SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. — The City of Sierra Vista announces that City Council member Tom Reardon was recently appointed chairman of the National League of Cities’, or NLC’s, Military Communities Council. The Council supports cities with nearby military installations and its unique challenges. The newly-established Military Communities Council is made up of 74 members including elected officials and city staff from NLC member cities and state municipal leagues.
According to the NLC’s website, the Military Communities Council focuses on “a range of topics including establishing a military-community covenant, transportation and infrastructure issues that arise due to growth at a nearby military installation, best practices for city leaders to work successfully with local military leadership, and many veteran and military family issues around providing jobs, housing, education and healthcare. The new Military Communities Council will join four existing NLC member councils: the Small Cities Council, Large Cities Council, University Communities Council and First Tier Suburbs Council.”
Reardon was instrumental in the creation of the Military Communities Council by lobbying NLC members to consider how communities can best support and work with nearby military installations, military service members and their Families. After a two-year trial, the NLC formalized the Military Communities Council in January 2013 and Reardon was appointed chairman by NLC President Marie Lopez Rogers, Mayor of Avondale.
“I’m honored to have been selected as chair for the Military Communities Council. I’m looking forward to networking with cities similar to Sierra Vista to share common goals, interests, and best practices,” said Reardon. “I’m proud to say that Sierra Vista is already at the forefront for best practices with military communities as evident in Fort Huachuca’s selection as the 2012 Installation of the Year by the Association of Defense Communities. Our community’s commitment to support Fort Huachuca is being recognized on a national level. With this new appointment with the National League of Cities, I hope to continue Sierra Vista’s growth in national level visibility.”
The NLC serves as a resource to and an advocate for the more than 19,000 cities, villages and towns it represents. The League is dedicated to helping city leaders build better communities. For more on the NLC, visit www.nlc.org.
