Rich Lee, Finance Director for the City of San Mateo
I have been a CSMFO member since 2012, but I didn’t really engage with CSMFO until 2015, when I had the good fortune of having CSMFO Past President John DeRussy as a mentor for the first six months of being a new finance director. One of his sage words of advice was to get involved with CSMFO leadership – in particular, the Career Development Committee, as the committee is at the heart of CSMFO’s core mission. About six months later, the Peninsula Chapter was seeking a Chair, and I contacted then President-Elect Drew Corbett to inquire. The chapter had largely been dormant for several years, so this provided me with the opportunity to rejuvenate the chapter and provide a valuable resource for local CSMFO members.
In 2017, I was nominated to the ballot to represent Northern California on the CSMFO Board. When I woke up the morning following the close of the election to the news that I had won, I was surprised because I felt that the other candidate was more deserving. My term on the Board began at the 2018 annual conference at Riverside and will officially end with the start of the 2021 annual conference.
In my capacity as a Board Member over the past three years, I have been able to engrain myself into the CSMFO fabric through several ad hoc and standing committees, including the Administration Committee, Program Committee, CSMFO App ad hoc committee, association management ad hoc committee, and the CalPERS Towards a 7% Solution ad hoc committee. I am constantly inspired by our altruistic volunteer leaders who are committed to ensuring that CSMFO continues to provide valuable resources to its members – including the insightful webinars, chapter meetings, knowledge base, and of course, annual conference.
Thank you for the invaluable opportunity to serve as a CSMFO Board Member. Like many past presidents and past board members, I will continue to serve CSMFO in other capacities in the future. If you are interested in being a part of the CSMFO leadership family, now is the time for the future leaders to step up!
Rich Lee has served local municipalities all throughout the San Francisco Peninsula over the past 15 years, including South San Francisco, Los Altos Hills, Millbrae, Foster City, and since January 2019, as the Finance Director for the City of San Mateo.
Rich was elected to the CSMFO Board of Directors in 2018, and held other leadership roles, including Chair of the Peninsula Chapter and Vice Chair of the Career Development Committee. In 2019, he was appointed to GFOA’s Ethics Committee.
Last year was very productive for Rich with his other passion as an active freelance bass trombonist. Rich was part of several notable performances, including the Jazz Garden Big Band at the San Jose Jazz Festival, Electric Squeezebox Orchestra at the Monterey Jazz Festival, John Daversa Progressive Big Band and at Yoshi’s, and Marcus Shelby Orchestra at SFJazz. Rich was included on three albums released in 2019 – Electric Squeezebox Orchestra’s Matter Is, Mike Zilber’s East West: Music for Big Bands, and Greg Johnson’s Visions of Kansas City.
