By Amanda Conn
General Counsel
WSSC Water
Happy summer and happy end of the fiscal year. I want to say thank you to everyone who attended the Spring Institute on June 2. It was a nice turnout and the speakers were informative.
I was very impressed by the legislative wrap-up presentation by Jerome Spencer and Roscoe Leslie because they added some real humor into the standard run-down of the new laws that affect us. My specific takeaway from the Institute was that we need to do more programming on cannabis for our members in the coming year!
I learned so much from the panel about new things in the law that affect governments that haven’t received much attention, such as the new zoning standard for cannabis stores. The legalization of cannabis is a sea change affecting so many aspects of government practice that we have just started to scratch the surface on the implementation of the new law.
At the close of the 2022/2023 term for the State and Local Government Law Section Council, I would like to take a moment of personal privilege. I have served on the Section Council for 14 years, starting back in 2007 with only a short “break in service.”
This is my second go around as Chair, having been Chair in the earlier days and now Chair for the past two years. I have informed my fellow Council members that this is my last tour of duty and, when I finish next year as past Chair, I will be leaving the Council for good.
My tenure has been a joy in that I got to know so many more of my colleagues across the state than I would have through normal work channels. I have benefited from getting to know you on both a professional and personal level.
I learned from you and I am a better lawyer because of that. While I will be stepping back, I hope to continue to see you at future Council events and other opportunities.
I sincerely hope that those of you who have not been on the Section Council will consider putting your name forward for a seat in the future. Being on the Council has not been without challenges such as worrying about whether we had enough food for lunch when we had the Institute at WSSC and making sure those who needed a parking space close to the door got them.
I am sure some may wonder how to be a Council Section member in addition to work and family and personal commitments. I can tell you how – “you get by with a little help from your friends” (full attribution to The Beatles, of course). To those of you (and there are too many to name) that have helped me during my tenure on the Section Council, thank you.
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