On the national stage
The role of leader is a familiar one to Charles Lyons, who has spent nearly 24 years as an Arlington selectman and 17 years as superintendent of the Shawsheen Regional Technical School District.
But this past year, Lyons had a chance to bring his leadership skills to a much larger stage as president of the National League of Cities.
"It's been an extremely educational experience," Lyons said. His term expired Dec. 4, but he remains on the league's board of directors.
"I had an opportunity to lead . . . the largest municipal organization in the country," he said of the league, which has more than 1,600 member communities, and through its partnership with 49 state leagues, advocates for 18,000 localities. "It's the first time they elected a selectman as president. I was deeply honored by that."
As president, Lyons over the past year traveled to 24 states to visit state municipal leagues, and made nine trips to Washington, D.C., to meet with members of the Bush administration and Congress. All told, he was on the road for about 65 days.
A challenge throughout was to balance his league duties with his responsibilities as a school and town official. He credits the "tremendous support" he received from his family, the town of Arlington, and his school for helping him to do that.
"It takes a dynamic individual to balance those duties and obligations," said Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn, also a member of the league board, of Lyons's busy year.
Geoffrey Beckwith, director of the Massachusetts Municipal Association, praised Lyons for his work at the national level. "He has been a wonderful, galvanizing advocate to bring communities together from every part of the country to argue for a very strong municipal agenda at the federal level," he said.
Lyons said the past year was a "very partisan and difficult one for anything to get done in Washington." But he said the league succeeded on one notable front, getting Congress to address the lack of homeland security funds reaching local "first responder" agencies.
He said the league also spent considerable time developing a bipartisan municipal agenda to present to Congress and the White House this coming year.
"Our message was that cities aren't red or blue," he said, referring to electoral maps that portrayed Republican states as red and Democratic states as blue. "We are red, white, and blue. We don't build Democratic high schools or Republican elementary schools. The services we deliver are critical services that have a fundamental impact on life in America. What we really need is a federal partnership so we can maintain the level of services our citizens enjoy and which are really necessary in a democratic society."
Lyons looks forward to re-engaging on local matters. That will include helping to focus the attention of the Legislature and Romney administration on the "draconian impacts" he said massive cuts in state aid are having on cities and towns.
"I think having been president of the National League of Cities will give me, hopefully, some credibility" on those issues, he said. "I intend to do everything I can to make sure . . . we are listened to."
JOHN LAIDLER
