by Lesley-Ann Rennie

Beginning this fall, officials from any small NLC member city may seek an appointment to the Small Cities Council (SCC) by the NLC president. This change provides more opportunities for participation in NLC by small cities and towns, which make up 76 percent of NLC?s members.

The SCC was created in 1976 to ensure that the interests and concerns of small communities ? with populations less than 50,000 ? are part of NLC?s overall policies and programs. In the past, state league directors appointed two city officials to represent each state on the SCC. During its summer meeting, the SCC Steering Committee voted to change the membership of the SCC and the proposed change was agreed upon by the State Municipal League Steering Committee.

?This is truly what we call ?inclusiveness,?? remarked SCC Chair Ed Putens, council member, Greenbelt, Md. ?This will open up opportunities for more participation by small communities within the NLC family.?

The SCC meets twice a year, during the Congressional City Conference and the Congress of Cities and Exposition. All small city representatives are invited to attend the meetings, which are designed to keep small cities informed on various issues of concern to their communities, like disaster preparedness.

This year, the SCC business meeting during the Congress of Cities in Reno, Nev., will be held on Thursday, Dec. 7, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. Additionally, the council will sponsor a workshop where representatives of small cities can come together and learn from each other how to address various issues in their own communities. A networking reception rounds out the SCC program in Reno.

Details: To become a member of the SCC, fill out an application form, which can be downloaded at www.nlc.org by clicking on ?Get Involved with NLC,? under the ?Inside NLC? tab. The application deadline is Nov. 15.

Delegates are encouraged to check their Congress of Cities conference program for information about the Small Cities Track ? highlighted workshops in the program that are beneficial to delegates of small cities.