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Bill Harkins is the CitiSmart Coordinator for the City of Mobile, Al. He was appointed to this position by Mayor Sam Jones in Oct of 2006.

As CitiSmart Coordinator, Bill has put together a program that emphasizes accountability and performance improvement. He and his team work with each Department in the City, assisting them in developing goals and performance measures. This leads to the Department Head delivering a brief to the Mayor and his Executive Staff on a regular basis. Within six months of its inception, Mobile's CitiSmart has had a dozen Department leaders provide nearly fifty CitiSmart Briefs.

Bill grew up in Mobile, attending St. Dominic's grade school, Davidson High School and receiving a BS from the University of South Alabama before being commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps in 1985. He is also a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, earning a Master of Public Administration degree in 1997.

He began his Marine Corps career by enlisting in the Reserves in1983. After twenty-one years of active duty, Bill retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2006. Most of his Marine career was spent working as a Military Police Officer at Marine Corps Bases throughout the United States and overseas. Bill has led as many as 300 Marines in providing security for the Marines and families who lived and worked on these bases. He developed his analysis, planning and presentation skills as the Anti-Terrorism/Force Protection Officer for the Commanding General of all Marines in the Far East during the US response to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. In 2004 and 2005, he served a tour in Paktika Province, Afghanistan as the Commander of Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), Sharana. The bulk of the PRT's work involved developing, contracting out and supervising projects such as wells, schools and health clinics in villages throughout the Province. Some of the highlights of his time as PRT Commander was the work his team did with the Provincial Minister of Education in developing a school system, the headway made in supporting the Minister of Women's Affairs in establishing access for women in Paktika Province to healthcare and education and the assistance provided to the Governor and his Ministers as they established a legitimate Provincial government.

Bill has received letters and certificates of appreciation from government and civic organizations in Japan, Thailand, Australia, Afghanistan and the United States.

His military awards include the Bronze Star, four Meritorious Service Medals, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal and the Humanitarian Service Medal.

Bill is an adjunct faculty member of the University of South Alabama's Political Science department and volunteers to teach children at his church. He has had several articles published in nationally distributed magazines on topics such as training, coping with stress, prayer and working with unfamiliar cultures.

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