Writer: Severo Avila
Published August 9, 2023
Rome News-Tribune
It was a jovial mood inside the Moon River Room off Broad Street on Wednesday morning when 24 City of Rome employees celebrated a graduation of sorts.
There weren’t any gowns or caps or tassels but there was a little confetti and a lot of laughter.
The employees, representing a variety of city departments and offices, have completed an eight-month management development program administered through the city and the UGA Carl Vinson Institute of Government.
The nationally recognized Management Development Program offers comprehensive management and leadership development tailored for local government. The interactive program focuses on the development of personal and group leadership skills and knowledge relevant to successful local government operations.
As the “graduates” received their certificates on Wednesday morning, each was assigned another graduate to present a certificate to. They introduced each other as colleagues and friends with humorous anecdotes and words of praise.
Downtown Development Director Aundi Lesley was one of the program participants and said the class was an impactful experience for her, both personally and professionally.
“We learned the value of self-awareness as a leader through several exercises, how to better collaborate with other departments and be a stronger leader for our teams and our community,” she said. “We each tackled a process within our own department to improve upon. The best thing to come out of the class, in my opinion, is the friendships and connections we built with one another. Working together breaks down silos and collaboration only improves the services we provide to our citizens.”
The keynote speaker for the event was Evie McNiece, who drew from years of experience to share with the graduates what she has learned about management and leadership.
The graduates were:
Felipe Arevalo — Engineering
Lee Carver — Public Works
Michael Davis — Fire
Tyler Fabian — Transit
Tommy Freeman — Water Reclamation
Courtnay Griffin — Transit
Sarah Grimes — ECO Center
Mark Green — City Clerk’s Office
Chad Hampton — Street Department
Mike Hebert — Building Inspection
Nate Helms — Fire
Jeff Hill — Water Reclamation
Kraig Ingalsbe — Finance
Stacey Kidd — Police
Aundi Lesley — Downtown Development
Justin Messer — Public Works
Bryan Middleton — Water
Dylan Nelson — Finance
Kelley Parker — City Manager’s Office
Suzanne Parris — Community Development
Brian Sutton — Police
Curt Vann — Filter Plant
Brian Whiteman — Water
Brice Wood — Planning
