More than 250 county officials and legislators returned to the Capitol on Wednesday morning for the 2022 ACCG Legislative Breakfast at the Georgia Freight Depot. State leaders including Lieutenent Governor Geoff Duncan, House Speaker David Ralston, Presiding Justice Mike Boggs, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities Commissioner Judy Fitzgerald provided updates on key legislative issues and other hot topics. The ACCG Policy team also provided an overview of legislation that is still active and encouraged county officials to talk to their legisators about these important issues heading into Crossover Day.

Pictured from left to right: ACCG Legislative Director Clint Mueller, ACCG 3rd Vice President and Toombs County Chairman David Sikes, ACCG 2nd Vice President and Baldwin County Chairman Henry Craig, ACCG President and Bartow County Sole Commissioner Steve Taylor, ACCG 1st Vice President and Tift County Commissioner Melissa Hughes and ACCG Executive Director Dave Wills.

Upson County Commission Chairman Norman Allen, Thomaston Mayor JD Stallings and Commissioner Ben Watson attended the rebranding launch event for Highline where they had the opportunity to meet with Governor Brian Kemp and Representative Beth Camp. Highline will partner with Upson County to implement the $4.4 million ARPA grant awarded for broadband accessibility in the county.

Henry County recently unveiled its latest crime fighting initiative with a ribbon cutting on its Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) located at the county's Emergency Operations Center. The RTCC is a network of cameras located throughout the county being monitored in real time by a team of analysts, providing updates to public safety officials with comprehensive intelligence to identify patterns to assist in fighting and even preventing crime.

Learn more here.

Congratulations to Macon-Bibb County Communications, which recently was recognized by PR News in its annual Nonprofit Awards. The Communications Plan for the Brookdale Resource Center was recognized took top honors in the Crisis Campaign category. The entire office earned an Honorable Mention as the Nonprofit Team of the Year - making them one of the top five in the entire country. Chief Communications Officer Chris Floore (who is also an ACCG Lifelong Learning Academy instructor) was named the Government Communicator of the Year - this is the second time he has received this recognition!

ACCG County Consulting Services Associate Mary Beth Brownlee attended a USDA coffee hour roundtable this week with new USDA Housing Administrator Joaquin Altoro and other USDA officials - along with representatives from the Department of Community Affairs and the Georgia Municipal Association. The discussion focused on sharing input to impact future programs and policies for rural communities.

The Crisp County Center of South Georgia Technical College recently hosted a motor grader operator classroom training session. Fifteen operators from Crisp, Cook, Dooly, Sumter and Turner counties attended the workshop. The classroom session covered pre-site inspection, machine safety, daily equipment/maintenance, liability issues, road hazards and operator station monitoring. The group will participate in the practical, "hands-on" portion of the workshop later this spring.