County Commissioners Enhance Leadership Skills
Special to the Press
The Association’s PLAN (Passion, Leadership, Accountability and Networking) 2024 initiative took a select group of second-term county commissioners on a unique odyssey to enhance their leadership skills and inspire their local communities. This year’s group – composed of 12 commissioners – identified a statewide crisis in mental health services as their “Passion Project” and set in motion new initiatives for those who are suffering in their communities.
The program began with months of study and discussion about developing time-tested leadership skills and the link between accountability and success. Then the group turned its attention to building relationships inside the Association and, ultimately, focusing their collective passion on being agents for change in the mental health arena.
Involving every probate judge in the state, the group drafted and secured passage of a major revision of Alabama’s involuntary commitment law, including establishing a process for judges to link substance abuse disorders and mental illness. The Alabama Legislature responded with additional funding for the nationally recognized crisis and sensory training program for sheriff’s departments, and 30 additional counties joined the successful Stepping Up program.
The members of the group will continue their service on the Association’s newly established mental health advisory committee and are already looking toward the 2025 Legislative Session for another opportunity to pursue their passion for assisting others.
The members of PLAN 2024 are:
Jeb Ball Baldwin Patti Rhodes | Hale
Billie Jo Underwood Baldwin Collin Daly Limestone
Charles Caddell | Bibb Kenneth Cochran Marion
Debra Riley| Chambers Rick Watson | Marshall
Jimmie Hardee | Chilton Justin Sawyer | Monroe
Tim Ramsey| Etowah Jason Boothe | Washington
In the Near Ahead
A new group of second-term commissioners will begin their leadership journey in
January 2025 and take on a new leadership project for the next 20 months.
(Source Commissioner Charles Caddell)
