CSMFO Magazine March 2018 - Conference Edition

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M A G A Z I N E

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MARCH 2018 #19

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CSMFO MAGAZINE MARCH 2018

CSMFO

CALIFORNIA SOCIETY OF MUNICIPAL FINANCE OFFICERS

M A G A Z I N E MARCH 2018 #19

2018-19 Board of Directors President Margaret Moggia, West Basin MWD President-Elect Joan Michaels Aguilar, City of Dixon Past President Drew Corbett, City of San Mateo Scott Catlett, City of Yorba Linda Carrie Corder, Cucamongo Valley Water District Jimmy Forbis, City of Gilroy Steve Heide, Chino Valley Fire District Richard Lee, City of South San Francisco Jennifer Wakeman, City of Lafayette Executive Director Melissa Dixon, MBA, CAE Editorial Designer & Photographer David Blue Garrison Editors Marcus Pimentel, City of Santa Cruz David Cain, Retired Wing-See Fox, Urban Futures Inc. Jessie Soto, City of Santa Cruz Communication Committee Chair- Marcus Pimentel, City of Santa Cruz Vice Chair- Pamela Arends-King, South Coast Water District Vice Chair- Ernie Reyna, Western Riverside Council of Governments Janna Bogue, City of Thousand Oaks David Cain, Retired Karla Campos, City of La Quinta Wing-See Fox, Urban Futures Inc. Steve Heide, Chino Valley Fire District Nitish Sharma, City of Thousand Oaks James Russel-Field, City of Thousand Oaks Carol Williams, City of Ontario Cover/Conference Photographer David Blue Garrison Conference Photographer Tim Przybyla Additional Photography Pexels, Pixabay and Stocksnap Thank you to all the authors in this issue for sharing with us their time and expertise. If you have an idea for a future article, please contact Melissa Dixon at the CSMFO office at melissa.dixon@staff.csmfo.org.

For more information on CSMFO or this Magazine, please contact the CSMFO office at 916.231.2137 or visit the website at www.csmfo.org.

The views and opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CSMFO. 6

CONTENTS MARCH 2018 #19

CONFERENCE EDITION 8 PRESIDENT’S LETTER 10 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S LETTER 12 PRESIDENT ELECT’S LETTER 14 SPONSORED ARTICLE: AVOIDING ANOTHER TOOL THAT COLLECTS DUST: 18 INSPIRATION, INNOVATION AND PREPARATION 20 SPONSORED ARTICLE: ARE YOU MAKING THE RIGHT IT INVESTMENTS? 22 FIRST-TIME ATTENDEE RECEPTION 24 2018 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARDS 26 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD - BOB LELAND 27 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD - JANET SALVETTI 28 2018 INNOVATION AWARD 30 KEYNOTE SPEAKER - TAKE AWAY FROM MEMBERS 34 VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR 40 CSMFO INSTRUCTOR SPOTLIGHT: AHMED BADAWI 42 CSMFO SHINES A SPOTLIGHT ON: BRENT MASON 50 CSMFO SUPER CHAPTER MEETING 52 THE PRESIDENT’S DINNER 54 A BEHIND THE SCENES LOOK 56 OPERATION – EXPLORE MISSION INN 58 ANNUAL CSMFO GOLF TOURNAMENT 60 BANK OF THE WEST’S TENNIS MIXER 62 JOB OPPORTUNITIES

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PRESIDENT’S LETTER Margaret Moggia

Mission Possible: Collaborate - Innovate - Achieve While a conference theme provides strong marketing potential to invite people to come attend and gain valuable knowledge and make connections, the actual planning of this conference itself certainly was just that - Mission: Possible. Thanks to the Annual Host Committee and Program Committee to rise to the challenge to Collaborate, Innovate to achieve a successful conference.

you and your agency as you handle the everyday task, a large project or a personal goal. By all accounts, these events were well attended, successful, and well worth investing efforts to retain and improve for future conferences.

Many thanks to all those who volunteered – through your hard work and dedication we were able to achieve our mission to deliver a rewarding conference experience. And a heartfelt thank you to the amazing staff from Smith Moore & Associates and Meeting and Association Management Services – thank you for rising above the challenges and working (collaborating) with the annual conference host committee, innovating new ways to create a positive conference experience and creating (achieving) a rewarding experience.

Let’s begin with “Our Mission IS possible” – thank you to all who attended the 2018 CSMFO Annual Conference from February 20-23, 2018. We succeeded with our highest conference attendance (to date) at 1323 persons. What an incredible response to come to the Riverside Convention Center and witness the comradery amongst first time attendees and experienced conference attendees to learn alongside one another while having fun.

We are also so blessed to have so many partners to support us in our mission – thank you to the over 100 exhibitors and sponsors who can help you and your organization be more efficient and successful. Please be sure to use these resources throughout the year to help you achieve your success. And what a turnout we had with a record high Diamond Jubilee sponsors, and first time exhibitors. This shows the strength of our profession when we have so many capable business partners to work with us.

With the growth of our conference over the past several years, I’ll admit that there were challenges to continue to deliver a high quality conference experience with the space constraints. The Riverside Convention Center space is amazing but, with the explosion in attendance, how do you fit both the size of a general session hall and an exhibit hall with only one space with sufficient size – well, you repurpose the space. The next question that follows is what do you do with over a 1000 attendees who typically ascend to the main hall for lunch? We had to take some risks and embrace new opportunities to introduce some new ideas. We started with the ideas of a Chapter Networking lunch and a First Time Attendee reception.

These gave our attendees a chance to connect with people, and it is these connections that will support

For me the annual conference is really a time to reconnect and meet new people, while learning alongside them from our inspiring and talented speakers. We are so fortunate to have so many dedicated contributors to share their story and their knowledge to educate and motivate us. I want to

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personally thank all our presenters for their time to share their knowledge and experiences and give back to this profession. It is always wonderful to hear from some of our regular contributors, so I want to thank each of them, David Bean, Greg Allison, Neil Kupchin, Don Maruska, Michael Coleman, Phil Bertolini and Chris Thornberg. Your contributions are always appreciated. We were also so fortunate to have many other key stakeholders including Shayne Kavanaugh and Emily Brock from GFOA, Carolyn Coleman from the League of California Cities and Marcie Frost from CalPERS to bring their perspective.

We were also so fortunate to have wonderful keynote speakers. Thank you to Carey Lohrenz, and Simon T. Bailey for sharing your mission and motivate us as we return to the office. My key takeaway from Carey and Simon’s talk was “not taking a risk is the biggest risk you can take” and “See how I fit tomorrow”, respectively. How true – the experience I have gained by just saying yes 12 years ago to serving on a CSMFO committee has led me to the path of serving as your 2018 President. This has been truly a rewarding experience to volunteer for an organization that cares deeply about growing the person.

strengthen this organization and I am certainly excited to see where they fit into this amazing organization.

These initiatives include defining our role through committees and advocacy and understand what our responsibilities to ourselves and to our membership, improving the member experience through our own CSMFO app, expanding our commitment to professional development by exploring our own certification program, and engaging our current and future members through enhancing the chapter experience and building our future through identifying ways to connect with future generations to municipal finance. Thank you to each board member to lead these efforts.

In closing, I want to extend a heartfelt appreciation to my husband, Chris, who is my number one fan, and to my staff - may you continue to flourish and grow. And to the all of you – let me remind you, it is because of “the ask”, it is why I serve. So I encourage you - ask someone to get involve and experience the value of volunteering. Better yet, let us learn alongside one another and build the next generation of leaders in each of our own agency.

What is so exciting about CSMFO is that planning is already underway for next year’s conference to be held January 8-11, 2019 in Palm Springs. Joan Michaels Aguilar has already begun planning so that we may all be “Guardians of the Finance Galaxy”.

As we look forward to the rest of 2018, I am excited about the work ahead of us to continue to live out our guiding values of integrity, competency, commitment to public service, transparency, and creating a positive legacy. These values exemplify why CSMFO is so important. Along with the important work already being completed by the committees and chapters, CSMFO will focus on six initiatives that will further 9 CSMFO MAGAZINE MARCH 2018

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S LETTER Melissa Dixon

Another Great Conference…

Well, we did it. Another great conference in the history books. And wow, was this particular conference a challenge.

Years ago, when we were searching for the 2018 conference venue, we were planning for an event with 900 people. Correction—we were HOPING we would grow large enough to hit 900! For a conference with 900 people and 80 exhibitors, we could have the general session and exhibit hall all on the same floor in Riverside, with the breakouts downstairs and at the Marriott. Easy peasy. And then what happens? Our conference numbers skyrocket to over 1300 in 2016.

I mean, that was a full 400 MORE attendees than we’d imagined in our wildest dreams! And then 2017 (up north, which is typically smaller than our southern California conferences) had over 1200 people. It turns out the increased attendance in 2016 wasn’t just because it was at Disneyland; it wasn’t just a fluke. So now we’re going into planning for the 2018 conference thinking we might again hit 1300 people in a venue that can reasonably hold 900. What were we to do?

We certainly thought so. And while this change resulted in some challenges in and of itself (Thursday’s lunch, for instance, was logistically difficult), there were a number of positive things that arose from this new format that we may just have to try to incorporate into our “normal” schedule next year. For instance…

Chapter Networking Luncheons: I heard nothing but positive comments about having separate rooms for chapters to get together during the Wednesday lunch. A number of people who don’t typically get to attend chapter meetings were able to go to their designated room and network with others from their own chapter. We know that the room set up (theater style…which means just rows and rows of chairs) wasn’t so conducive to mingling. Hopefully we can provide more opportunities like this, in a more reception style set-up, in the future.

Get creative, that’s what. President Margaret Moggia devised the plan that had us holding a morning general session, and then flipping the room (industry term) into an exhibit hall in time for an opening vendor reception.

We’d have no general sessions again until Friday morning, after the exhibit hall was closed. Genius, right?

First-Time Attendee Reception: There was a break this year between the end of the breakout sessions on Wednesday and the vendor reception that night. President Moggia was worried that ‘dead time’ can be intimidating to those who are new to the conference or new to CSMFO, so she filled that time with a reception for first-time attendees. And wow

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was that successful! With over 300 first-time attendees in Riverside, the room was packed! And a big ‘thank you’ to all the leadership and other experienced members that made a point to be there to mingle with the first-timers and make them feel welcome.

