Many towns and cities are venturing into social media to keep citizens informed. With that in mind, Michael Stultz, an attorney with the MMA Legal Services Department, and Eric Conrad, Director of Communication and Educational Services, narrate a 21-minute video that offers guidance about the laws and practicalities involved.

The Maine Municipal Association has produced a video that provides important tips and guidance for newly elected municipal officials. The video, which is five minutes long, is based on a print brochure that MMA published several years ago in consultation with municipal officials and MMA Legal and State & Federal Relations staffs. It is narrated by Portland City Council member Jill Duson and was produced in cooperation with Marshall Communications of Augusta.

Join experts from Thomas College, the state and federal government, and leading technology companies on Thursday, March 12 to learn about the increasing threat to personal and professional data. Specialists in the field will help you identify and understand the fast-changing landscape of cybersecurity and the role education plays in maintaining your overall safety. The event is free and open to the public. An RSVP is requested, as space is limited.

The Maine Department of Labor is reaching out to municipal officials and, by extension, their citizens to help people with common unemployment questions, including resetting passwords and being locked out of unemployment insurance accounts. Winter is a time when more Mainers are unemployed due to seasonal job loss, so call volumes and wait times can be high. CareerCenters have added staff and hours in response to this at seven physical locations throughout the state.

Once again, the Maine Municipal Association will support members who plan to hire summer interns through the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center Maine Government Internship Program. In 2020, MMA will make four grants of $2,000 to municipal members that commit to hiring a summer intern (or more than one). This is part of MMA’s Hometown Careers program, which encourages people to consider municipal employment as a career.

The Maine Municipal Association wants to remind municipal employers that Maine’s minimum wage increased from $11/hour to $12/hour on Jan. 1, 2020. For more information, visit the Maine Department of Labor’s website at: https://www.maine.gov/labor/labor_laws/minimum_wage_faq.html. Also effective Jan. 1, 2020, are new federal regulations revising the overtime pay exemption under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The Town of Scarborough and ecomaine will host an informational session and panel discussion about their successful efforts to educate citizens about recycling, including outreach on topics such as what items can and cannot be recycled. The recent project lowered recycling contamination rates and saved money. The session will be held from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Scarborough Town Hall on Jan. 30, 2020. RSVPs to economaine are requested.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has up to $2 million in grant money available to assist individuals with malfunctioning septic systems. Municipalities play a pivotal role in the program, and the deadline to apply is Feb. 7, 2020.

Due to recent threats of cyber attacks targeted towards governments within the United States the Maine Municipal Association is providing the attached document from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. This document outlines the threat and references mitigation techniques to harden a network and hopefully lessen he likelihood of compromise. Members should forward this document to their technical staff for review and remediation. Please pay attention the mitigation steps listed on page 3 of the document. Members should also warn internal staff of the increased risk and adopt a heightened awareness during this time.

We have been notified this week that several members have had their phone systems hacked recently. If you use a VOIP phone system the attached document should also be sent to you phone system provider.

Maine Municipal Association will hold, support and organize over 100 training events throughout the state in 2020, including new offerings on TRIO software, the Risks of Inland and Coastal Flooding and Municipal Leadership, as well as perennial favorites like Verbal Judo, Personnel Practices – and so much more. The entire 2020 training calendar is available below and includes a combination of MMA events and those sponsored by professional affiliate groups with which we work. The training sites span the state, from Kennebunk to Caribou and from Machias to Rangeley.