ATLANTA – Last September, the Southeastern Conference on Public Administration (SECoPA) took place in Athens, Ga., and the Georgia Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) participated as a co-host of the conference occurring in its service area.

     Now, the Georgia Chapter, which obtained some revenue from the conference’s registration fees and other income, has solidified its commitment to the SECoPA Board of Directors by making a $3000 donation to the SECoPA endowment fund.  The Georgia Chapter council voted to make the donation at its June 15 meeting in Atlanta.

     Dr. Martha A. Griffith, outgoing president of the Georgia Chapter and director of Kennesaw State University’s M.P.A. Program, announced that the chapter is making the $3000 donation in honor of Karen B. Baynes and Dr. Stephen E. Condrey, to recognize their work as the co-chairs of the SECoPA conference, and Helen R. Buckelew, who was the Georgia Chapter’s liaison to the conference planning committee.

     Baynes and Condrey led the conference’s program committee, selected the event planner, appointed a treasurer and a fund-raising committee, recruited volunteers, and secured advertisers.  Buckelew arranged the "SECoPA 2006 Reception" at the previous year’s SECoPA conference in Little Rock, Ark.; wrote articles for ASPA publications; made presentations at ASPA meetings; and recruited panel chairs, discussants, and presenters.  Baynes, Buckelew, and Condrey shared a vision that the conference would uphold the highest standards of public administration, encourage critical dialogue about governance and policy issues, and provide an atmosphere conducive to networking.

     The SECoPA Board of Directors established its endowment fund in order to eventually fully fund the prizes of two award programs.  The William H. Collins Student Paper Award is presented for the outstanding paper written by a doctoral candidate in the SECoPA region.  The Robert L. Kline Student Paper Award is presented for the outstanding paper submitted by an M.P.A. student in the region.

     This year’s SECoPA conference will take place in Nashville, Tenn., from September 26 to 29.  The Nashville Chapter of ASPA will host the conference at the Nashville Doubletree Hotel.  Information about the conference is available from Dr. Rodney E. Stanley, president of the Nashville Chapter, at (615) 963-7249 or rstanley1@tnstate.edu .

     Steven A. Bales, labor-relations specialist in the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Labor Relations in Atlanta, is vice president of the Georgia Chapter of ASPA and will succeed Griffith on July 1.  Bales recalled how the Georgia Chapter hosted another conference in 1996: that year’s ASPA national conference.  "The Georgia Chapter contributed a significant amount of volunteer support to its host function for the 1996 ASPA conference," he observed.  "We enthusiastically offered to co-host the 2006 SECoPA event when Steve Condrey developed the plan to bring it to Athens.  The Georgia Chapter plans to always be ready to welcome public-administration events in Atlanta and to pitch in to make them a success," Bales pledged.

     Each year in March, the Georgia Chapter organizes a conference of its own:  the Georgia Public Administration Academic Conference.  The chapter’s 10^th annual conference is scheduled for Friday, March 7, on the NGCSU campus in Dahlonega.  M.P.A. students enrolled at universities throughout Georgia present research papers at the conference.  Information about the conference and other chapter activities is available on the chapter’s home page at http://www.NGCSU.edu/bdf/GaASPA/index.htm .

     Dr. Barry D. Friedman, secretary-treasurer of the Georgia Chapter, compiled the treasurer's report for 2006-2007 on June 20, with no other activity anticipated for the remainder of the fiscal year that ends on June 30.  Friedman reported that the chapter's closing balance is $6442.06.  While the opening balance was nominally $5879.74, Friedman explained that it included a $3720 liability owed to the SECoPA Board of Directors, so that, at the beginning of the fiscal year, the chapter was actually "worth" $2159.74 plus an expected share of proceeds from SECoPA 2006 whose amount at the time was undetermined.  The share of proceeds that the SECoPA board ultimately donated to the Georgia Chapter was an astonishing $6775.  As indicated in the preceding article, the chapter reciprocated by making a $3000 donation to the SECoPA Endowment.  In a supplement to the financial report, Friedman reported that all SECoPA-related transactions, including the donation to the SECoPA Endowment, resulted in a net benefit to the chapter of $833.14.

     The report explains that the chapter was "worth" $3982.56 on June 30, 2005, before any SECoPA-related transactions arose.  The increase in the chapter's "worth" over two years, therefore, is a healthy $2459.50.

     Members of the chapter are invited to download the complete report as a Microsoft Word document.  It is available at this URL address:  http://www.NGCSU.edu/bdf/GaASPA/TR0607.doc .

     At its June 15 meeting, the chapter council approved in principle a proposal to establish annual awards that will recognize the efforts of outstanding public administrators in Georgia.  The proposal will result in recognition for public administrators who have provided exceptional service to the public--service that has not been brought to the attention of the people of this state.

     The council acknowledged that the reputation of government bureaucracy and "bureaucrats" is often unflattering.  Members of the council accepted a responsibility to bring the dedicated service of public administrators to the attention of the public as a remedy for the uninformed, undeserved derision that public servants endure.

     Members of the chapter will be encouraged to submit nominations for the awards, based on their observations and their knowledge about the work of colleagues.

     Dr. Martha A. Griffith, president of the Georgia Chapter, immediately appointed a committee to develop a detailed proposal that will be presented to members of the chapter at its meeting of Friday, October 5.  The members of the committee are:  Steven A. Bales, HUD labor-relations specialist and incoming chapter president; Dr. Barry D. Friedman, professor of political science at North Georgia College & State University and secretary-treasurer of the chapter; Ann D. Maize, retired employee of the Georgia Department of Administrative Services and past president of the chapter; Dr. Charles E. Mitchell, assistant professor of public administration at Troy University in Atlanta and past vice president of the chapter; and Dr. Ulf Zimmermann, associate professor of public administration at Kennesaw State University and past president of the chapter.

     President-elect Bales is planning the October 5 meeting.  Tentative plans call for the meeting to be held at the HUD Building in Atlanta at 12 noon.  The meeting will feature a program about the administration of elections.  Details will be announced in August.