By Shaun Szkolnik
For The Tribune
CENTER POINT – At Thursday’s meeting of the Center Point City Council, the mayor took a few moments to recognize Council member Linda Kennemer for the outstanding achievement of having earned the rank of Certified Municipal Official Emeritus.
Mayor Tom Henderson presented Kennemur with a pin and a plaque to commemorate her accomplishment
Kennemur said, “When you live somewhere for 58 years and you grow up in a community and your roots are that long, then you want to give back to your community. So, that is why I’m still here.”
Kennemur continued, “When we decided to incorporate into a city I decided that if I’m going to stay in Center Point then I would have something to do with the things that were going on. This is where my heart is, and I work at Center Point elementary because that is also where my heart is. I grew up here and went [to school] here. My husband went [here], my parents went, his aunts and uncles went and our daughter went, my brothers and sisters went. We are a part of this community. We are in this community, and we are going to give back to this community.”
The Certified Municipal Official Program was established by the Alabama League of Municipalities back in 1994 and serves to provide formal training in municipal government to all elected municipal officials.
To be awarded the designation of Certified Municipal Official (CMO) the participant must pass 40 hours’ worth of coursework. The requirement for an Advanced CMO is eighty hours of coursework. To achieve the level of CMO Emeritus requires, at the very least, 120 hours of training; Mrs. Kennemer has completed 200 hours of such instruction.
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