Timothy Firestine, chief administrative officer for Montgomery County, Md., and 34-year public finance veteran, will become the Government Finance Officers Association's new president on Tuesday.
Firestine will take the reins during the GFOA's annual business meeting and luncheon at the organization's national conference in San Francisco, where he will give his incoming president's address.
As president, Firestine said one of his main initiatives will be to continue to advocate against eliminating or capping municipal bond exemption this year.
"At a time when bridges are falling into rivers, our infrastructure maintenance problems being what they are in our facilities, and the need for mass transit and highways, we can't afford to lose the muni bond tax exemption," he said.
He will also continue to work with regulatory agencies on issues about disclosure and seeking clarification on the definition of municipal advisors.
The incoming president has already had an active role advocating for important issues in Washington, working closely with the GFOA's federal liaison center, testifying many times before house committees during the last two decades, and participating in MSRB round tables. He says he will make it a priority to continue in this role going forward.
Before becoming president elect of the GFOA, Firestine served as vice chair of the debt committee. He has been a member of the organization for 21 years, but has been using their standards throughout his entire career.
"It's a good place where I've gone to learn about public finance, using their best practices and publications," said Firestine. "So it's been a huge resource for the foundation of my career and I thought this would be an opportunity to give back."
The term lasts for one year, during which time Firestine has a lot he hopes to accomplish.
He will focus on keeping the GFOA a place for industry participants to network and learn, continuing to put out good information on accounting, budgeting and financial reporting, and to start focusing on the next generation of public finance professionals by providing network opportunities and mentor programs.
"There are some really smart people who know an awful lot about government finance in GFOA and the thing I always valued was when we would go to conferences," Firestine said. "I learned a lot just getting together with them and having the opportunity to hear how they manage their debt programs."
In addition to shaping initiatives, Firestine's main roles as president include running the association's three or four board meetings during the year, helping to appoint members to committees, and serving as an ambassador for the association.
GFOA is an international association, active in the U.S., Canada, and other countries.
"I also represent the organization throughout the year," Firestine said. "I attend some state association meetings where I'll make sure that people are aware of the GFOA and what it does."
Firestine began his career in public finance as budget officer for the Allegheny County Controller in Allegheny County, Penn. After a year, he went to work for Montgomery County, Maryland, in the office of management and budget in 1979. Firestine stayed there for 12 years before becoming the director of the department of finance in 1991. He has been chief administrative officer since 2006.
He received his bachelor's degree in political science from Albright College in Reading, Penn., and a master's in public administration from the University of Pittsburgh.
Firestine will be taking over for the GFOA's current president, Christopher Morrill, as his one-year term comes to an end.
In the past year, the GFOA was able to achieve three major, and possibly transformational, accomplishments, said Morrill, who is also the city manager for Roanoke, Va.
One was starting research and training on lean process improvement and how to apply it to financial organizations. Another was the inauguration of the new certificate of conformance program geared toward small governments to improve their financial reporting.
"This is really going to help many of these small governments improve their quality and help move toward full [generally accepted accounting principles] accounting," Morrill said. "That's going to open a whole new membership and really get our resources out to those smaller governments."
The third accomplishment came earlier this year when the GFOA received a two-year grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to identity best budgeting practices for schools and community colleges. Morrill said one of the greatest challenges is working to improve education.
The GFOA also worked toward getting the Marketplace Fairness Act passed by the Senate this past year, and will continue working to get it passed in the House of Representatives.
Morrill has been Roanoke's city manager since 2010, and has worked in public finance for 25 years. For 20 of those years, he's been a member of the GFOA.
"For me, being involved in GFOA has probably been the most important part of my professional development," Morrill said. "They're good people, really committed to their communities, and just great colleagues to learn from."
Before he became city manager, Morrill served as assistant city manager for Savannah, Ga. and as senior municipal finance advisor for the Research Triangle Institute in North Carolina.
He received his bachelor's degree in political science from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., and his master of public administration degree from the University of North Carolina, in Chapel Hill.