Opening the Exhibit Hall with the Vendor Reception: Was this year’s Vendor Reception off the hook or what? I have heard no end of exhibitors telling me how great the reception was, how much traffic they had, how they gave away half their swag in the first hour. Perhaps by keeping the exhibit hall closed until the reception, we were increasing the anticipation?

Or maybe it’s just that people had their opportunity to network with other attendees already, so the vendor reception time was relegated to just the vendors.

Whatever the reason, the reception went very well this year. We’ll be looking at that as a possibility for next year.

Thursday Night Game: I know that this “find the clues” game we devised for Thursday night was tied to our “spy” theme, but I have to say, I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed coming up with it—brainstorming options with staff. I also was really impressed with how many people were playing the game! I have to say, I expected maybe four or five people to actually attempt to find the clues, but I ran into a LOT of people playing! And we had over 30 people actually find all four clues and fill out the raffle ticket. I don’t know if this is something we’ll look at for

future years, but I wanted to call out how awesome it was that so many of you participated. And while I’m at it, I want to congratulate Roger Wang from the City of Ventura for winning the free conference registration for 2019!

I know you all can fill out the survey, but if anyone would like to let me know what they loved about Riverside that maybe we should look at doing again— or if you have something that you weren’t a fan of that you don’t want to ever see again!—please feel free to email me at melissa.dixon@staff.csmfo.org. I’d love to hear from you.

PS—A huge ‘thank you’ to Kim Scott for passing onto me some of her Disney swag. The Pirates of the Caribbean art is going up on my wall!

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PRESIDENT ELECT’S LETTER Joan Michaels Aguilar

Are you ready to Rocket to Another Galaxy?

For the 1,323 members that had the chance to attend this year, wasn’t the Riverside conference amazing?

Kudos to President Margaret Moggia and her Host Committee for putting together the Mission Possible. Try choosing amongst the 59 great educational sessions put together by the Program Committee. I, for one, hope that some of the speakers come back next year at the Palm Springs Conference.

Say what? Aren’t we supposed to rotate to Northern California for the next conference? Can it really be that CSMFO will hold conferences three consecutive years in Southern California? Yes it’s true! Back in 2016, the former Site Selection Committee evaluated locations in NorCal to host the 2019 conference and ran into some issues. The key challenges related to the hotel room rates quoted as $299 per night (double the Mission Inn rate in Riverside) and some venues wanted us to change our conference model back to the Sunday – Tuesday format. Members may remember a survey that went out at that time to ascertain the rate tolerance level and having the conference in Southern California at the Renaissance in Palm Springs. The Committee shared the results with the CSMFO Board of Directors who voted to return to our 2014 location in Palm Springs. 2020 will be, once again, at Anaheim, followed by San Jose in 2021.

CSMFO’s successful conferences have resulted in record attendance each year, and locations such as Monterey are no longer viable, while we are too small for some of the larger convention centers such as San Francisco. There are so many variables that factor in to location selection such as adequate vendor space. You may have noticed the great space and record number of vendors that supported the conference in Riverside.

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Back to Palm Springs - one key thing to note for this conference is the early date in January when this event will take place – January 8 – 11, 2019. At the Riverside conference, I unveiled the theme developed for 2019 – Guardians of the Finance Galaxy. For those of you that don’t know me, I too, am a Disney fan, and wanted to find a way to have a fun theme that had a Disney flare (albeit the Marvel side of their operation).

Members, whether municipal or commercial, all have a responsibility within our operations for financial integrity, transparency, and public trust - or to be guardians. The host committee began work on the conference back in December due to the early date of the conference and we have made some good progress already. In March, some of us will be visiting the site location to get ideas for the Thursday night event, as well as the layout for our enhanced number of attendees for educational sessions.

I will keep you posted on some of the excitement as it develops in future issues. Stay tuned for the Awesome Mix! I am Joan.

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Avoiding Another Tool That Collects Dust: TIPS FOR BUILDING A FINANCIAL FORECAST THAT IS BOTH MEANINGFUL AND MANAGEABLE

Written By James P. Morris & Michael P. Busch & Andy Heath

James P. Morris, Principal, Urban Futures Inc.

Michael P. Busch, Chief Executive Officer, Urban Futures Inc.

Andy Heath, Principal, Urban Futures Inc.

We all know a common adage in local government… “the last thing we need is another best practice tool sitting on the shelf collecting dust” [or in the digital age, “buried deep in a file folder that is eventually auto-archived on the agency server”]. And we all know the reasons why this happens: the tool was not designed to integrate with agency workflows, it was too peripheral to the agency’s core objectives, it was too simplistic to provide meaningful benefit, or it was too complex and time consuming for staff to update and maintain. Don’t let this be the fate of your agency’s financial forecast!

At Urban Futures Inc. (UFI), we have over three decades of experience modeling financial structures for cities and special districts throughout California.

With fiscal challenges and constraints becoming ever steeper for local governments, UFI has seen a sharp increase in requests from our clients for long-term financial forecasts. Let’s review some important practices for how to build a financial forecast that meaningfully helps your agency make informed decisions, while also being manageable by your agency staff.

1.

Create a Forecast Based on Your Agency’s Budget and Accounting System. When designing your agency’s financial forecast model, it should be tied to the agency’s existing budget and accounting structure.

The data output from your budgeting or accounting system, should be easy to import and incorporate into the forecast model. Expense and revenue categories in the forecast should correlate and have similar designations (account numbers) as the expense and revenue budget categories in the budget. It is not necessary to recreate every line item from the general ledger in the forecast but use roll-up categories.

By aligning the forecast with your agency’s budget, you will accomplish several efficiency and usability objectives: (a) the forecast is easily updated with numbers from annual, semi-annual or quarterly budget reports, (b) the forecast can be used to easily produce an estimated budget for the upcoming year, and (c) there is no need to maintain separate financial data sets – everything comes from the general ledger.

2.

Drive Forecasted Personnel Cost with Labor Data. Personnel costs often comprise 80% or more of a local agency’s total expenditures. And with pensions costs continuing to explode, personnel expenses are likely the biggest cost driver in your agency. As such, correctly forecasting personnel costs is critical to the integrity of your financial forecast.

As a first step, ensure the labor costing data for your agency reconciles with your personnel budgets. It is surprising how often local agencies have separate labor costing data (often maintained by human resources staff) that is not directly tied to the agency’s budgeted personnel expenses. Your financial forecast is good place to build this bridge and ensure ongoing reconciliation.

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For revenue and expense categories that show linear or relatively consistent year-over-year changes, consider adding prior year fiscal data to your forecast and reviewing the statistical reliability of a trendline or rolling average based on this data. If there is strong correlation, consider this a starting point for developing the forecast assumption, but then dig a little deeper. Think about the nature of the revenue or expense and consider the influence of broader economic trends. For example, your agency’s future health care costs likely have a stronger relationship to general health care cost trends than to actual prior year health care expenses. As such, it is wise to compare agency-specific trends and data with more general economic indices that can influence various revenues or expenses.

The financial forecast should contain a labor data table for each department, that classifies employees by bargaining group with associated cost details for each position. The individual position costs can then be rolled-up into the personnel budget categories, providing a solid basis on which to forecast personnel expenses by department based on agency-wide labor cost drivers such as: expected PERS increases, negotiated MOU provisions, ongoing OPEB liabilities, anticipated vacancy factors and increasing health care costs. While this process may involve some significant upfront work, it is effort well-placed given the impact personnel expenses have on local government finances.

3.

Use Specific but Pragmatic Assumptions.

Fancy and complex assumptions often translate into forecasts that are not necessarily more accurate but infinitely more challenging to explain, maintain and update (especially when the person who created the assumptions has moved on). A healthy dose of common-sense and agency-specific reflection goes a long way in this area.

In the end, your assumptions worksheet will likely contain a combination of various potential indicators of where revenues and expenses will likely trend based-on agency specific data and more broadbased economic indicators. From this collection of assumptions, you can select the most reliable or consider developing your own informed/customized assumption that blends several applicable indices.

And most importantly, make sure you make explicit the components of your assumptions (no embedded formulas), and document what you did and why you did it. continues on next page

Start by creating a separate worksheet or area of the forecast model where all your assumptions are contained and made explicit. To the extent possible, your model should allow assumptions to be defined for each expense and revenue category. For example, your agency’s permit fee revenue is likely based on a cost study or model that is periodically updated.

Review the cost study to see what drives the changes to the permit fee revenues (the general economy, labor cost increases, construction cost prices, etc.), and then use this data to begin building out the assumption.

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4.

Create a Dashboard with Graphical Outputs.

The purpose of financial forecasts is to improve informed decision-making. If the forecast does not provide understandable outputs, it will not likely be used as a decision-making tool. To this end, your agency’s forecast should have a “dashboard” that helps tell the story of the financial forecast in understandable terms. Graphs, charts and tables are good story-telling techniques, and like a good picture, they can replace a thousand words.

Author and economist Edgar R. Fielder once said, “He who lives by the crystal ball soon learns to eat ground glass.” This is a good cautionary reminder not to get too wrapped-up, overly concerned or enslaved to your forecast. It is simply one tool to help improve informed decision-making in your agency.

Design it to be meaningful towards this end, but also to be manageable and maintainable within your means. And finally, remember this shrewd remark from Winston Churchill (a shrewd politician), as it will likely be practiced by some of your elected officials: “I always avoid prophesying beforehand because it is much better to prophesy after the event has already taken place.”

No need to get fancy. In fact, simplicity is the rule when creating a good dashboard. If the dashboard requires significant explanation, then its objective has not been accomplished. The forecast outputs in the dashboard should be intuitively understandable. Don’t overload the dashboard with too much information or outputs. Think carefully about the financial considerations or measurements your agency most often uses or requests when making decisions, and then evaluate what graphical or tabular format conveys that information most clearly and succinctly.

About The Authors James P. Morris is Managing Director of the Public Management Group at Urban Futures, Inc. (UFI). Jim has over twenty years of experience working in the fields of public policy and finance, municipal law, and public agency governance and leadership. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College, and received both his Juris Doctorate and master’s in Urban Planning from UCLA.

5.

