President's Message

Sarah Koser, FGFOA President

Wow! This year is going by really fast. I cannot believe that we already had the annual School of Governmental Finance (SOGF) in Sanibel. The School was a great success with 225 participants for the school and 31 for the Beginner Boot Camp. Jennifer Desrosiers and her SOGF Committee put together an excellent program for our attendees. Many thanks to all of the volunteers, the Florida League of Cities staff, and those who participated by attending this high quality program.

Along with the School there were review classes for our CGFO candidates. There were 90 candidates who attended the review classes, 105 CGFO Candidates sitting for exams on Friday with 315 exams administered. Kelly Strickland, Chair, and her committee have been working hard this year and are looking at some helpful changes for current CGFOs. Stay tuned for more details in the coming months.

So what next . . . . well, we have an ad hoc committee that is developing a new series of seminars, the first for February 17, 2017, in the Orlando area. These will be one-day trainings on topics divergent from those usually addressed at the SOGF and Annual Conference. Due to the topics, we have labeled this our “Divergent Series” of seminars. Donna Wright is heading up the ad hoc committee and information regarding the February seminar should be coming out very soon.So save the date and be on the lookout for more information on this informative program.

Following soon after that will be the first Beginner Boot Camp as a stand-alone event.It will be conducted at the Embassy Suites North in Altamonte Springs on March 15 and 16. We have been able to secure Dr. Lynda Dennis to once again teach this extremely popular class. Stay tuned for registration information since this event usually sells out in record time. For the SOGF it was filled two hours after the registration opened. So keep your eyes on your e-mail and your fingers on the keyboard ready to register!

In April we have the second Leadership FGFOA class in Orlando. This is a full week of intense Leadership training. The ad hoc Leadership committee, Chaired by Nicole Gasparri, are currently reviewing the applications for selection of this year’s participants. The participants should be announced in the near future so keep an eye on the FGFOA website and those e-mail blasts.

In June we will be in Hollywood for our Annual Conference. The Program Committee, Chaired by Frank DiPaolo, is busy developing an outstanding line up of speakers and topics for this annual event. The Host Committee, Co-Chaired by Johnna Agin and Susan Nabors, are busy putting together fun events for our “down-time” in Hollywood. This promises to be a great event so mark your calendars for June 24-28 in Hollywood!

Along with all of these programs, our Board, Committee Chairs, Committee Members, League Staff, and all of our volunteers have been working on various other items. Watch for the revitalized Mentoring Program, increase in social media, the ACE award application, more on Emerging Leaders Network, upcoming Legislation information, and so much more that I’m sure I have left out.

On October 17th, I had the privilege to attend the Palm Beach Chapter meeting in Lake Worth.Dean Mead, Senior Research Manager of GASB provided a presentation on GASB 68 and possible modifications to GASB 34. It was my also my privilege to attend and speak at the Big Bend Chapter meeting on December 2nd in Tallahassee. This is one of our newer chapters and it was great to see how well they are doing. The work being done at the local level is a testament to the great leaders of the chapters. If you are not currently a member of a local chapter, join one.If there is not a local chapter in your area, get together with some peers and start one.If you need help, contact me and I will help you get one started.

And finally, with Thanksgiving just behind us and Christmas and the New Year on fast approach, I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, a Happy Holiday Season, and a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

 
Thank you,

Sarah Koser
FGFOA President