CAMBRIDGE, MD - Mayor Victoria Jackson-Stanley was recently elected the President of the Maryland Mayor's Association (MMA).  The group of eighty-four mayors from throughout the state chose Jackson-Stanley as their leader when they gathered on June 25 for their summer Forum and Luncheon, held annually in Ocean City, Maryland.

With the announcement of her new position with the MMA, Jackson-Stanley said, "It was really a great honor to be chosen to lead this important group of public officials, but I like to think that the Maryland Mayors were not recognizing me as an individual, but were acknowledging the collective progress we have made in Cambridge through the efforts of many-in passing our Comprehensive Plan; greening and enhancing our city through extensive streetscape improvements to our major gateways; building an award-winning Main Street Program and attracting an unprecedented number of new businesses to our downtown; offering incentives to home buyers; strengthening our Historic Preservation Commission; and streamlining the preservation review process.  All these things have meant incremental improvements to the quality of life in Cambridge, and THAT is what I want to believe my fellow Mayors were seeing."

The Maryland Mayor's Association was founded in 1994 as an arm of the Maryland Municipal League, an advocacy group for Maryland municipal governments, to help Maryland Mayors better serve their municipalities and to promote Maryland Municipal League initiatives.  The Association holds three annual events-a Winter Conference in February, a Forum and Luncheon in June, and a Forum in October.  Through these meetings, Maryland Mayors are able to network, to share solutions to common problems, and to take advantage of available training opportunities.

Mayor Jackson-Stanley has served on the organization's Executive Committee for the last two years, as Second Vice President in 2010, and First Vice President in 2011.  Her tenure as President will last one year.  During that time she will work with the MMA Executive Committee to determine the legislative, technical assistance, and training needs of Maryland Mayors, and design and implement strategies to meet those needs.  The payback for Cambridge will be:  the leadership, management, and problem-solving experience that the position will afford the Mayor; a wide range of useful contacts at all levels of government; and deep, hands-on exposure to best practices and the use of new technology in municipal governance.  The Mayor will be able to better serve Cambridge as a result of this experience.