Add Capacity to Understand Impacts of Proposed Decisions. Finally, to expand the usability of your agency’s financial forecast, consider adding some capacity that allows the forecast to reflect the impact of proposed changes or potential decisions. In adding this capacity, it is critical these hypothetical scenarios be isolated from the baseline financial forecast. The baseline financial forecast is the output that reflects your agency’s existing decisions and financial condition – it is a prediction of your agency’s financial future based on current facts and informed assumptions. Proposals that would change certain facts or assumptions need to be isolated from the baseline, so the impact can be measured – baseline vs. proposal. Your best friend in developing this capacity is a separate worksheet that models the financial impact of proposed changes to the baseline (without affecting the baseline), which can then be compared back to the baseline in a graphical output to your dashboard.

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Andy Heath is a Principal in the Public Management Group at Urban Futures, Inc. (UFI). Andy has over twenty-five years in both city finance and management with expertise in the areas of municipal budgeting and finance, fiscal forecasting, labor relations and operations. He is a graduate of San Jose State University, with a B.S. in Business Administration and Accounting, and an M.A. in Economics.

Michael P. Busch is the Owner and CEO of Urban Futures, Inc. (UFI). Prior to leading UFI, Michael served as the Assistant City Manager and Chief Financial Officer with various cities throughout California. He is a graduate of California State Polytechnic University Pomona with a degree Urban Planning and received his master’s in Public Administration from California State University Long Beach with an emphasis in public finance.

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Inspiration, Innovation and Preparation PRECONFERENCE FULL DAY TRAINING

Written By Pamela Arends-King

Pamela Arends-King

With nearly 100 attendees, this year’s Tuesday preconference training sessions offered three power tracks: Successful Leadership Skills for Finance Directors; Getting Through a Successful ERP Implementation; and The Fundamentals of Conducting a Water and Wastewater Rates Study.

Neil Kupchin, Management and Training Consultant, presented the Successful Leadership Skills for Finance Directors session. He stated the key takeaways for his session are leaders need to be able to establish and communicate a clear direction, align people, motivate and engage people. He also stated four keys to building a strong team are clear, understood and agreed upon goals; roles and responsibilities that people understand and buy into; policies and procedures that help get the

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job done effectively and efficiently; and relationships between people based on mutual respect, trust, open and honest communication, integrity and strong work ethic. Ellis Chang, Accounting Manager, City of Garden Grove, stated the session presented her more effective tools to successfully manager her staff and Glenda Babbitt, Management Analyst I, City of Tustin, commented on how helpful the exercise Mr. Kupchin had the attendees participate in where they developed their own leadership vision and how to turn that vision into reality.

Phillip R. Bertolini, Deputy County Executive/CIO, Oakland County, Michigan, and Terry Hackelman, Senior Vice President, NexLevel, presented Mission Critical - Getting Through a Successful ERP Implementation. Mr. Bertolini and Mr. Hackelman stated that an ERP procurement is a process to gain the knowledge needed to make a buy decision and negotiate a strong agreement. To be successful, organizations must engage and empower the entire organization from the selection process all the way through the implementation. Mr. Hackelman also added that it is important to consider the total cost to implement and total cost to own, particularly when comparing a SaaS (Cloud) solution with a

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premise (on-site installed) solution. Mary Carey, CPA, Finance Controller, South Orange County Wastewater Authority, stated her takeaways for this session was the financial system is the core ERP function and it is very difficult to buy one system that will satisfy all the needs of an organizations department. Also, always prepare a return on investment to determine if the project is cost effective unless it is a necessity.

Presenting The Fundamentals of Conducting a Water and Wastewater Rates Study session was Sanjay Gaur, Vice President, Raftelis Financial Consultants, Kevin Mascaro, Finance Director, Western Municipal Water District and Kelly Salt, Partner, Best Best & Krieger LLP. Mr. Gaur stated the major questions discussed were have you read your administrative record associated with your current rates. Does that administrative record show the math/logic behind your rates? What are the top four goals that your elected officials want the rate structure to achieve? How are you going to allocate during a drought; what is the financial cost of this and how will you address it? Jenny Leisz, Deputy Director, Financial Services, City of Tustin, stated this session gave her the background and perspective to understand the ramifications of setting water rates in California’s current political and legal environment.

About The Author Pamela Arends-King is a Past CSMFO President (2014) and is currently the Chief Financial Officer for South Coast Water District in Laguna Beach, CA. Prior to working for South Coast Water District, she was the Business Services Manager and the Chief Financial Officer for Union Sanitary District and the Finance Director/Treasurer for the City of Tustin. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in public administration with a minor in urban planning from the University of Missouri, St. Louis; completed post graduate work in accounting at California State University, Dominguez Hills; and in 2009, obtained her MBA from the University of California, Irvine. Pamela also worked as an auditor with Moreland and Associates.

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SPONSORED ARTICLE

Are You Making the Right IT Investments?

Written By Nicole Simpkinson

Nicole Simpkinson, PMP, ITIL, Plante Moran

Governments are continually asked to provide more — more efficiency, better results, new services — with less. Today, more than ever, your current information technology assets and new IT investments must deliver their expected returns — and support your organization’s overall strategic plan.

Your organization’s investment in technology represents a significant allocation of resources. But when is the last time you stepped back from day-to-day management to evaluate its true cost and effectiveness? With the power and speed of end user computing and the innovative problem solving of software changing dramatically in the last few years, taking a step back is even more important now than it used to be. In fact, if you’re like many people, you probably are having a hard time keeping up with the new solutions and identifying the systems that best support your organization’s strategy.

Can you answer these critical questions?

• An IT assessment helps you answer a range of key questions, such as: • Are we spending taxpayer funds in the best ways possible? Are we spending too much, or not enough on IT? • Do we have the right technology in place to meet new demands, improve efficiencies and reduce costs?

• Do we have the right mix of IT staff? Should our IT support organization be more centralized or less centralized? Are we appropriately using external resources?

• Do our applications support our operations? Is our open-source strategy appropriate?

• Is our data secure? Do we have the right balance of controls in place?

• How should we use the cloud? Is our cloud strategy appropriate?

• What factors should we consider when developing a mobile computing strategy?

• Do we have the right metrics in place to measure IT performance?

An IT assessment allows you to take a deep dive into the three pillars of your IT environment: people, processes, and technology. It looks at governance, decision-making, budgeting, and staffing (people).

It looks at service delivery and support, application deployment, security tools and policies, and business continuity and disaster recovery plans (processes).

Create a roadmap for the future

An IT assessment will help you assess your existing technology and support environment, and determine how best to apply technology to align with your organizational strategy.

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An IT assessment provides an actionable roadmap that enables new synergies and efficiencies, improved return on technology investments, and optimal functioning. And, it looks at the technology itself — your infrastructure and data center, your cloud strategy, your cybersecurity posture, your hardware and software life cycle planning, in addition to other areas. The goal is to establish a baseline, identify possible gaps, and give you a clear path forward to align the IT environment with the objectives and expectations of stakeholders. It provides an objective, unbiased evaluation of your current situation, and an actionable roadmap that enables new synergies and efficiencies, improved return on technology investments, and optimal functioning so that IT supports your mission.

About the author Nicole Simpkinson, PMP, ITIL | Senior Manager nicole.simpkinson@plantemoran.com Nicole has more than 20 years of experience consulting with local municipalities, counties, utility agencies and state government. She specializes in assisting organizations assess, plan for, select and implement enabling technologies. Her areas of expertise include system needs assessment and feasibility studies, organizational and operational analysis, strategic technology planning, system selection, implementation oversight and IT governance based on best practices and industry frameworks such as Control Objectives for IT (COBIT), Val IT and Carnegie Mellon Capability Maturity Model Integration (CCMI). She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and experienced facilitator.

Nicole graduated Magna Cum Laude from Claremont McKenna College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Policy and Organizational Studies and received her MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management where she graduated with honors.

Given the rapid pace of change in technology development and the dynamism of government organizations, an IT assessment should become a routine part of strategic and operational planning.

Rather than a “once and done” activity; organizations should conduct assessments every three to five years. Regular IT assessments offer organizations the opportunity to take a step back, examine people, processes, and emerging technology, and ask a wide range of important questions. When you’re investing millions of dollars in taxpayer funds, technology assessments can provide you peace of mind that your decisions and expenditures are in alignment with your organizational goals.

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SPONSORED ARTICLE CSMFO MAGAZINE MARCH 2018

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Mission Accomplished: First-Time Attendee Reception

Written By Grace Castaneda

Grace Castaneda

This year’s conference brought new events and new ideas, and one of the brightest was the successful First-Time Attendee Reception. When CSMFO President Margaret Moggia, CFO for the West Basin Municipal Water District, was planning the conference, she really wanted firsttime attendees to feel welcomed and connected.

For myself, I remember when I went to other conferences for the first time, and not knowing anyone, I just went back to the hotel after the sessions were over each day. I remember wanting to reach out and talk with other people, but I was also quite shy and awkward, and on top of that, there was not many opportunities during the conferences for such connections.

President Moggia changed that with the Riverside Conference this year. Set between the end of breakout sessions and the beginning of the vendor exhibit hall reception, the First-Time Attendee Reception was created for first-timers to mingle and network with each other, as well as with CSMFO leadership.

Margaret expressed, “I have always wanted to give a place where the first time attendee is given a positive first impression of the association, meet with CSMFO leadership and have a place to connect with others and experience the CSMFO community.” The Membership Committee and Smith Moore & Associates went to work with her vision, and organized an event that brought first-time conference attendees together.

The First-Time Attendee Reception had a live vibe to it, was extremely well attended, and as the greatest test of a successful event, most of the crowd stayed long after the scheduled end time. Many CSMFO leadership were on hand to meet and greet the attendees. All were treated to a valuable time to make connections, to flavorful Hors d’oeuvres, a variety of drinks, and just a relaxing time with one another. I walked around the room with Craig Boyer, CSMFO

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East Bay Chapter Vice Chair and County of Alameda Auditor-Controller Agency Division Chief. Together, we introduced ourselves to first-time attendees and chatted with them to see how their conference experience has been.

About The Author Grace Castaneda is the Budget Analyst at the City of San Mateo. She graduated from UCLA with a degree in Business Economics. After having her second child, Grace started running to preserve her sanity, and recently completed a 15k run in San Francisco in January. She is currently serving as Chair of the CSMFO Membership Committee.

