Effective Leadership in Government Lawyering" is the theme I have selected to guide the State and Local Government Law Section through the 2003-04 ABA year. When I became Chair of the Section in August during the Annual Meeting in San Francisco, a number of important events in our Section history flashed before me including: the meetings so effectively run by former Chairs who have had a profound influence on me such as Anita Miller, Carol Dinkins, Rich Hill, and Mary Massaron Ross; the astute insights at ensuring connectivity from Jim Baird, Sholem Friedman, Karen Mathis, and Pat Arey; the excellent programming and intellect of Janice Griffith, Bob Freilich, David Callies, and Tom Roberts; and the ability to never lose sight of why we are members of the State and Local Government Law Section from Larry Ethridge and David Cardwell. There are many good things that these people and many others (too many to all name here) all have in common, but for me, the number one trait that they share is that they are leaders. If you have not yet had a chance to attend one of our Section meetings to meet the remarkable leaders who regularly attend and actively participate in our Section programming and governance, let it be a priority on your "to do" list this year.

Leadership has always been a given for government lawyers and for lawyers who work with government. Government lawyering challenges us to constantly think outside the box, to be change agents by developing legally defensible strategies for good public policy alternatives, and to be creative and collaborative problem solvers for the benefit of large numbers of citizens. Government lawyering also puts us on the front line of the public trust. I am honored to have been elected as Section Chair to work with an outstanding group of colleagues—members of the Executive Committee, Section Officers, members of Council, committee chairs, committee vice chairs, and active Section members who volunteer and who attend our meetings—who together continue to develop the innovative programming, education, resource information, and networking to enable quality government lawyering across the country. Our Section, in particular, is pleased to actively support so many of President Archer’s initiatives, including the goal of involving more government lawyers in the ABA.

I want to thank in print Immediate Past-Chair Mary Massaron Ross of Detroit, Michigan, for being a mentor to me and to other members of the Executive Committee. She is a class act and is very difficult follow. Our Executive Committee, including Chair-Elect Terry Welch, Vice Chair Tom Roberts, and Secretary Ed Sullivan, is already working together as a team to continue the work of those who came before us and to advance the goals of the Section and the ABA through the many opportunities that are presented to the Section on a regular basis. We officially welcome our newly elected editors-in-chief of The Urban Lawyer, Julie Cheslik and Rob Verchick, who have worked tirelessly to continue in the tradition of our founding editor-in-chief, and now national editor, Robert Freilich. Special thanks to: Dale Rubin, who has agreed to continue as newsletter editor; to Ben Griffith, who has agreed to stay on as Communications Director; and to Richard Opper, who continues as CLE Director. These are vital volunteer roles that require a lot of time and attention, and for their efforts the Section is better off and grateful. We are pleased to welcome Donna Pugh, who assumes a new role as Publications Director including responsibility for chairing our Publications Oversight Committee, and Justina Cintron, who is coordinating the varied and wonderful work of our Section’s committees.

At the Section meeting in August, the Council voted to transform our Section’s Task Force on Homeland Security into a permanent committee. New Council member Ernie Abbott has agreed to serve as the first chair of this critical committee. We also welcomed back Karen Mathis to our Council, who has assumed responsibility for our Membership Committee and is working in earnest with a new team of Section members who are anxious to learn from her many years of experience with ABA membership initiatives. We have recommitted ourselves to diversity, an issue that has always been important to our Section. Our Minority Outreach Task Force, including Larry Smith, Dale Rubin, Iris Jones, Adrienne Dudley, and Sandra Van de Walle, will spend the first part of this year evaluating our current plan and recommending changes to Council. This task force is working with our Membership Committee, the ABA, and other entities to make certain that we remain open, diverse, and inviting to all.

I hope you will join me in my personal and professional thanks to Dean Thomas Guernsey and my colleagues at Albany Law School who are graciously sharing my time and our resources with the Section and with the ABA this year. The generosity of Albany Law School and the Dallas, Texas law firm of Brown & Hofmeister in sponsoring a fantastic Chair-Elect’s reception in my honor at the Annual Meeting provided a wonderful networking opportunity for Section members, other Section Officers, and friends and colleagues. Thank you very much for your support.

Together, we are going to have a great year! Please take advantage of our programs, our publications, our listservs, and our resources. Most important, however, get involved. Volunteer to write, speak, chair a committee or subcommittee, and to offer your ideas and reactions. Don’t just let the Section work for you, be a part of making the Section bigger, stronger, and better with your active participation. Need specific ideas of how you can get more involved? Send me an e-mail at psalk@mail.als.edu. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.