Success Story: Mercer County Township Officials' School

Mercer County Prothonotary Liz Fair speaks at the Courthouse Row Officers' panel.	Coolspring Township Supervisor Bob McGhee holds the audience's attention during the Township Supervisors' panel presentation.

For more than forty years, Mercer County Cooperative Extension has hosted a Township Officials’ School. The extension staff and the County Association of Township Officials jointly plan the school, which runs for four Thursday evenings in March. At the school, elected and appointed officials such as Township Supervisors, secretaries, auditors, and tax collectors gather to acquire knowledge of policy, procedures, leadership skills, and responsibilities and duties related to their positions. This year, participants attended presentations on topics such as local economic trends and issues affecting privately owned forests. A panel of Township Supervisors reviewed the duties and responsibilities of township officials and offered the audience some tips. A regular feature is the Township Solicitors’ panel presentation on selected topics with a question and answer session. This segment continues to be one of the most popular, along with a roundtable discussion.

County Extension Director Janet McDougall says that the school also has a strong social element. Of all of the programs offered by the extension office, attendees arrive earliest for the Township Officials’ School to visit with their peers. The ties made during March hold strong long after the classes end. After a tornado hit the area a few years ago, local officials were extremely pleased with the cleanup and recovery efforts. Support and help came in abundance from other Townships. A number of the supervisors and McDougall credit this, in part, to the school. Attendees are already accustomed to planning and working together and this helps foster the cooperation needed to achieve success under any circumstances.

February, 2007