We also told them about their CSMFO member benefits, such as in-person trainings, webinars, and chapter meetings. We encouraged them to sign up to receive emails and meeting notices from their local chapters, so that they can continue their engagement and networking after returning home from the conference. (By the way, sign up to get news from your local chapter at the Member Emailing List/ Listserve section of the CSMFO Membership website).

In some cases, Craig and I got to introduce and establish a connection between a first-time attendee to his/her chapter chair, so that there was now a face behind the name. I certainly felt that the event met its expectations in making first-timers feel welcomed and engaged.

Steve Heidi, CMSFO Board Member and Chino Valley Fire District Finance Director, agreed. “I thought the first-time conference attendee reception was a fantastic opportunity for the CSMFO leadership to meet and mingle with attendees who had not previously participated in an annual conference.

The reception was well attended and I walked away feeling as though this mission was successfully accomplished!� Mission accomplished indeed.

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2018 Distinguished Service Awards ROBERT LELAND & JANET SALVETTI

Written By Margaret Moggia

Margaret Moggia

Our first recipient was Robert (Bob) Leland who continues to serve the municipal finance community today as a consultant and began his 4 decade career in 1975. Bob began in the California legislature where he analyzed proposed legislation concerning California’s state and local financial system as concerns about the impact of escalating property tax bills swirled around the state and emergent citizens groups led by Howard Jarvis and Paull Gann began advancing ideas to reduce and limit government taxes and spending. Bob moved to local government serving at the City of Sacramento and then started a 26-year Finance Director tenure at the City of Fairfield. Bob has been a leader in the profession serving as President of the League of California Cities Fiscal Officers Department and even served as CSMFO President in 1995. Bob continues to serve a critical role in the recovery of many of California’s most financially troubled cities. Michael Coleman who presented the award shared that he has had many influences, but few that stand out out like Bob Leland.

One of most awesome roles in serving on executive leadership is the opportunity to recognize individuals who embody the CSMFO mission through their time, talents and commitment to municipal finance. The Distinguished Service Award recognizes outstanding service on the part of an individual to the field of municipal finance. This recognition acknowledges the cumulative years of service and is the highest honor that is bestowed by the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers. In fact only 29 persons have been bestowed this honor in CSMFO’s 61 year history. At the 2018 Annual Conference in Riverside, we recognized two deserving individuals and it was an honor to surprise them.

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Our second recipient of this award was Janet Salvetti. Janet worked for over 40 years with the City of Stockton, from her starting job in the finance department to Assistant Director for the Administrative Services Department when she retired in 2009.

Janet has been involved in CSMFO in many different positions over the course of her career in finance. She has been a member, a board member, and President of CSMFO. From that time on, she continued to serve CSMFO as a staff member and conference planner, leading the way on our conferences over these past ten years and especially taking the lead on our 50th and 60th Anniversary celebrations. The annual conference is the cornerstone of CSMFO’s professional development and she continues to elevate the attendee experience. John Adams who presented the award acknowledged her continued service to the profession long after her time working for the city.

These individuals live out the guiding values of CSMFO and certainly exemplify the guiding values of commitment to public service and creating a positive legacy. Thank you for your continued service to our profession.

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Distinguished Service Award - Bob Leland Written By Robert Leland

I’ve always considered CSFMO’s Distinguished Service Award to be the capstone to one’s career in public sector finance, and so I am honored and humbled to be the recipient of this recognition.

In my case the path to this award was somewhat atypical, as I did not start out in public accounting, but instead began as a tax policy consultant with the State Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee, which included working on the implementation of Proposition 13 in 1978 (during Jerry Brown’s first stint as governor).

My involvement with cities led to the Assistant Finance Director position in the City of Sacramento, where I developed its first long-term budget forecast, using a 64K RAM Osborne 1 that I bought myself. (The data processing manager said these “microcomputers” were a fad that would never catch on.)

I went on to serve as Finance Director for the City of Fairfield for 26 years, followed by my “second act” as a consultant with Management Partners, still working on long-range forecasting and city financial challenges.

I have been involved in CSMFO now for 37 years, starting as a member and then chair of the Legislative Committee (there were annual Legislative Conferences back then), a board member, and then President in 1995. Along the way I’ve graded many budgets for the Budget Committee, and spoken at many conferences and seminars.

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My peers from the mid-1990s have long-since retired, and there are many unfamiliar faces at the annual conferences these days. However, it is invigorating to see the new generation of finance officers and their staffs taking advantage of the incredible training and educational opportunities that CSMFO affords its members, and moving up to leadership positions in the organization.

Back in 1981, I was encouraged by my boss, Jack Crist (another past-president), to get involved with CSMFO, and I found its leaders welcoming and supportive of a newcomer. It was a much smaller organization then, and living a bit hand-to-mouth. I put together a plan for higher dues and registration fees for the board, which they swallowed hard and adopted, but did not regret as the organization and conferences continued to grow and prosper. Webinars, coaching services, advanced training, the list-serve, website and this magazine (a big step up from the old paper version of the “MiniNews”) offer a wide-range of learning opportunities and resources for both oldhands and those new to the profession. I am so proud of CSMFO’s growth and vigor, and am confident it will continue to inform and inspire future generations of California finance officers.

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Distinguished Service Award - Janet Salvetti Written By Janet Salvetti

As a self-introduction, I retired in 2009 from the City of Stockton as the Assistant Director of Administrative Services after 40 1/2 years of serving in various finance positions within the organization. In retirement for the last 9 years I have served as a CSMFO Conference Coordinator. At a Conference you will find me in the back of the room during a General Session with a clip board in hand. Often I am scanning the audience looking for a vacant seat for a late coming attendee; one ear on the speaker, the other on my watch making sure we are staying on time. .

years of local government would fill numerous pages.

But to each and everyone one of you, you were always there for me. But to just call out two, first my thanks to Mary Bradley for giving me a call a short time after I attended my first conference in San Jose in 1985.

She encouraged me to get involved with CSMFO; I did take her advice. Also, to Bob Biery, (who I totally blanked out on his name while at the podium receiving my award) I would also like to give a special thank you! Prior to my being elected President of CSMFO in 2005, I had always looked up to Bob as being one of the pillars of CSMFO. Soon after my election, Bob and I were both at a CSMFO meeting when he walked up to me, extended a welcoming hand and supported my year with enthusiasm. Bob continues to be an inspiration to me.

This past conference in Riverside, CA was not different.

It is the Wednesday morning opening General Session and I am on the side lines next to Teri Anticevich, listening to Michael Coleman present the attributes of the Distinguished Service Award (DSA) recipient for 2018. Michael announces “Bob Leland”; his name comes up on the PowerPoint followed by the crowd and me applauding the choice as being very well deserved.

To all of you throughout the rest of the conference that remembered I was the person on stage who received the DSA award, thank you as well. The moment of being a DSA recipient came back to me each and every time someone acknowledged me.

But wait, John Adams is now coming to the microphone to announce the second Distinguished Service Award recipient. I turn to Teri….”Two?”, she nods yes. Hmmmm, for some reason we didn’t confer on the General Session scripts this year, so this is all news to me.

As I write this, I occasionally am glancing up at the wall that now holds my plaque and smiling. CSMFO you have been very good both for and to me. I hope I have given back to you in the same way.

The next few minutes now rate on the top of my list of “most exciting, stunning, minutes in my life”. A few sentences into John’s presentation and I realize he is describing ME! My name appears on the screens as if it is 20 feet tall. This becomes a moment to treasure.

For all the year’s I have been either a CSMFO member through my local government experience, or now through my affiliation as a CSMFO Conference Coordinator, I have always admired all those that have been added to the list of “Distinguished Service Award” recipients. I consider this award to be the pinnacle of recognition from CSMFO. It is humbling to now be the 31st name on the list. To the membership, I cannot express enough my gratitude and honor in receiving this award.

I have met amazing people in this organization and to all of you I say Thank You for helping me receive this award. To our current President Margaret Moggia, my sincerest thanks for choosing me as this year’s recipient.

And to John Adams, having you present the award was icing on the cake! To individually thank everyone that has been with me through my journey of the past 50 27 CSMFO MAGAZINE MARCH 2018

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2018 Innovation Award- City and County of San Francisco FRAUD HOTLINE OUTREACH & EDUCATION PROGRAM “We value innovation and continuous improvement as a way to ensure the integrity of local government.”

– Steve Flaherty, Principal Auditor, City and County of San Francisco

Written By Craig Boyer

Craig Boyer

Innovation For Internal Audit Since 2013, CSMFO has been recognizing members who implement innovative ideas in local government finance. CSMFO established the Innovation Award Program to recognize current innovations and to encourage other local governments to consider implementing similar measures.

Each year, the Recognition Committee invites local governments to submit applications to the Innovation Award Program.

An Innovation Award Review Panel reviews each submission and selects submissions for award. The Recognition Committee presents a plaque during the annual conference to each award winner to acknowledge the innovation and each award winner can speak to the membership about its innovation at the Friday General Session.

This year, the Innovation Award Review Panel selected and awarded during the Friday Keynote general session the City and County of San Francisco as the recipient of the 2018 CSMFO Innovation Award:

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City and County of San Francisco – Fraud Hotline Outreach and Education Program The City and County’s Office of the Controller maintains a Whistleblower Program to field complaints from City and County employees, suppliers, contractors, grant recipients and members of the public. The City and County Controller serves as the chief auditor for the City and County and is responsible for maintaining the internal control environment. The Controller’s Office uses the information from the Whistleblower Program to assist in its risk assessment and the development of its audit plan.

In order for the Controller’s Office to receive useful complaints, users of the Whistleblower Program need to understand the types of information to report. The Controller’s Office implemented the Fraud Hotline Outreach and Education Program to provide information to the individuals who are most likely to submit a complaint.

The Controller’s Office developed a variety of materials to educate its audience, including one-page guides, videos and webinars. The one-page guides raise awareness of red flags associated with common occupational fraud schemes such as bid rigging, misuse of grant funds, and inventory theft.

The goal of the Fraud Hotline Outreach and Education Program was to educate its users so that they would be more comfortable in making complaints and providing information on improprieties that are reportable events.

The materials have helped to minimize reports that do not involve wrongdoing or lack sufficient information for follow-up. As a result, the Controller’s Office helped increased the percentage of complaints closed from 31 percent in fiscal year 2013-14 to 41 percent in fiscal year 2016-17.

