Business View Magazine | July 2019

337 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE JULY 2019 TEXAS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE Representing Texas cities I n the summer of 1913, Austin Mayor A.P. Wooldridge issued a call to the cities of Texas to come to Austin to consider the creation of an association to allow officials to confer on municipal issues. Thirteen cities answered his call. At that first annual convention of the League of Texas Municipalities, Mayor Wooldridge said, “I know this: that you all need the League as badly as I need it. I am right here at the capital, and yet I need to touch elbows with my neighbors all over the state, and your lot and condition is no better than mine.” At that meeting, representatives approved a modest annual membership fee for member cities to fund the League, and adopted a constitution to govern the association. The idea of a municipal league caught on, and during the next 35 years, the League grew rapidly. In the early years, the League’s services were few: publishing a magazine, conducting an annual conference, and responding to miscellaneous requests for assistance. After World War II, Texas evolved into an urban state, and the needs of Texas cities grew. As a result of this evolution, the League prepared to expand its services and staff. The 1958 annual conference produced a new name and a new constitution and organization with a strong legislative program. The name of the association was changed from the League of Texas Municipalities to the Texas Municipal League. The new constitution set up a departmental and regional form of representation on the Texas Municipal League (TML) Board by establishing departments of affiliated members and sub-state regions. The convention of 1958 was a pivotal event for the Texas Municipal League. The organization, which had survived on