Staying Engaged with CSMFO after Retirement
When I announced my retirement as City Manager of the City of San Mateo in January, I started to think about what my next steps would be. Since I was retiring early, I knew I wanted to continue working full time, but I wasn’t exactly sure of what I wanted to do. One thing I did know, however, was that I wanted to return to a more finance-related role, and that I wanted to re-engage with CSMFO. I was able to do the latter by getting appointed to two standing committees, Finance and Communications, and I look forward to remaining engaged as I begin a new chapter of my professional career as a consultant to the public sector at DKG Consultants. With that in mind, I wanted to get the perspective of some other retired members on their post-retirement engagement with CSMFO. This is part one in a four-part series over the next two months and will spotlight Mary Bradley, CSMFO Past President (1999) and former Director of Finance for the Cities of Sunnyvale and Pasadena. Future articles will highlight Past President Joan Michaels Aguilar (2019) as well as Brent Mason and David Cain.
Mary Bradley, Executive Special Assistant, City of Fremont
In 2010, I retired from my position as Director of Finance for the City of Sunnyvale, having also served in that position for the City of Pasadena previously. I began my great adventure after retirement with a phone call from my friend, Bill Statler. Bill, who had recently retired from the City of San Luis Obispo, had heard that I was also retiring from Sunnyvale and asked if I would be interested in serving as Interim Finance Director for SLO. It seemed like a great opportunity, and it certainly was! I got to know a great community and some great people, and hopefully was able to give back to our profession. That first step led me to agree to another role with the City of Fremont, managing special projects such as system implementations. (Thank you Harriet Commons!) Again, I was happy to become acquainted with a new City and wonderful staff. Added to this, my involvement with the Career Development Committee in CSMFO is very satisfying since our work provides finance professionals with tools needed to be truly successful and bring value to their communities. Involvement in CSMFO also allows me to stay in touch with my municipal finance friends. All in all, “retirement” is just fine! And there are always opportunities to give back and stay engaged!