Consider Implementing This Innovation in Your Local Government!

CSMFO established its award programs to recognize best practices and to encourage all local governments to consider implementing them. The Recognition Committee is proud to recognize the 2018 Innovation Award winner and its contribution to local government finance. If you are interested in implementing these best practices in your own local government, visit the CSMFO website at www.csmfo.org/about/programs for more information about this innovation.

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About the Author: Craig Boyer is the senior advisor of the Recognition Committee and former chair of the Professional Standards and Recognition Committee. Craig chaired the committee during the implementation of CSMFO’s new award management software, Award Force.

Craig currently works at the County of Alameda as a Division Chief in the Auditor-Controller Agency. Craig has spent time in the Internal Audit, Special Projects and General Accounting units focusing on audit, accounting and financial reporting issues. Prior to working at the County of Alameda, Craig worked in the Finance Department at the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, which is responsible for the development of the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco.

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Keynote Speaker - Take Away from Members CSMFO 61ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE – RIVERSIDE 2018

Written By David Cain

Below you will find some of the key takeaways from each of the keynote speakers at the 61st CSMFO Annual Conference at Riverside Convention Center, California. This conference left lasting impressions for everyone in attendance. It was truly a story of a “Mission Possible” that can be reached through courage, tenacity, vision, and resilience.

David Cain, Member of the 2018 Annual Conference Host Committee & Senior Advisor Communications Committee, Retired Director of Finance – Adjunct Professor CSUN & CSULB

“The real tragedy of life is when man is afraid of the light!”

– Carey Lohrenz

“Things are different than the last time I talked with CSMFO” – Chris Thornberg

“You were born to be Brilliant” – Simon T. Bailey

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CAREY LOHRENZ Carey was our 2018 opening session keynote speaker who spoke about her personal experience as the first female F-14 Tomcat Fighter Pilot in the U.S. Navy.

Carey’s career is a story of a “Mission Possible” not only because of her courage, tenacity, vision, and resilience, but as she shared, because of her commitment to “finding a third way”.

Some key points from her keynote: • Feel the fear and go forward anyway.

• It takes an entire team to get the job done.

• Focus on what matters.

• You need to find a third way . . . . Carve a new path.

Fearless Leadership includes courage, tenacity, integrity, vision, culture, resilience - prepare / perform / prevail.

Fearless leadership does not develop in an instant; it develops over the course of time.

For the next 30 days, think about what is possible and then start taking action to make your dreams, your future, a reality; you must do something different for this to happen.

We are only here for a little while. No matter where you are in the leadership journey, risk more, worry less, and don’t settle. Be fearless.

• Not taking a risk can be the biggest risk you can take.

• Face your fears.

• It not who is right but what is right.

• Personal discipline – you cannot focus on everyone else. Think about what you can do better.

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CHRIS THORNBERG Chris continues to be CSFMO’s most sought after economist. As always, his information is educational and he is entertaining, even as he talks a thousand miles per hour! Chris is Founding Partner of Beacon Economics, LLC.

The Great Disconnect

Some Key Points from Chris’ presentation:

What we are worried about

What we should be worried about

The number of jobs

The number of workers

Who pays for healthcare

What are we paying for?

The Inland Empire is yet again an economy on the move. Currently the fastest growing major economy in the state in terms of employment.

Tax Levels

Tax Structure

There are more jobs than people to fill them. As of late 2016, the U.S. labor market was effectively at full employment.

Income Inequalityt

Wealth Inequality

Funded Govt. Liabilities

Unfunded Govt. Liabilities

Business investment

A lack of public investment

Inflation

Slow lending

The cost of CA Housing

The supply of CA housing

Despite the political environment that has characterized 2017, both the U.S. and California economies are expected to continue along a slow, steady growth trajectory in 2018.

Great information about California’s economy – it’s not so bad.

Stop Dissin’ the Housing Market – Set it Free!

Economic development should be driven by careful empirical analysis.

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SIMON T. BAILEY Simon T. Bailey was the final keynote speaker but did not lack enthusiasm or energy, and provided a long list of take away lessons. Simon is the author of the book Shift Your Brilliance: Harness the Power of You.

Being at 80% in life is ok. It is better than trying to get to 100% and never getting anything done at all.

Some Key Thoughts from Simon’s keynote:

If you are a hippo, you need cheetahs in your life and if you are a cheetah you hippos. We need each other.

Simon asked us why we are here.

Let it go. Shift your thinking.

Do we have a 20 year personal strategic plan?

Take what you learn and share it with someone else.

(We did just that during his keynote)

Do we have 3 to 5 people that can get us to think...to truly challenge us.

Change is your friend. Be changed by change.

From his book Shift Your Brilliance, Bailey shared five steps to clear vision:

Simon also shared a very recent and personal experience. We need to make sure that as we climb the ladder it is on the right house. Take time with your family.

1. See it. Visualize who you want to be and what you want your life to be like.

2. Write it. Take the picture that’s in your mind and put words, expressions, and feelings to it.

3. Read it. When you wake up each morning, read your vision aloud and meditate on it.

4. Say it. When you speak your vision, say it with power, emotion, and conviction.

5. Act it. Start believing, behaving, and acting as if your vision has already come true.

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Volunteer of the Year KARLA CAMPOS

Written By Drew Corbett

Drew Corbett

Chapter Chair for the Coachella Valley Chapter, where Karla revived a chapter that had been inactive for years. Some of the notable quotes regarding Karla’s leadership of the Coachella Valley Chapter include:

CSMFO’s volunteers are truly amazing. During my year as the organization’s President, I got to see first-hand how dedicated and hard working our volunteers are and how much we rely on them.

Shortly after the 2017 Annual Conference in Sacramento, the CSMFO Executive Committee, which consists of the President, President-Elect, Past President, and Executive Director, had a discussion about how we could better recognize our volunteers, and Executive Director Melissa Dixon floated the idea of presenting a Volunteer of the Year Award. With the Board enthusiastically approving this new award, we solicited nominations from CSMFO leadership in the fall of 2017, and the Executive Committee selected Karla Campos as the inaugural Volunteer of the Year Award winner.

“The Chapter is now thriving and in my opinion is a real success story for CSMFO, largely as a result of Karla’s passion and commitment to CSMFO and the members in the Coachella Valley” “She comes to the table with ideas for improving the chapter experience through suggestions like using excess chapter funding for conference scholarships” “In addition to having strong support from the Chapter membership, Ms. Campos has garnered attendance from numerous City Managers in our area…one meeting had three City Managers in attendance.”

Leading an active chapter takes a lot of hard work and dedication, and Karla’s efforts to revitalize the Coachella Valley Chapter are truly inspiring.

Understanding how she came to become so dedicated to CSMFO, however, is even more inspiring.

“I attended several chapter meetings early in my career before I received a full conference scholarship in 2012. The conference opened my eyes to the energy and enthusiasm represented at CSMFO. I grasped how every position makes a difference, and confirmed my love and dedication to municipal finance. Today, I want others to reignite their flames and for new members to feel welcome and find their passion as finance professionals.”

Karla’s efforts on behalf of CSMFO in 2017 earned her nominations from three different members of the CSMFO leadership. Each nomination highlighted her efforts as the

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When asked about her motivation to be so involved and active with CSMFO, Karla replied, “The organization has shaped my career, from Account Technician to Finance Director, leader, and mentor.

Volunteering is my way of saying ‘Thank You’ to CSMFO.”

events during the stunning winter months where we all wanted to enjoy the sunny outdoors; and in the smoldering heat of summer when we seemed to melt.

Through it all, you smiled, were engaged, passionate about teaching and learning, and supportive of me and CSMFO. There is increased engagement and collaboration among the 13 cities in our chapter because of you. Thank you!!”

When asked to summarize her feeling about receiving this award, Karla responded just how those who knew thought she might, humbly. “I have been given the great honor of receiving the first inaugural CSMFO Volunteer of the Year Award for 2017, but I must acknowledge the numerous, and engaged, volunteers at CSMFO. It’s with humble gratitude that I thank these men and women.” She continued, “My involvement in CSMFO is possible because I work with a dedicated team and supportive City Manager.”

It was a true pleasure for me to be able to present Karla with the inaugural Volunteer of the Year Award for 2017 in my last action as the organization’s President.

Karla truly epitomizes what is so great about CSMFO, and I hope that her story and words of advice will make you consider getting involved with CSMFO as a volunteer.

Karla also had some great advice for our members who may be interested in volunteering with CSMFO but may be hesitant about getting involved. “You do not need to be a director or manager to be a leader and make a difference in CSMFO. In fact, being a volunteer is a great way to gain leadership skills and formulate lasting relationships. I invite you to volunteer. There are numerous opportunities. Find the one that’s right for your passion.“ Karla closed with more appreciation for those who have supported her Chapter by offering thanks to the numerous vendors, speakers, and CSMFO members who come to the Coachella Valley Chapter Meetings.

“I especially appreciate those who came in those early days of the Chapter’s resurrection. We hosted training 35

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CSMFO Instructor Spotlight: Ahmed Badawi

Written By Carol Bouchard

Carol Bouchard

Ahmed Badawi

Can you talk about your career path that led you to municipal finance? How did you get involved in municipal accounting?

accounting, new employees or anyone who would like a refresher course to brush up their government accounting knowledge

I started my career with Ernest & Young, one of the big 4 accounting firms in their tax department. I joined them as a seasonal employee for their busy season with the hope of eventually being offered a permanent position. I didn’t get the offer and as devastated as I was at the time, it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. Shortly after, I received an offer from another CPA firm that specialized in municipal auditing. That’s how I started my career in municipal finance and it turned out to be a very rewarding and fulfilling career.

The interaction with the students and the feeling of fulfillment when I feel that the students enjoyed the class and learned something new

What do you wish you’d known when you began working in municipal finance?

What do you like best about teaching for CSMFO?

What would you like every student in your classes to remember?

The numbers always tell a story. They have to be able to understand the story behind the numbers What do you do for fun? Hiking, running and working out, traveling and spending time with family Do you volunteer anywhere besides CSMFO? I served on the board of several nonprofits and chaired some of their audit committees. Most recently I was a board member chair of the Audit Committee of the San Francisco SPCA. However, due to time limitation, I have not been able to volunteer much now.

What is your favorite food? I like French cuisine What is one thing that people would be surprised to learn about you?

