The League is offering municipal officials an opportunity to spend the first day of the 2009 General Assembly session in Annapolis. The first day of the legislative session is Wednesday, January 14, 2009 and several legislative functions are planned for that day. Municipal officials can attend the opening day of the 2009 General Assembly session and visit with their legislative delegation in Annapolis. Next, they can attend a session to brush up on their legislative advocacy skills. MML's Director of Government Relations Candace Donoho will be discussing the do's and don'ts of lobbying your legislator and how a bill becomes law and providing tips to successfully pass legislation. Finally, members are invited to attend MML's first legislative reception, which will be held from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Maryland Inn in downtown Annapolis. The schedule is as follows:

• 12:00 noon - Opening of General Assembly Session -
  Maryland State House
• 3:00 p.m. - Legislative Advocacy Workshop -
  MML Headquarters, Annapolis
• 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. - MML Legislative Reception -
  Maryland Inn, Annapolis

More information will follow. Please mark your calendar to attend this important day in Annapolis. Please note: The MML Legislative Committee will meet at 2:00 p.m. on January 14 at MML Headquarters.

The League has just completed work on a new "palm card" that highlights 12 fast facts about municipal government on one side of the card and lists all 157 cities and towns on the reverse side of the document. This new marketing piece is intended to be used by MML members and staff to help acquaint others with municipal government, describe services provided by cities and towns, and talk about how municipalities fund their budgets. It can be used when meeting with legislators, speaking before civic organizations, as a handout at city or town hall meetings, in meetings with the media, or when talking to school groups. To review the document, click on: Fast Facts. To request copies, please contact Jessica Barnes at the MML office at 410/268-5514 or jessicab@mdmunicipal.org.

Has your city or town been asked to provide public safety personnel or equipment to assist with activities relating to the inauguration of President Barack Obama? If so, please contact the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and tell them the type of assistance you will be providing. MEMA is lead state agency for inaugural coordination and needs to know which municipalities have been asked to help our DC neighbor with resources. If your city or town has received requests for assistance of any kind related to the Presidential Inaugural events, please e-mail the type and amount to Rmascari@mema.state.md.us. The information you provide will remain secure. Please direct questions to Ruth Mascari at MEMA, 443/506-2484.

The following are the scheduled dinner meetings when local MML Chapters will meet with their General Assembly delegations to discuss League and local legislative priorities:

• Washington County Chapter
  Monday, November 24
  American Legion, 158 Martin Street
  Clear Spring
• Frederick County Chapter
  Wednesday, December 3
  Cozy Restaurant, 103 Frederick Road
  Thurmont
• Montgomery Chapter
  Wednesday, December 3
  Rockville Hilton
  Rockville
• Carroll County Chapter
  Thursday, December 4
  Taneytown Tavern
  Taneytown
• Southern Maryland Chapter
  Wednesday, December 10
  Rod and Reel Restaurant, 4165 Mears Avenue
  Chesapeake Beach
• Cecil-Harford Chapter
  Thursday, December 11
  Vandiver Inn
  Havre de Grace
• Eastern Shore Association of Municipalities
  Thursday, January 22
  Fisherman's Inn
  Grasonville

For additional details, please contact your Chapter directly. As the League receives more information regarding times and locations, it will be added to the schedule, which will be on the MML website.

As a result of the passage of the Stormwater Management Act of 2007, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has been promulgating new regulations to implement the legislation. Following almost a year of meetings, the draft regulations are now online and available for comment. A public hearing will be held on December 8, 2008 (time and location to be determined) to hear comments from affected parties. Although MML has generally been in agreement with regard to these regulations, there has been some concern expressed by the more urban municipalities with regard to the increase in impervious surface requirement from 30% to 50%. The proposed regulations are online at www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/sedimentStormwater/COMAR_26_17_02_Revisions.pdf. A synopsis of the process used by MDE in promulgating these regulations may be found at www.mde.state.md.us/Programs/WaterPrograms/SedimentandStormwater/swm2007.asp. If you are interested in either submitting written comments or attending the public hearing to offer verbal comments, please refer to the information on the website for further instructions.

The IIMC Region II Conference is just around the corner. The Conference Planning Committee has put in many hours to ensure that this year's conference is filled with educational sessions and entertainment. The conference is scheduled to be held January 15 -17, 2009 in Annapolis, Maryland, as it is our State's Capital and because of its historical significance. The conference registration forms have been mailed out and registration information has been posted to the Maryland Municipal Clerks Association (MMCA) website at MMCA Website. The committee is excited as they are moving into the final planning phase of this year's conference.

We thank those of you who have already donated Door Prizes; however we are still in need of additional prizes for the conference. If you have items that you plan to donate or have collected as door prizes, please bring them with you to the MMCA Quarterly Meeting on December 18, 2008.

If you have any questions on the conference, please contact Doug Barber at 301/985-5009 or Theresa Bucalo at 410/263-7842.

The Maryland Municipal League is looking into a new compensation survey that will replace the Institute for Governmental Service & Research (IGSR) salary survey that was last completed in January 2007. The new survey, if implemented, will be web-based, searchable, and include both salary and benefit information. However, the value of this new human resources tool will be commensurate with the level of MML member participation. In other words, the greater the municipal participation - the better the product will be for everyone. Understand that there will be a nominal fee for participation in the program; however, the fee to access compensation information will be greater for non-participants.

If you think your municipality may have an interest in accessing and contributing to a new web-based compensation survey, please contact MML Research Manager Tom Reynolds at 800/492-7121 or TomR@mdmunicipal.org before November 26 for more information.