Who are the new leaders at GFOA?

ST. LOUIS -- Terry Stone of Hanover County Public Schools in Virginia is president-elect of the Government Finance Officers Association while Steven Gibson of Rock Hill, S.C. is president.

Stone, an assistant superintendent for business and operations at the school district, was elected at GFOA’s annual meeting here on May 8. Gibson, deputy city manager at Rock Hill, had been the group's president-elect and became president.

Stone, Terry Stone

Gibson replaced Patrick McCoy, director of finance for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York, who stepped down as GFOA president at the end of his one-year term.

Stone, 52, works for a district that operates 25 schools with 18,000 students.

She has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Virginia Commonwealth University and is a certified public accountant.

She worked for 20 years for Hanover County government before switching over to the schools.

She’s also worked for other school districts, serving as chief financial officer for Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools and as assistant superintendent of finance and administration for Henrico County Public Schools.

Virginia’s public school system mostly operates at the county level with the taxing authority held by county governments.

“Fortunately I have about 20 years of experience there so I know all of the players when it comes time for significant capital projects, replacing schools, building new schools,” Stone said. “We work with the county in terms of identifying funding for that.”

Gibson, Steven Gibson

Stone has been a GFOA member for 19 years. She served on GFOA’s: Committee on Retirement and Benefits Administration (2015–2018); Committee on Treasury and Investment Management (2005–2013, chair, 2011–2013); Executive Board (2015–2018) and; Nominating Committee (2013–2014).

Gibson, 52, is a native of Chicago who has spent the last 28 years working for the city of Rock Hill.

Rock Hill is a growing city of about 73,000 in the northwest corner of South Carolina where many residents commute into North Carolina to jobs in neighboring Charlotte.

Gibson relocated from Chicago to manage the local 911 system. He switched to public finance before rising through the ranks of city government, along the way earning his business degree at Winthrop University, a public college located within the city limits.

Gibson is one of two deputy city managers who work for Rock Hill City Manager David Vehaun, who Gibson credits with building a performance-driven organization.

As a board member of GFOA, Gibson said he’s learned that one of the things members of the association most value is being provided with information about best practices by local and state governments.

The association’s top goals will not change, he said.

“We as an organization and as a board have been focused on finding the future leaders for local government, for public finance,” Gibson said. “Attracting and retaining talent has been a priority for our organization and I want to see that continue.”

GFOA also elected six new members-at-large of its executive board to three-year terms.

They are: Catherine Brubacher, general manager of corporate services and city treasurer for the City of Brantford, Ontario; Cynthia Evangelisti, treasurer of the Chicago Park District; Amelia Merchant, director of finance for the City of Roanoke, Virginia; Diane Reichard, chief financial officer for Plant City, Florida; Tina Tapley, director of finance, innovation and technology and city treasurer for Fredericton, New Brunswick; and Terri Velasquez, director of finance for the City of Aurora, Colorado.

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