That I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa which is 19,341ft high even though I am very afraid of heights.

How much municipal finance impacts everyone’s life on daily basis from the streets we drive on to our safety and security, our education, leisure and recreation and to our investment and retirement.

Do you have a favorite quote?

If you reach for the sky, at least you will land next to the stars How long have you been a CSMFO member?

Since February 2004

Why did you start teaching the Introduction to Governmental Accounting class?

What do you expect will be the biggest challenges to municipal finance in the future?

I believe that the ballooning unfunded liability of the retirement benefits and the deteriorating condition of infrastructure assets will put financial strain on local governments in the future. I also believe that pension reform, even though necessary, will limit the local governments ability to recruit and retain top finance talents which will eventually impact the quality of municipal finance and accounting.

I like teaching and I felt that this will be a good way to give back to the municipal finance community that has given me so much.

Who should attend this class?

Anyone who want to make the transition from private sector accounting to government 40

IN 2019 THINGS’LL GET BRIGHTER...

ome

Awes

l. 62 o V Mix e c n e er Conf

JANUARY 8 – 11, 2019 PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA 41 CSMFO MAGAZINE MARCH 2018

INSIDE CSMFO

CSMFO Shines a Spotlight On: Brent Mason

Written By James Russell-Field

else). In-between, we always have bankruptcy items that need resolution.

Tell the readers a little bit about yourself…

James Russell-Field, City of Thousand Oaks

Brent Mason, Director of Finance, City of San Bernardino

I grew up in the Inland Empire – San Bernardino specifically, which is very ironic that that is where I am now working due to an unusual set of circumstances!

I studied Accounting at Biola University in La Mirada, CA and worked in public accounting for 4 years, primarily with Price Waterhouse. I made the transition into the municipal world in Rialto, CA where I served as the Assistant Finance Director for three years. I moved to Riverside as the Controller, then the Assistant Finance Director and then finally as the CFO for the last 6 years of a 22-year period. For the last two years, I have served as the Director of Finance for the City of San Bernardino.

When and why did you first join CSMFO? I started attending CSMFO in the late 80’s while I was with Price Waterhouse working on the City of Riverside audit. When I joined the City of Rialto I officially became a part of the CSMFO family in 1991.

What have you worked on in the last month?

What aspect(s) of your job do you enjoy the most?

I enjoy helping folks navigate the “highways and byways” of the financial jungle for which they see the Finance Department. I love fiddling with the numbers on the budget side of the house. I like understanding the story within the numbers, then being able to relate it to the masses – of course good news is much easier to “relate” than bad news! Lastly, I absolutely love being able to be part of the solution to bring the resources to a project that needs them…this is typically the financing part of the job.

What has been your favorite project in your career?

Being able to help put the financing together for the approximately $1.5B Renaissance Initiative the City of Riverside undertook to remake itself was maybe the most technically enjoyable project, but getting to work on the wrap up of the bankruptcy in San Bernardino has been fascinating as well. I’ll call it a tie!

What is the most challenging situation you’ve faced in your career?

Stepping into City of San Bernardino ’s bankruptcy wind down and trying to get up to speed (and not look dumb at the same time) with a process that was in high gear to help bring the bankruptcy to “exit” last June 15th. I’m sure there are others that were equally challenging, but I’m too old to remember them!

What are some of the important issues you foresee in the future of California finance?

Figuring out what we’re going to do with the escalating PERS costs. Even if we can eventually get the costs funded with “sales tax add-ons” or other budgetary actions, the greater question, to me, is “should we be committing this level of funding to benefits?” PERS costs are going to continue to ramp up for most of the next decade and that doesn’t seem sustainable. I think, generally, PERS is making intelligent decisions to shore up the funding for the benefits they are committed to paying at this point, but as much as I hate to say it, I don’t know if we can continue to provide that level of benefits going forward, even for “classic employees.”

I have worked on wrapping up our 2016-17 audit. This is a big deal as it involves all the bankruptcy related accounting entries since related to the exit from bankruptcy on June 15, 2017. I should have suggested to the bankruptcy team that we wait three more weeks to exit because then and I’d already be done with the audit! We also kicked off the 2018-19 Budget (like everyone 42

Do you have a favorite quote?

It’s from the Bible, but is equally applicable whether that’s your thing or not. “Let your yes be yes and your no be no.” It speaks to having integrity in your speech and allowing others to see your character. Doing what you say you are going to do…when I’m not able to do so, it disappoints me deeply.

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, what actor/actress would you like to see cast as you?

I want to say Denzel Washington, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Tom Hanks would be my choice, but I’d probably wind up with Danny DeVito, or such…

Trusted .

I n n o va tiv e.

Simply being OUTSIDE OF WORK! Actually, I enjoy almost anything when I’m doing it with my kids and grandkids…I have 12 kids and one on the way (adoption). Four are natural sons/daughters and the other 9 (all girls) are adopted. Complicating things they all have some form of special needs, ranging from mild to very severe. Thus doing activities away from home - even getting to church on Sunday - is quite a challenge. We do simple things like picnics and visiting other family. Two of the girls have been gifted special needs cycles by a not-for-profit group called Dare To Be. Their mission is to give kids such as ours an opportunity to get moving and push themselves to do things they might not otherwise have been able to do. They host “bike races” (usually in big church parking lots) and we take the girls. They put them through timed laps of the course and it’s all “very real” for them. They are part of Team Dare To Be, with jerseys and sponsors, etc. And I usually get a free Chick-fil-A sandwich out of it each time! :)

C o mprehensi v e.

WILLDAN

What do you enjoy outside of work?

www.willdan.com 43

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SPONSORS & EXHIBITORS DIAMOND JUBILEE

DIAMOND

SAPPHIRE Bank of America Merrill Lynch Stifel

PL ATINUM

GOLD

Chandler Asset Management Fieldman, Rolapp & Associates, Inc. HdL Companies Manufacturers Bank MuniServices PFM Asset Management, LLC Spicer Consulting Group The Pun Group U.S. Bank White Nelson Diehl Evans LLP Willdan Financial Services Wilmington Trust, N.A.

Best Best & Krieger BLX Group LLC BNY Mellon Davis Farr LLP Fidelity Investments First Empire Securities Insight Investment Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Inc. Maze & Associates MuniTemps NBS Questica Budget Richards | Watson I Gershon Rogers, Anderson Malody & Scott LLP Vavrinek Trine Day and Company 46

SILVER Accela AccuFund Albert A. Webb Associates Association Reserves Bank of the West BBVA Compass BerryDunn Brandis Tallman, LLC Brown Armstrong Accountancy Corporation Build America Mutual California Asset Management Program CalPERS CaseWare International Inc. Citizens Business Bank ClientFirst Technology Consulting DataProse Billing Solutions David Taussig & Associates, Inc. DivDat Empower Retirement Fitch Ratings FTN Financial Main Street Advisors GovInvest Inc GovSpend Holman Capital Corporation

InfoSend, Inc. Jones Hall, APPLC KNN Public Finance Lincoln Financial Group MUFG Union Bank, N.A. Multi-Bank Securities, Inc. NexLevel Information Technology, Inc. OpenGov, Inc. Oracle PARS Payment Service Network, Inc. Paymentus Piper Jaffray Plante Moran Raymond James Revenue & Cost Specialists, LLC RSG, Inc. SoftResources LLC Superion The Complus Group Trane Turbo Data Systems, Inc. Zions Bank

BRONZE

GOLF SP ONSORS

Bartel Associates, LLC California Municipal Treasurers Assn.

California Special Districts Alliance Can/Am Technologies, Inc. Caselle CGI ClearSource Financial Consulting Government Portfolio Advisors Harmari by LTAS ICMA-RC Information Services Group Keenan & Associates Lumesis, Inc. MV Cheng & Associates Nyhart Promontory Interfinancial Network, LLC Public Trust Advisors Rahban CPA Consulting, Inc. SAFEChecks SCI Consulting Group Simpler Systems Thales Consulting, Inc. Utility Cost Management LLC Van Iwaarden Associates

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TENNIS SP ONSORS Bank of the West LSL CPA’s Oracle

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THANK YOU!

49 CSMFO MAGAZINE MARCH 2018

INSIDE CSMFO

CSMFO Super Chapter Meeting

Written By Richard Lee

Richard Lee, CSMFO Peninsula Chapter Chair, South San Francisco Director of Finance

On February 6, 2018, over 130 members from the Peninsula and East Bay CSMFO Chapters met for a super chapter meeting at the Hayward Veterans Memorial Building. We were fortunate to have a panel comprised of experts from the actuarial and academic worlds on hand to discuss pension liabilities - namely, John Bartel, President of Bartel Associates, and Dr. Joe Nation from Stanford University.

policies, such as asset valuation, discount rate, and amortization period. Dr. Nation shared an example of a $32M market loss using public sector amortization policies that illustrated the impact via negative amortization and delayed cost recognition. Dr. Nation shared viable policy options to address pension liability issues, including adopting more “private-sector like” benefits, akin to Governor Brown’s initial pension reform efforts in 2012. In October of 2017, SIEPR issued a working paper Pension Math: Public Pension Spending and Service Crowd Out in California, 20032030, available at https://siepr.stanford.edu/sites/ default/files/publications/17-023.pdf.

Dr. Nation’s presentation, Pension Tracker and Other Tools for Managing the Pension Crisis, described the genesis of the Pension Tracker project, and conveyed the takeaways of SIEPR’s Going for Broke: Reforming California’s Public Employee Pension Systems. He shared various firms’ interest earnings projections over the next two decades, including McKinsey, Blackrock, the St. Louis Federal Reserve, and Wilshire, one of CalPERS’ financial advisors.

Juxtaposing the projected low interest climate with CalPERS’ recent decision to shorten the amortization of investment gains and losses from 30 to 20 years poses a significant burden to CalPERS’ member agencies.

John Bartel’s presentation provided an overview of the recent League of California Cities pension study and CalPERS Actuarial Issues. In particular, his presentation provided projected employer contribution rates for Fiscal Year (FY) 2024-25, which reflect the impact of the discount rate reduction from 7.5 to 7.0 percent.

