Government officials from West Point are being recognized for their commitment to training.
The Kentucky League of Cities presented West Point Mayor Richard Ciresi with a Level II Excellence in City Governance award, which requires a minimum of 58 hours of approved training with two additional hours of ethics training.
The KLC also presented West Point City Council members Annette Baker and Jo Sabol with Level I Achievement in City Governance awards, which require a minimum of 29 hours of training and an additional hour of ethics training.
Mayor Ciresi said the training is helpful for managing the multiple aspects of local government.
“Running a city is a lot more complicated than most people understand, and a lot more complicated than I ever understood, that’s for sure,” Ciresi said. “To do the job you’re elected to do correctly, within the law and with the statutes, you really need the training because it is complicated.”
The mayor also said that the importance of good training becomes magnified when it comes to running a small town.
“It’s just such a wide array of different things to know, and for us, the smaller cities, myself and the city council are supposed to know all of this,” Ciresi said. “We don’t have a Director of Public Works, and we don’t have a director of all of these different agencies.”
Ciresi said his first year as mayor was more focused on addressing issues he did not know existed when he took office, so he is looking forward to getting more into his agenda in his second year in office.
“Streets, sidewalks, and then to expand our parks and expand our tourism attractions to bolster our economy, and then the big thing is just development, to be able to build new homes,” Ciresi said.
Visit the Kentucky League of Cities on the web to learn more about their training programs.
