UPDATED WITH PHOTO: City Hires Permanent Director of Financial Management
- Details
- By Allison Jean Eaton
- | Wednesday, 11 May 2011 05:57
10:05am | The city of Long Beach has announced that a permanent director to oversee the Financial Management Department has been hired.
City Manager Pat West said Tuesday morning that John Gross, who is currently director of Finance for the city of Aurora, Colo., has been appointed to the position, which has been vacant since last December.
The new finance director will take the helm of his new post in Long Beach on July 11.
"Long Beach is an incredibly complex organization, and I am pleased to appoint Mr. Gross to head our city's Financial Management Department," West said in a statement. "John Gross is a finance professional with a proven track record of solid financial management. His expertise will be critical as the city continues to offer outstanding services with limited resources."
Gross has worked since 1990 for the city of Aurora, which has a population of 325,000. In Aurora, Gross oversees all aspects of that city's finances, including budgeting, accounting, debt management, business licensing, investment and cash management, and sales tax collection and auditing, according to information provided by the City Manager's Office.
He also has significant experience dealing with public pension systems. In Aurora, he sits on two pension boards — the Old Hire Police Pension Board and the Old Hire Fire Pension Board — and is the administrator for the Elected Officials and Executive Personnel Pension Plan, according to City Hall.
Pension reform in the city of Long Beach is a hot topic. The city's pension fund was as of January about $1.2 billion underfunded for its obligations. In February, the City Council took the first steps toward reform by approving several proposals that extended the age of retirement for several categories of city employees and increased the amount those employees contribute to the California Public Employees' Retirement System based on their respective payrolls. Regardless, the city's pension system remains unsustainable.
Among Gross' accomplishments thus far in his career include providing financial stability to a municipal parking authority that had cash-flow issues and could not meet payroll, turning it profitable in three short years. He has also helped lead the city of Aurora through a process to address that city's structural deficit, which is similar to the process adopted several years ago by the city of Long Beach. according to City Hall.
Prior to his current position in Aurora, Gross served as finance director of Arlington Heights, Illi., fiscal officer for the State of Illinois Bureau of Employment Security and interim deputy city manager for the city of Aurora. He also formerly served as a committee chair for the national Government Finance Officers Association.
Gross holds a master's degree in urban and public affairs and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University.
"I'm pleased to be appointed to this challenging position," Gross said in a statement. "Long Beach is a dynamic city with incredible assets and a great team of professionals. I look forward to helping the mayor, City Council and city staff keep Long Beach financially strong and provide services effectively and efficiently."
Gross is replacing Lori Ann Farrell, who left the city in December 2010 after being hired to serve as the director of Financial Management for the city of Huntington Beach.
Governments don't work like private enterprises. They just don't, especially Long Beach's. The city is a company, if you will, of about 5,000 employees. That's pretty big. No company that large can go very long with an acting Chief Financial Officer, which is what this position is. This isn't shareholder money, or even private money, but taxpayer money, and the city has a fiduciary duty to the taxpayers to get a permanent CFO in there as opposed to CFO by committee, or an acting one without total authority.
Moreover, there's all kinds of scrutiny that comes with such a position, both informed and uninformed. You, for example, who without knowing anything about this person other than what you've read here, have already written him off as "just another government bureaucrat". That's might fair of you (note sarcasm) and frankly betrays a huge bias. But being a "government bureaucrat" is essential here, because most times anyone coming in from the private sector has a huge learning curve and will make mistakes, something the city would like to avoid. Dealing with city charters, elected city councils, the public in all forms it takes and city budgets is much different than anything in the private sector.
Finally, and not at all inclusive, no one in the private sector would take a comparable job for what he's getting in compensation. The CFO of a 5,000 employee company dealing with the types of budgets and revenue that LongBeach has gets anywhere from $450K upward, with bonuses and stock, etc. The new CFO here will earn less than $200K. Still a nice salary, but not comparable at all to most comparable private sector CFO jobs.
Median Age 29.5
Median Household Income $61,570
% Male 50.4%
% Female 49.6%
White 88.1%
Black 5.6%
Native American 0.5%
Asian Pacific Islander 3.8%
Hispanic 8.8%
Other 2.0%
Married 64.7%
Divorced 9.9%
Never Married 21.4%
Separated 2.5%
Widowed 1.6%
total population...314M according to their own govt. website
so I guess he totally "gets" LB.
have you ever been to aurora CO? i have.
Given the city's financial situation, the first thing Mr. Gross should do is reduce staffing levels but I'm sure that won't happen.
You've got to get better informed.
speak well and suggest he would be
brighter than the melon head he will
have to report to.Indeed,it my view, is
Pat West would have a difficult time
managing the Bike Station!!!!
West's poor judgment and malfeance
(as well as that of the most humble Robert Shannon) brought into sharp focus by the City's
Auditor's report on the Alamitos Bay Marina Re Build Plan
Shannon)is prove positive that Wset
most go.
For nearly two years West and Shannon have been tripping over
each other in shouting out their
Hosannas over the,uncertified,
untrained.unschooled(in matters Marine) Manager of the Marine Bureau and his dubious re build
plan-so wanting,in almost every
aspect it will take the City and
Marina's to recover.
It will be interesting to see if
the Carpet Bagger in Chief-Bob
Foster will try to bully the new
director down a path of further
financial ruin.
The new guy will cook the books TOO.
Say by to Fire and PD PENSIONS.