Of the 447 miscellaneous pension plans in CalPERS, the majority (92), are projected to have an employer contribution rate between 29-33 percent in FY 202425. Of the 333 safety plans in CalPERS, nearly onethird (103), are projected to have contribution rates between 51-60 percent. The average miscellaneous employer contribution rate in FY 2018-19 will be 27.3 percent, and is projected to grow to 34.6 percent by FY 2024-25, while the average safety plan employer contribution rate in FY 2018-19 is 47.3 percent, projected to increase to 60.2 percent in FY 2024-25.

Dr. Nation’s Pension Tracker (pensiontracker.org) project also provides context for California’s pension liability dilemma on a national level. For example, California’s $122,121 market pension debt per household is only second to Alaska ($144,862) as of 2016. He also compared various major components of private sector and public sector funding 50

Mr. Bartel stated that mature cities with a large retiree liability, where retirees comprise greater than a majority of the actuarial liability (greater than 60 percent for miscellaneous plans and greater than 65 percent for safety plans), and/or enhanced benefit formulas for classic employees, would generally have higher employer contribution rates.

As such, by FY 2024-25, mature cities are expected to have an average employer contribution rate for miscellaneous plans of 39.4 percent, compared to an average of 32.7 percent for less mature cities. Mature cities with safety plans are anticipated to have an average employer contribution rate of 67.5 percent by FY 2024-25, compared to an average of 52.3 for less mature cities.

The CalPERS pension survey noted that in FY 200607, pension contribution costs represented 7 to 10 percent of the General Fund for a majority of responding entities. By FY 2024-25, the majority of responding entities project that employer pension contributions will represent 15 to 18 percent of General Fund budget. In this regard, the survey results presented by Mr. Bartel and Dr. Nation’s work with SIEPR agree: CalPERS pension costs will require a greater share of available funding in the near future, and member agencies will need to make very difficult decisions of how best to address this funding shift.

Satjit Dale, Carol Garcia, and Marquis Tucker, as well as Jennifer Wakeman and Justine Buenaflor.

The next super chapter meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 17, 2018, with CSMFO’s own Michael Coleman presenting. See you there and then!

About the speakers Dr. Nation is a Professor of the Practice of Public Policy at Stanford University. He directs the graduate student Practicum in public policy, and teaches policy courses on climate change, health care, and California state issues. His current research is focused on public finance and public employee pensions. Dr. Nation is also the Project Director of the California Pension Tracker (http://ca.pensiontracker. org/) project of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR).

Mr. Bartel discussed various solutions for member agencies to consider, including contributing additional funds to CalPERS, establishing a reserve within an internal service fund, or establishing a Section 115 trust fund. He advocated for the state legislature to allow member agencies to negotiate lower benefit accruals and for CalPERS to permit hardship contribution rates if member agencies meet certain requirements – 1) Specify that CalPERS’ contribution rates will push the agency into bankruptcy and 2) The agency’s legislative body adopts the resolution in open session.

John Bartel, President of Bartel Associates, is one of two actuaries appointed by former Governor Schwarzenegger to the California Actuarial Advisor Panel (CAAP) formerly under SB 1123, tasked with providing impartial and independent information on pensions, other post-employment benefits, and best practices to California public agencies. He was a member of the special task force which assisted the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) in drafting Statements No. 43 and 45, and he was also on the advisory task force for the GASB project, revising and updating GASB 45 (which resulted in GASB 75).

Following the presentations, Dr. Nation and Mr. Bartel responded to a number of questions and comments from the audience, which included CSMFO members, elected officials, and city managers from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

Thank you to Dr. Joe Nation and John Bartel, our speakers for the CSMFO super chapter meeting, for sharing their expertise and insight into the challenges of public pension liability. Our appreciation to those that helped make the super chapter meeting happen – Craig Boyer and the team from Alameda County – 51

CSMFO MAGAZINE MARCH 2018

INSIDE CSMFO

The President’s Dinner

Written By Steve Heide

Steve Heide,

Hosted by 2018 CSMFO President Margaret Moggia, CFO for the West Basin Municipal Water District, the annual President’s Dinner was once again a fantastic opportunity to honor the past presidents of CSMFO. The annual event also celebrated and recognized the efforts of current volunteers, while acknowledging the generous support of commercial sponsors. Some 140 honorees and guests gathered at the historic Mission Inn Hotel and Spa in Riverside on February 20, 2018, to celebrate the unofficial kick-off of the 59th annual CSMFO Conference, which took place February 21 through February 23 at the neighboring Riverside Convention Center.

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According to the Mission Inn’s website, the historic hotel began as a quaint adobe boarding house in 1876 and blossomed into a full-service hotel in the early 1900’s, thanks to California’s economic citrus boom and warm weather, attracting wealthy travelers and investors from the East Coast and Europe.

Although its Spanish mission-style architecture suggests a possible connection to the iconic Spanish missions of California, that is not the case. However, the Mission Inn, with its 238 guestrooms, including 27 unique suites, has played host to several U.S. Presidents over the years, including most recently George W. Bush.

President Moggia welcomed attendees at a pre-dinner reception in the Rotunda Wing of the hotel. “It is my pleasure to have so many honored guests here this evening in what has been a time-honored tradition,” Margaret explained. “Tonight’s gathering serves us twofold: First, to recognize our past presidents who have come before us and served CSMFO over the years; and second, to bring them together for an evening of fellowship with the current leadership.”

Bob Biery, past president from 1984, then of Thousand Oaks and now of Westlake Village, introduced the past presidents in attendance. In reverse chronological order, Bob started with the most recent past president, Drew Corbett, from San Mateo, and ended with himself. In between, Bob introduced and acknowledged the other 14 past presidents who were able to join the evening’s festivities. Pam ArendsKing, CFO for the South Coast Water District, and 2014 CSMFO President remarked, “The President’s Dinner is a chance to network and share what CSMFO has accomplished over the past year. It is a celebration of our efforts and a time to enjoy each other’s company. The setting at the Mission Inn was beautiful and unique, and the food and drinks were fantastic.”

Given the Mission Inn’s rich tradition of having proudly hosted several U.S. Presidents, there was a certain irony in the selection of the hotel as the site for the 2018 President’s Dinner. As President Moggia announced to those gathered that evening, “Let me begin by extending my heartfelt appreciation to be able to serve in the role of President for CSMFO. I know that it is through this organization that I have grown personally and professionally, and this is why I dedicate this conference and the year to celebrate our Mission Possible – to collaborate, innovate and achieve together.” Well said, President Moggia. Here’s to a fantastic mission possible for CSMFO and its members in 2018!

About the Author

After the opening reception, guests transitioned to the elegant Duane’s Prime Steaks and Seafood Restaurant, also on property at the Mission Inn, for great food and an opportunity to visit with old and new friends.

The evening’s pre-fixe menu at the AAA-rated, fourdiamond restaurant featured a choice of double bone-in pork chops, grilled Scottish salmon, prime filet tenderloin or vegetarian risotto. Grace Castaneda, Budget Manager for the City of San Mateo, and Chair of the Membership Committee said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the President’s Dinner. The food was fantastic, and the company was even better. I got to reconnect with people that I only get to see during the annual conferences. President Margaret Moggia hosted a great event for us to relax, laugh, and break bread together.”

Steve Heide is the Finance Director for the Chino Valley Fire District, located in Chino Hills, California.

Steve has been an active CSMFO member for nearly fifteen years. He is a member of the CSMFO Board of Directors and has served as the Inland Empire chapter chair. He has also held a number of leadership positions on various CSMFO committees. Steve has over thirty years of professional finance experience, having earned his CPA certificate in public accounting and having worked in various positions in private industry and non-profits prior to joining the Fire District in 2004. Steve is a frequent contributor to the CSMFO Magazine and enjoys traveling, spending time with family and friends, and following Los Angeles Kings hockey in his off time.

53 CSMFO MAGAZINE MARCH 2018

INSIDE CSMFO

A Behind The Scenes Look At Making Missions Possible

Written By David Blue Garrison

David Blue Garrison, Creative Director, CSMFO

The 2018 CSMFO Conference marks my third with the organization and I can now say it truly felt like a family reunion. How exciting to see all of the familiar faces smiling and excited to get another fun few days started. Back at the CSMFO headquarters we’ve been building designs, planning the events and ensuring all the attendees are ready to experience both a fun and informative conference.

The theme of Mission: Possible was a challenging one as we wanted to convey both secretagent aspects of the TV show and movies as well as Margaret’s message of anything being possible through collaboration, innovation and striving toward specific achievements. For us,

what we wanted to accomplish was a solid design and the themed events to complement.

In early 2017, among the many fun spy-esque things circling our brains, we were drafting short films that focused on two agents (codenamed Agent Red and Agent Blue…can you guess who was going to play them?) and in these videos we would be teasing the Explore Mission Inn event and the keynotes. We even toyed with the idea of enlisting people like Drew Corbett, Margaret Moggia and John Adams to play certain characters. How fun would that have been?

Ultimately, we scrapped the idea when scheduling the shoots and contract demands (Agent Blue) became problematic… but I’m really looking forward to having a Hollywood-themed conference… just saying.

The first thing we do when designing the CSMFO Conference is the logo. Once the Host Committee approved the ‘scoped’ Mission: Possible logo we began working on the Sponsorship & Exhibitor Prospectus. For me, this is the most exciting because what is created in this publication informs the rest of the conference. I put on some energizing music and laid out Candy Retamoza’s text. (Isn’t she the best?)

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CALIFORNIA SOCIET Y of MUNICIPAL FINANCE OFFICERS

2018 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

This year the Prospectus had been out for less than 24 hours and we sold two Diamond Jubilee sponsorships. I believe that is both a testament to CSMFO’s reputation and the great relationship Candy has with our supporters.

What comes next are online promotions and making the conference website engaging and informative.

Audie Whitt takes the approved design elements and constructs a website that reflects all our efforts. This is the first impression of the conference to our members and we want to make it a good one. (I’m especially in love with Guardians Of The Finance Galaxy one right now…. With the moving galaxy and stars… so cool!) We communicate with the phenomenal Program Committee to give everyone an idea of what sessions they can expect to see. It’s a constantly evolving project, almost until the day of the conference as we are updating it to reflect new sponsors, new sessions and opportunities.

ONSITE PROGRAM

Collaborate • Innovate • Achieve

Collaborate • Innovate • Achieve

times. It’s the crazy before the storm (that’s right, there really is no calm) and seeing how Marisa, Teri, Janet and Candy move from room to room making all the magic happen is incredible. I do my best to stay out of their way, ask little questions and make sure they’re eating.

