Krieger to serve on national Military Communties Council

Yuma Mayor Al Krieger has been appointed to the National League of Cities' 2013 Military Communities Council.

The council is comprised of elected and municipal officials from municipalities that host or are in close proximity to a military installation and face unique challenges as a result. The group encourages the active involvement of military communities in the organization, its policy-making process and in programs at NLC.

Yuma County is home to Marine Corps Air Station Yuma and the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground. The military is one of the three main economic sectors for the Yuma area, contributing an estimated $1.36 billion a year to the local economy.

Objectives of the league's council are to assist cities, NLC and state municipal leagues in gathering, sharing and analyzing information about opportunities, issues and policies of interest to military communities. Points of interest to the group include transportation and infrastructure concerns that come with having a base in town or nearby, strategies for collaborating with the local military leadership, and ideas and programs designed to successfully integrate veterans and troops into the fabric of the community.

It also serves to foster a spirit of cooperation between military installations and municipal governments – something that Krieger noted is already alive and well in Yuma.

“Our community support of our military demonstrates our commitment to the men and women who are serving and have served our nation,” Krieger said.

He noted that veterans' service organizations continue to expand their services to meet the needs of veterans in Yuma.

As a member of the council, Krieger will help strengthen connections between the council, state municipal leagues and NLC as a whole and ensure that the needs and concerns of military communities are represented in NLC policy and priorities.

“This is a military community,” he noted. “We must make every effort to further the understanding of the importance of these military bases to our local economy.”

The 2013 chair of the Military Communities Council is Thomas Reardon, council member, of Sierra Vista. Vice chairs are Arturo Pecos, city commissioner in Kingsville, Texas; and Martha Sue Hall, council member, Albemarle, N.C.

For more information on NLC's other committees and councils, visit www.nlc.org.