WASHINGTON, July 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Peggy Merriss, chair of the ICMA-RC Board of Directors, was inducted into the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA)’s Municipal Government Hall of Fame at the association’s recent annual convention. The award honors excellence in city government management.
Ms. Merriss served as Decatur, Georgia’s first female city manager beginning in 1993 and was an innovative and distinguished city government leader before retiring at the end of 2018. She helped dramatically upgrade its parks system and overhaul its transportation infrastructure to integrate pedestrian traffic, cycling lanes and access to the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) public rail system into the town’s transportation footprint. Today, Decatur is recognized as a “Bicycle-Friendly City” and a “Silver Walk Friendly City.” The thriving “Safe Routes to School” program that began under her leadership encourages students to walk or bike to and from school daily.
Ms. Merriss was also deeply involved in addressing lack of affordable housing, racial profiling and decreasing diversity in the city. She initiated a year-long community visioning process that resulted in an equity action plan and an advisory board to oversee the plan's implementation. In addition, Ms. Merriss’ commitment to the arts helped build a collection of over 500 pieces of public art that are displayed in city-owned properties.
In addition to running Merriss Management & Leadership Consulting, which she started after retiring last year, she was recently hired as the interim city manager of Sandy Springs.
Ms. Merriss joined the ICMA-RC Board of Directors as Chair in early 2018, bringing decades of local government leadership experience to the role of overseeing business and governance issues for the corporation.
“We are very proud of Peggy’s extraordinary career and accomplishments in public service and of this well-deserved honor that recognizes her achievements,” says Bob Schultze, President and Chief Executive Officer of ICMA-RC. “Her distinguished service in local government and focus on communities gives her great insight into how ICMA-RC can best serve our public sector employees, which make her a tremendous asset to the ICMA-RC Board of Directors.”
About ICMA-RC
Founded in 1972, ICMA-RC is a non-profit, independent financial services corporation that, with its wholly owned subsidiaries, has approximately $57 billion in assets under management and administration (as of June 30, 2019). ICMA-RC is focused on providing retirement plans and related services for over a million public sector retirement accounts. ICMA-RC’s mission is to help public sector employees build retirement security. The organization’s mission is delivered through its RealizeRetirement® approach in which ICMA-RC representatives actively engage participants in their retirement programs, help them build their asset base, and help them realize their retirement goals through a comprehensive retirement planning strategy. For more information, visit www.icmarc.org, download ICMA-RC's mobile app from the App Store® and Google PlayTM or follow ICMA-RC on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Press Contact:
Aprile Pritchet
Senior Public Affairs Specialist
(202) 962-8067
apritchet@icmarc.org
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/977c5c8c-57b2-4632-832c-602556e30462