Two long-standing members of the Petal Board of Aldermen have continued to climb the ranks of municipal education, with Ward 6 Alderman Craig Bullock and Ward 2 Alderman Steve Stringer recently graduating with certificates from the Mississippi Municipal League’s Certified Municipal Officials Program.
Bullock and Stringer earned their degrees at the MML’s 91st annual conference, which was held this week at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum & Convention Center in Biloxi.
There are three levels of certification officials can obtain through the CMO Program: Basic, Advanced and Professional Development. Certifications include classes such as Municipal Organization, Community Development, Development Case Study and Municipal Land Use, as well as elective hours.
The Basic certification requires 60 total hours, including 20 course hours and 40 elective hours, while the Advanced Certification requires an additional 40 total hours, including 15 course hours and 25 elective hours. The Professional Development certification requires an additional 40 total hours, with 15 core course hours and 25 elective hours.
MML participants can work toward the certifications at each year’s conference. Bullock received the Advanced certification, while Stringer received the Professional Development certification.
“It was very nice,” Bullock said. “I’ve been coming down here every summer since 2011, and the taxpayers invest in us coming down here, so I take that very seriously.
“We go through lots of classes and training and different educational opportunities to be able to help govern better, and to help make wiser and better decisions.”
Bullock was born in Petal and graduated from Petal High School before earning his Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration at William Carey University.
“Between some core courses and some elective courses, I’ve done about a hundred hours’ worth of educational classes (at the MML conferences),” Bullock said. “It’s not always necessarily hour for hour; you might go to a three-hour course and get four hours of credit, or you might go to a hour-and-a-half course and get one hour of credit.
“It’s very informative and very educational. We’ve got essentially every elected official in the state down here.”
Stringer is a lifelong resident of Petal and a 1983 graduate of Petal High School. After graduation, he began working for his father, who owned the extermination company Bug Master.
In 2007, that company merged with Locke Extermination, of which Stringer became owner in 2007. He was originally elected to the Ward 2 seat in 2001.
“I think (the MML conference and the award) is great,” Stringer said. “It’s not something we get extra money for; it’s betterment on our part to understand a better way to serve our community.”
During the classes at the MML conferences, participants may have a chance to learn from state officials such as the state auditor or attorney general.
“What they do, is they teach classes about the laws that have changed, and kind of the dos and don’ts of we can and can’t do,” Stringer said. “When we’re in office, we want to make sure we make the right decisions, based off what we’re supposed to do, and what we can and can’t do.”
