Reese shares lessons learned at league meeting

Lessons learned from three “powerful speakers” at the 45th Annual Alabama League of Municipalities Convention were shared by Daleville City Councilwoman Jo Reese at the council meeting May 17.

“Thank you as a city for allowing me to go,” said Reese, the sole city municipal official to attend the convention from Daleville. “I think the convention gets better every year.

Reese said she had opportunity to hear three “powerful, motivational speakers” who had the common theme of stressing the importance of taking the opportunity to help others. “They all spoke of never missing an opportunity to help, always doing your own personal best and doing what is in the best interest of others,” she said.

Reese said that the first speaker, Brittany Wagner, was the academic advisor featured on the first two seasons of Last Chance U. and she told a number of stories based upon personal experiences during her time at East Mississippi Community College, the students she encountered and the struggles she helped them through. “She reminded all who listened to look beyond the problem for the source of the problem, then to find a way to help the person overcome it and move on in their life,” Reese said. “She reminded us that people do not want to be left behind or thought of as stupid or worthless and reminded us that all people have value, regardless of what you see on the outside.”

“Success is not a continuum, it is momentary,” is the message that University of Alabama Football Coach Nick Saban shared with those attending the League of Municipalities Convention, Reese said. He stressed that the goal is to be the best you can be, not just to win the game—or in the case of elected officials, to win the election.

“Be your personal best and that applies to all aspects of life,” Reese said, as she listed the points Saban made to his audience. “I thought that we, as councilmembers, should take that to heart that the goal is to continue to be the best councilmembers we can be.”

Reese said that Saban stressed the importance of developing internal self-motivation. “Discipline is something you have to execute ever single day,” she said, citing Saban. “Mental discipline is necessary to achieve goals and you must be internally motivated.”

Reese said that Saban noted that there are fewer people willing to be in leadership positions. “He said, ‘If you want to make everyone happy, don’t be a leader, sell ice cream.’

“To be a leader be somebody someone wants to emulate,” Reese said that Saban advised. “This needs to be done on a day-to-day basis, even at the risk of making someone mad. Leadership comes down to service.

“Then he turned to us— mayors, council members and city clerks—and he challenged us to create opportunities for people to have a better life,” Reese said. “Those are powerful words of wisdom.”

Reese called newly elected Alabama League of Municipalities President Tony Haygood “a very engaging speaker with heart warming stories and humbling anecdotes.”

The importance of working together was the theme of Haygood’s acceptance speech, Reese said. “He

quoted Saban when he said, ‘We may not always be in the right place at the right time doing the right thing but with proper encouragement we can be turned to head in the right direction.”

Haygood told the municipal leaders that every community has CAVE dwellers—Citizens Against Virtually Everything. “The most critical tool in working with CAVE dwellers to find a solution is the ability to find common ground,” Reese said. Haygood told the group and, in summation, added a quote from the poet Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

In other business, Daleville City Councilwoman Katheryne Horace said she had attended the Daleville High School Baccalaureate Service May 15 held at the Daleville Christian Fellowship Center as a representative of the city. The guest speaker was Dr. Walter L. Bowers Sr. of Dothan who encouraged the students to accomplish their goals and to remind them that despite obstacles, to remain determined to continue to move forward, she said. “He also talked about his path towards his goal, which was long due to family obligations but stressed that the end results were worth it,” she said.

The next meeting of the Daleville City Council is a work session Monday, June 6, at 5 p.m. The work session precedes the council voting meeting Tuesday, June 7, at 5:30 p.m. Both meetings are open to the public.