The Maryland Municipal League (MML), the statewide association representing more than 157 Maryland cities and towns, will present awards in two major categories at its upcoming 2014 Annual Convention June 8-11 in Ocean City.

Among the honors to be presented by the League this year will be the MML Distinguished Legislator Award and the MML Achievement Awards.

The MML Distinguished Legislator Award is the highest service award presented to a member or members of the Maryland General Assembly. This year, the league will honor longtime Maryland Senate President Thomas V. “Mike” Miller Jr. for his help in making 2014 the League’s most successful year to date, in a multi-year legislative effort to restore municipal Highway User Revenues, which were slashed when the Great Recession hit.

Miller also was instrumental in ensuring that no Regional Institution Enterprise zones, which are intended to spark economic development areas around universities and federal agencies, were created without the approval of local governments.

MML’s 2014 Achievement Awards will also be presented to the City of Greenbelt and the City of Mount Rainier. he 2014 MML Achievement Awards theme was “Citizen Engagement Gets it Done.” These awards honor cities and towns in Maryland that have developed community engagement campaigns to gain support for programs such as sustainability and preservation.

The MML Annual Convention is the largest yearly gathering of hundreds of municipal officials from around the state, including mayors, council members, commissioners and aldermen, city and town managers and other municipal staff, as well as state elected officials and business leaders. The goal of the event is to bring together interested parties to share and learn about municipal issues and improve the operation of Maryland’s local cities and towns. Along with the presentation of MML awards, the convention features numerous networking and learning opportunities for city and town officials.

This year’s convention theme, “Educate, Engage, Excel,” recognizes the important role that education and networking play so that municipal officials can excel as community leaders. It also recognizes that cities and towns provide the basic services essential to quality of life for residents and that municipalities represent the government closest to the people.

For more information about the Maryland Municipal League or the 2014 MML Convention June 8-11, visit www.mdmunicipal.org.