Now the fun really gets going as the Thursday Night Event has taken full shape and we are finalizing the program. This is when Melissa Dixon and Marisa Anticevich come at me with unusual requests, but always fun: “Create a CSMFO wine label”, “Turn this photo of Margaret into a painting”, “Create logos for magnifying glasses, letter openers, computer bags and umbrellas”.

Wednesday morning all the signs are up, the booths are stocked and the members come in to what we call the Wednesday morning rush. Everyone is smiling and excited. People are hugging, reuniting after a year and eager to get started. As a designer, there’s nothing more satisfying than seeing people holding the printed programs, reading the signs and excited about the coming days. There were little touches of Mission: Possible elements everywhere. (Did you catch the Morse Code in the program? Or the hidden message on the cover of the last three issues of this magazine?)

About three weeks before the conference it becomes program and signage time. We take the 50+-page word document and dump it all into InDesign utilizing a year’s worth of collaborated ideas. Harriet Commons and Marisa are especially crucial to this stage in the process. It’s a lot of editing back and forth to polish the content. This is where Dropbox really comes in handy!

After several days (I believe this year being the fastest it came together, thanks Harriet!) it is sent off to the printer and we put our focus on all the signage and the small square tickets for your name badges… which we stuff here in our office… all 2,000 of them… by hand… with a lot of coffee!

Everything was perfect this year (even if Marisa did confuse James Bond for Mission: Impossible). That final day in the general session when Simon T. Bailey was wrapping up his wonderful message… I was standing there with Teri and I felt that we were both proud of how everything had turned out. And for the first time ever, we announced the theme and even the logo for the upcoming conference. Guardians! I cannot wait to see what this amazing team comes up with. I can only imagine the crazy things I’ll be designing…

And finally, we come to the conference. All day Tuesday we are running around, prepping the registration booth, ensuring rooms are ready to go, board members are getting checked into rooms okay and that Janet Salvetti knows where her phone is at all 55

CSMFO MAGAZINE MARCH 2018

INSIDE CSMFO

Operation – Explore Mission Inn

Written By James Russell-Field

James Russell-Field, City of Thousand Oaks

The photo booth in the Grand Parisian Ballroom caught my eye while I was browsing the Thursday event schedule earlier in the day. I was expecting the ‘standard’ photo booth, where you cram people in a small box and take four photos. Instead, I was greeted with a green screen that placed your image over stills from Tom Cruise “Mission: Impossible” movies. The green screen was definitely one of the many highlights of the night! Sorry to anyone who had to wait while we fit as many people as we could in the helicopter photo!

As soon as you walk into the Mission Inn you can tell there’s a lot of history worth exploring, solely based on the architecture.

If you are like me, you might have done some inadvertent exploring simply trying to find your way around! Luckily, CSMFO set up ‘Operation: Explore Mission Inn” to give the opportunity to (intentionally) explore, enjoy some great food, and network!

As the hours passed, the ballroom filled up with folks eager to show off their moves and dance the night away! You couldn’t tell that everyone had sat through a day of sessions on Section 115 irrevocable trusts, GASB updates, or infrastructure funding. Everyone was ready to have a good time! Despite the long day of learning everyone kept the party going strong until midnight (or later).

Navigating the Mission Inn was like wandering through an architect and artist’s maze.

Everywhere I walked there was something unique and beautiful to look at. And even though I didn’t always know exactly where I was going, I always found my way to the food in the end! From the Spanish tapas to a spread of Italian pasta I filled up a plate (or more) at each station while I took in the sights. It was unique to see stir fry made right in front of the doors to the St. Francis of Assisi Chapel. It’s hard to top a view like that while you wait for dinner!

The levels of Mission Inn bustled with California’s finance professionals moving through each station to grab something to eat, while musicians and dancers put on shows to showcase various cultural highlights. David de Alva’s flamenco performance was a personal highlight for me. As a strictly amateur guitar player I’m always in awe of talented musicians who can make playing guitar look so simple!

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We are fortunate to have an organization that can organize interesting and informative sessions during the day and then turn around and throw a great party at night. A big thanks to everyone who helped make “Operation: Explore Mission Inn” a success. I had a great time exploring Mission Inn on Thursday, and was glad to get the chance to meet some new people and catch up with old friends. I hope everyone had the opportunity to do the same, and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the 2019 CSMFO Annual Conference in Palm Springs!

About The Author James Russell-Field relocated from Salt Lake City, Utah to become a Senior Accountant with the City of Thousand Oaks. He misses his towering mountains, but loves the Southern California sunshine!

57 CSMFO MAGAZINE MARCH 2018

INSIDE CSMFO

Annual CSMFO Golf Tournament - Riverside, California

Written By Ernie Reyna

Ernie Reyna

It was a chilly start to the day on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 when golfers showed up at 9:00 A.M. for check-in. As golfers began to arrive at the Riverside Victoria Club, they used the opportunity to head over to the driving range for those last-minute practice swings before the shotgun start at 10:00 A.M. The effects of a cold start quickly wore off as the golfers began to move around and head to their golf carts in search of their starting positions.

Many people might not know, but before CSMFO’s Annual Conference even begins, there is an opportunity to network and have fun in an outdoor setting at the annual golf tournament. For the 2018 Annual Conference in Riverside, the tournament took place at one of Southern California’s oldest and most prestigious clubs: Victoria Club.

The Riverside Victoria Club is a private club that opened way back on October 16, 1903. The club itself sits on 130 acres of lush golf course; and on that picturesque Tuesday in February, golfers could not have asked for a more perfect start to the tournament and CSMFO conference.

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In total, 64 players were signed up for the tournament, which meant 16 foursomes were ready to take to the greens to compete for fun, others for pride, while others were in it for the networking opportunities.

As the day progressed, the temperature warmed up to about 60 degrees. And after about five hours of playing time on the field, it was time to head over to the club house for some light refreshments and announcement of the awards. When it came to keeping score, it was each foursome’s duty to track their own scores. Each of the four players had an opportunity to hit the ball, but the best part of this type of tournament is that only the best shot, or “best ball,” was used for scoring. Of course, this allowed for those of us who are novice players to have fun and not worry about how bad our shots truly were!

First place of the tournament went to the foursome of Robert Smith of Moody’s Investors Service, John Delarey of Wilmington Trust, Mike Cavanaugh of Hilltop Securities, and Phillip Curls of Hilltop Securities.

With the 2018 Annual golf tournament in Riverside in the books, golfers should be prepared for next year when the conference shifts to beautiful Palm Springs.

Make sure to mark your calendars for January 8th, 2019!

Second place of the tournament belonged to the foursome of Jonathan Foster of Davis Farr LLP, Dean Votava of Davis Farr LLP, Rusty Steele of The Payment Group, and Rod Wilkinson of CalPERS. As for personal achievement, golfers competed in two categories: closest to the pin and longest drive. Five players got closest to the pin including Matt Schenk, Mike Cavanaugh, Brandon Young, James Kissane, and J’On Dennis. Lastly, the longest drive of the day belonged to Bobby Young.

Commercial sponsors included: Public Financial Management (PFM); Hilltop Securities, Inc.; Jones Hall; Lance Soll Lunghard, CPA’s; PARS; Rogers, Anderson, Malody, & Scott, LLP; Stifel; Vavrinek, Trine, Day, & Co., LLP; HdL Companies; and Moody’s Investors Service.

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INSIDE CSMFO

Advantage Riverside: Bank of the West’s Tennis Mixer THE 7TH ANNUAL SETS A NEW RECORD WITH 24 PLAYERS Written by Pamela Arends-King and Marcus Pimentel The CSMFO Pre-Conference Bank of the West 7th Annual Tennis Mixer was a smashing success despite approaching shots of rain, hail, and wind the day before. The event quickly reached its maximum of 20 players, but with the help of the Tennis Pro, the mixer was held and four additional slots were added; which were also immediately sold out.

Scott Gorzeman of Wells Fargo Securities, the champion for the Flight B players, enjoyed starting the conference with this mixer. “It is always fun to start the CSMFO Conference with a chance to play tennis at some wonderful locations close to the actual conference location. Lily Ng, ‎of Bank of the West, always does such a wonderful job recruiting players and organizing and coordinating the tennis round robin ‎- it is always so enjoyable to get the chance to participate.” The finalist and third place winners in Flight B were Romi Selfaison of Greater Vallejo RPD and May Ann Rexroad of West Basin Municipal Water District.

The mixer was held at iTennis Riverside in Andulka Park on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 and was organized by Lily Ng, Director and Government Banking Manager for Bank of the West. Ms. Ng was overjoyed with this year’s reception stating, “we had a record number of nine new players that joined our mixer for the first time, and a record number of twelve A level players! I extend my congratulations to our 2018 Tennis Mixer players and winners!”

CSMFO congratulates and thanks our ace, Ms. Ng, for organizing the annual tennis mixer. It is her commitment to this annual event that earns it a clean hit winner by getting a record number of participants.

CSMFO also acknowledges all the event’s sponsors who rally together to ensure its success: Bank of the West, BNP Paribas, and Oracle.

“The CSMFO tennis tournament is always fun-filled and features a great mix of players from different agencies,” commented the champion for the Flight A players, Matt Jester, IT Manager from the City of Chino Hills. “I would like to thank Lily Ng (Bank of the West), Henrik Beijar (Oracle), BNP Paribas, and the iTennis pros at Andulka Park who made this event possible.”

The finalist and third place winner in Flight A were Curt de Crinis from CM de Crinis & Co and Roger Wang of the Ventura Police Department.

We invite everyone to attend next year’s mixer, tentatively planned down the line for Tuesday, January 8, 2019. Let’s make it a double bagel event!

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JOB OPPORTUNITIES Payroll and Finance Manager, City of Redondo Beach Salary Range: 6907-8925/month; 82884-107100/year Application Deadline: 22-Apr-18

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Finance Manager, Cityof Rialto Salary Range: $7,440-$9,971 Application Deadline: April 4, 2018, 6:00pm 62

MEET US IN ST. LOUIS! Join us for the CSMFO reception at the GFOA Annual Conference!

Saturday, May 6, 2018 8pm Magnolia, St. Louis

Visit the Events page at csmfo.org to sign up!

63 CSMFO MAGAZINE MARCH 2018

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