BRADENTON, Fla. — Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has selected municipal finance veteran Joya De Foor as his nominee to become the new chief financial officer of Georgia’s largest city.
De Foor currently is the city treasurer for Los Angeles, a post she has held since 2001. The Atlanta City Council still must confirm her appointment, which was announced Monday and is expected in July.
With a strong track record of managing government finances, Reed said De Foor is “eminently qualified” to improve Atlanta’s fiscal performance.
“She is the right person to guide Atlanta toward a stronger financial position, which will lead to an improved outlook with the major bond rating agencies,” he said.
Like many metropolitan areas, Atlanta has suffered from declining revenues and high unemployment during the recession. The city’s 10.5% jobless rate in April compares with 5.8% in April 2008, according to unadjusted data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In March 2009, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s downgraded Atlanta’s general obligation rating to A1 from Aa3 and to A from AA-minus, respectively. Moody’s assigned a negative outlook while Standard & Poor’s said its outlook was stable. At the time, analysts from both agencies said the downgrades reflected the city’s diminished financial position and reserves.
Atlanta benefited from Moody’s recent recalibration of ratings, which raised its GO rating to Aa2 but maintained the negative outlook.
As treasurer for Los Angeles, De Foor prepared financial recommendations and presented them to the mayor, City Council, and department heads on issues that included public-private partnerships, risk management, budget, public finance, capital market developments, and emerging regulatory requirements, according to information from Reed’s office.
Previously, she was the city treasurer and revenue officer for Long Beach, Calif., and worked several years in various financial capacities for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Prior to working for governmental agencies, De Foor was a senior management consultant for Deloitte and Touche and worked in accounting and financial operations for Coldwell Banker.
She has a bachelor’s of business administration from the University of Notre Dame and a master’s of business administration from the University of Southern California.
As Atlanta’s CFO, De Foor will earn $221,000 a year and is expected to begin her job in mid-August, said Jennifer Ogunsola, a spokeswoman for Reed. If confirmed, she will replace former CFO Jim Glass, who stepped down along with other top members of former Mayor Shirley Franklin’s administration. Franklin was term-limited out of office last year. Reed took office Jan. 4.
De Foor will begin her job with a new budget adopted by the City Council last Friday. The 2011 spending plan includes a $559 million general fund budget that does not increase taxes but relies on increasing fees for fire inspection, fire plan reviews, and fire permits and increases the annual recycling fee to $88 from $30.
The new budget, which takes effect tomorrow, provides for the hiring of 100 new police officers. All police and firefighters will receive a 3.5% pay increase.
City employees who earn less than $75,000 a year will receive a one-time $450 bonus. Excluded from the bonus are employees in the mayor’s office and department commissioners.
The budget provides additional funding to keep the city’s 33 recreation centers open while it sets the stage for reducing pension liabilities by lowering some benefits for employees hired after July 1, including increasing the vesting period to 15 years from 10 years.
No details were available about how much in bonds were authorized in the new budget.
