Evans and Armijo represent Centerville at Georgia Municipal Association

CENTERVILLE, Ga. — Two of Centerville’s own now represent at the state level for the Georgia Municipal Association.

During city council meeting on Sept. 5, Mayor John Harley announced that Councilmen J. Micheal Evans and Edward Armijo were elected to post 2 for the Municipal Training Board and to the council for District Six, respectively.

Armijo added he was elected as third Vice President for District Six, representing 11 counties in middle Georgia: Houston, Putnam, Baldwin, Jones, Monroe, Bibb, Crawford, Peach, Pulaski, Twiggs and Wilkinson counties.

As Armijo described, his appointment had a stringent selection process. The GMA examines candidates’ past attendance of GMA meetings, a proven track record of advocacy for GMA legislation, GMA participation from a candidate’s city and training hours through the Harold F. Holt Municipal Training Institute.

Robert Gordon, the University of Georgia’s director of the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, appointed Evans to the Municipal Training Board and his term began July 1.

Through partnership with UGA and GMA, the board provides training opportunities for elected officials statewide. As Evans described, board members oversee training programs, determine the curriculum and converse with elected officials to gauge the training’s effectiveness.

Who better to train elected officials than fellow officials, Evans mentioned.

“It allows us to bring our perspective as an elected official to the things that we feel like need to be provided for training,” Evans said.

When both councilmen learned of their appointments, they said they were excited to hear of their appointments and proud to represent the city of Centerville and Houston County.

“I’m very proud to be from Centerville. I feel very fortunate to represent the citizens of Centerville, and so, to me, it’s really an honor that I can represent our interests as well throughout District Six.” Armijo said.

“It’s good to know that a small city like Centerville has quality people, that others see the work that we’re doing and would want us to serve in that capacity. … I do consider it an honor, especially coming from a small city because you have a lot of big cities that have a lot more representatives to choose from, if you understand what I’m saying,” Evans said. “It’s just good to know that I’m serving in my capacity here, and being part of what GMA provides, that someone actually noticed the good things that I’m doing what would want me to serve in a greater capacity.”

Armijo expressed gratitude to Mayor Harley for his support; looking forward, in Centerville, Armijo is running for re-election in November. Evans was uncontested, so he will keep his post in November for the city, and will serve on the Municipal Training Board until 2027.

For more information on the Georgia Municipal Association, visit https://gacities.com.

HHJ News