MACo held its 2011 Administrators and Attorneys Conference on October 26, at the Newton White Mansion in Mitchellville, Maryland to bring together officials from across the state to discuss issues of importance and the challenges they face in their counties.

The day blended administrative and policy issues.   During the first session, attendees heard from Secretary of Environment Bob Summers to learn about the fiscal, regulatory, and legal ramifications of Watershed Implementation Plans (WIPs) and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDLs) Requirements.  During lunch, State Senator Doug Peters shared his thoughts on the upcoming legislative session.  Issues to be debated include transportation funding and maintenance of effort.

In the afternoon, the Administrators and Attorneys held two separate breakout sessions to discuss issues of interest.  The first Administrators’ session discussed the pros and cons of defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans, and for those counties which participate in the State Retirement System, the consequences of withdrawing from the System.  Speakers included Carol Boykin, President of Bolton Partners Investment Consulting, Inc., Ann Sturner, of Bolton Partners Inc., and Dean Kenderdine, Executive Director of the Maryland State Retirement Agency.  The second session was a round table discussion facilitated by St. Mary’s County Administrator John Savich on budget challenges and what options counties have when the budget makes it difficult to meet funding mandates.

The Attorneys held a round table discussion on recent case holdings facilitated by John Breads, Director of Legal Services with the Local Government Insurance Trust and a session on best practices for records retention with Deputy State Archivist Tim Baker.

MACo would like to thank its conference sponsors, the Local Government Insurance Trust, ORACLE, and Nationwide Retirement Solutions.