and gather information, and he returned to Colony full of zeal and enthusiasm to bring innovative ideas to both the town of Colony and the County of Cullman.
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