Last month I reported on our then in-process virtual September Steps Challenge. Since we haven’t been able to gather in-person for some time now, we had hoped our members would respond positively to the idea of a little healthy, fun and friendly competition by virtue of a mobile app-based steps contest. Using Fitbits, Apple Watches or mobile phones to track steps, some 101 members willingly accepted the challenge.

Now the results are in. With nearly 19 million combined steps, by all accounts, our virtual Steps Challenge was a rousing success. Collectively, we traversed over 7,600 miles during the month, led by first place finisher, Kerry Breen of the City of Brentwood, with nearly 756,000 total steps. Jeanette Gage of the Orange County Fire Authority was second overall with over 632,000 steps in the books and Chun Chan of the City of Fremont recorded nearly 621,000 steps during the month as our third place awardee.

For those who were able to join in, we held a festive virtual Steps Challenge Party on October 1 to announce the winners and celebrate our collective accomplishments. Congratulations to all of our steppers and a big THANK YOU to our September Steps Challenge sponsor, Chandler Asset Management.

In late September, I attended the virtual Washington State Finance Officers 2020 Annual Conference. Originally scheduled to take place in Tacoma, the two-day virtual conference was held on September 23 and 24, and the conference theme was Vision for a Bright Future. Some 500 plus attendees participated in an array of live and pre-recorded virtual sessions.

I briefly addressed the WFOA membership on behalf of CSMFO at their Annual Business Meeting on the morning of the second day of the conference. I want to thank 2020-21 WFOA President Dale Hough, Finance Director of the Lacey Fire District 3, for inviting me to attend and for making me feel welcome. Dale will join us as the WFOA representative at our upcoming 2021 Annual Conference.

October Pumpkin Challenge

Here in October, we think it’s time to exercise those creative muscles and we hope you’ll participate in our Pumpkin Challenge. Carve or paint your best pumpkin with a spooky, silly or finance inspired design. Then upload the image to our designated site BEFORE 11:00 PM on October 26th. All submissions will be posted to CSMFO’s Instagram page (@csmfo) on October 27th. The post with the most likes from accounts that follow CSMFO by 11:59 PM on October 30 will be declared the winner.

A huge thank you to our October Pumpkin Challenge sponsor, PFM Asset Management.

Finally, as we move into the fall, I’m seeing that many of our CSMFO chapters are regularly hosting virtual chapter meetings. While in the ideal world these meetings would be in-person, I think it’s great that we’re still able to meet in an interactive video conference format with other local municipal finance officers. A special thanks to our chapter leaders for keeping our chapters on track and bringing our members together on the local level.

Take good care, be well and remember to get your pumpkin pic posted to our Instagram page by October 26.