Public officials seem to spend lots of time -- and public money -- jetting here and there, attending this conference or that, networking with one another. What good does it do? Quite a bit, says Mayor Ted Ellis of Bluffton, Indiana. A few years back, Ellis met Charles Penny, assistant city manager of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, at this National League of Cities convention. Rocky Mount had just recovered from a flood. Later, when Ellis found his own city facing a flood, he remembered Penny. "As a mayor, the first thing you really want to do is jump in and start picking up sticks, but I sat down and called Charles," Ellis said. "By taking his advice, we saved tens of thousands of dollars and better utilized our own resources and time." That's community. -- SS

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