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2021 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS BY MARCUS PIMENTEL, 2021 CSMFO PRESIDENT
CSMFO Honors Harriet Commons & Melissa Manchester
2021 CSMFO CONFERENCE | ANNUAL CONFERENCE MAGAZINE
Every year, the CSMFO President is given the wonderful opportunity to recognize a CSMFO legacy hero who has provided outstanding service over a consecutive period of time to CSMFO in service of our local government finance profession. This is the highest honor CSMFO bestows and is not necessarily an annual award but rather “given at such times as a person is judged deserving of the honor.” This is reflected in the fact that in the 53 years since the first award in 1968, there have been only 34 recipients. This year, I was given the incredible opportunity, honor, and to a certain degree, the stress to consider and ultimately make the determination whether to recognize someone worthy of our past legacy of award recipients. I can still remember the exact moment sitting on my couch at home when the weight of this award hit me. After a few moments of pointless panic from the pressure of “making the right choice”, two names leaped forward. And I knew instantly they were both the right choice and both so deserving for their passion to serve CSMFO. They were so clearly the ideal reflection of what it took to navigate CSMFO through the crises of 2020 and what we will need to do to build our bridge through the messy middle into the new horizon. While it is common to have one honoree, this would become the fifth time CSMFO would have two honorees. And I stand proud to be able to recognize and honor what will be our ninth and tenth women to have received this award and to mark the first time two women were nominated together.
Harriet Commons “I affectionally call her the accounting dude-ette because she knows everything there is to know about accounting.” -Mary Bradley, CSMFO Past President (1999), Retired Finance Director. While Harriet’s last name might lead a reader to typecast her, everyone knows she is actually quite extraordinary and anything but common. Her career and quotes from fellow CSMFO-ers across the country validate just how fortunate CSMFO is to have Harriet give so freely to all of us. She has been a constant voice advocating for the highest quality in career development resources for all our members and creating a career pathway for others to learn from and follow. Harriet Commons graduated from Sacramento State and began her career as an auditor with Price Waterhouse, where she earned her CPA. She went on to work as a Research Fellow for GASB and subsequently returned to work at Price Waterhouse until she was recruited to become the Assistant Finance Director at the City of Fremont. After obtaining her Masters in Taxation, she was once again recruited and returned back to Price Waterhouse. In 2004, she was appointed Director of Finance at the City of Fremont and served in that capacity until she retired in 2013. While performing all her duties in Fremont, she continued to contribute to our profession through membership in GFOA and CSMFO. She served on a GASB technical advisory committee and various CalCPA committees.
