City of Homestead Councilwoman Patricia Fairclough-McCormick recently graduated from the Institute for Elected Municipal Officials (IEMO). IEMO was established 20 years ago as a way to educate newly-elected officials and those officials with less than one term in office on the details of municipal government in a cost-effective manner.
The IEMO is an intense 16-hour course where participants learn about important aspects of municipal government from a voluntary facility. The curriculum contained topics that included municipal government structure, revenue components and governmental accounting for cities, as well as intergovernmental relations and council relationships. The class sizes are kept small allowing participants to network and share ideas with other elected officials in a small group setting and are taught by well known and respected experts in the state. Many IEMO graduates claim that through this experience, they have been able to develop solutions to local problems.
“I think is important to constantly learn how to better serve my community,” said Councilman Patricia Fairclough-McCormick. “Education is a never-ending process and I look forward to applying the knowledge from the IEMO courses as a representative in the Homestead City Council.”