CSMFO Interviews Board Member Scott Catlett
Tell the readers a little bit about yourself…
I’ve worked in government for 13 years now, having spent the first part of my career working for several firms as a consultant to state and local government. I valued the experience that starting out in consulting at a young age provided, but I travelled most weeks all over the country and wasn’t home much. Since then, I’ve really enjoyed putting down long-term work roots in Riverside and now Yorba Linda. My transition was somewhat by chance, in that I happened to hear about a job at the City of Riverside as a Budget Analyst. Since I lived in Riverside at the time, I decided to apply and maybe try something different. As luck would have it, Brent Mason thought I could do the job even though I had never worked directly for a government agency, and the rest, as they say, is history. I spent two years as a Principal Budget Analyst, two as Budget and Debt Manager, five as Assistant Finance Director, and then came to Yorba Linda as Finance Director a little over two years ago.
Outside of work I’m a dad to two boys – Drew (8) and Nate (2). I grew up in Texas, initially in a small ranching town and later in San Antonio. I attended college in New Orleans where I studied to be an architect for my first two years. I decided that architecture as a career wasn’t for me and ended up with a business degree. My wife of 13 years and I met when we were both living in New Orleans after college. She was from Southern California, so after Hurricane Katrina made us rethink our decision to live in New Orleans long-term, we decided to move to California in 2005.
When and why did you first join CSMFO?
I first joined CSMFO in 2006 when I transitioned from consulting to working for a government agency. I was a passive member at first, but over time, I became actively involved in various CSMFO Committees as a member and later Chair, and served a year as Chapter Chair for the Inland Empire Chapter. CSMFO has really helped me build my professional network, and I’ve met some of my good friends through my CSMFO involvement along the way.
What aspect(s) of your job do you enjoy the most?
Along those same lines, I think the part of my job that gives me the most satisfaction is solving problems – particularly when the problems are making life difficult for others in my agency and Finance can help.
What has been your favorite project in your career? (Doesn’t necessarily have to be from your current position/agency)
That’s a tough question. I really like projects that allow me to be creative, which is sometimes a challenge in a career like government finance. I would say my favorite project in my career was back when I was a consultant. One of the firms that I worked for developed software, in addition to providing financial and planning consulting services. While working there, I was assigned to a team developing software for state departments of transportation to manage their airport systems’ financial and planning data. My role was as the subject matter expert on tracking the financial aspects of CIP projects. I learned a ton in the two years that I worked on that project, and it was really fun to see the ideas that we put on paper, turned into actual working software that was put into use by a number of states.
What is the most challenging situation you’ve faced in your career?
I went through a period in Riverside when I was the Assistant Finance Director, where a community group was bombarding the City with public records requests related to financial transactions, in an effort to uncover supposed malfeasance on the part of the City’s leadership. For a period of several years, I spent something like 25% of my time preparing responses to public records requests and trying to anticipate the goal of each request so that we could adequately prepare to respond publicly to the next accusation. At the end of the day, things calmed down, but those were a tough couple of years. It was very challenging trying to get my job done with the requests coming at us constantly. But, we survived, and we were gratified that they never found a single thing of substance through all of those requests.
What do you enjoy outside of work?
I enjoy spending time with my family, hiking in the mountains, and vacations when I’m fortunate enough to get one. For the last four years, I’ve also taught at CSU San Bernardino part-time in the MPA program. I get a lot of satisfaction out of my teaching, as I’m helping build the next generation of leaders in government service.
Do you have a favorite quote?
I’m a big comedy movie guy. Though I should probably have a profound quote to share, the reality is everything that comes to mind is from movies. Clearly, I should spend more time reading!
If Hollywood made a movie about your life, what actor/actress would you like to see cast as you?
I would say the Harvey Keitel of 1994 as Mr. Wolf in Pulp Fiction. That guy knew how to get stuff done. And I liked his car.
