Board of Director Meeting Recaps (April – August 2023)

BOD Meeting August 2023

The Board of Directors convened an in-person meeting in the City of San Mateo on Wednesday, August 16, 2023.

The meeting started with the approval of standard consent items, including the minutes from the June 2023 Board meeting, June and July 2023 financial statements and check runs, and the Executive Committee agenda for the month of July 2023. The consent agenda also included a report on website analytics, the updated Chapter Chair Handbook and a contract associated with the 2024 Annual Conference.

The meeting progressed to discussion/action items starting with a follow up item to the April and June Board meetings when the contract with Smith, Moore and Associates, (SMA) was discussed. The agenda item was for a contract with SMA without inclusion of Meeting and Association Management Services (MAMS) functions. Since the Board had extended the contract to December 31, 2023 in April 2023, the updated and recommended contract extended the term of the original contract to April 30, 2025 and included the provision for two one-year extensions based on satisfactory performance. The Board approved the contract extension.

Executive Director Jean Rousseau presented the next item which was another follow up to the SMA contract item on the April and June board meeting agendas. The item was for a stand-alone contract with MAMS which included the services formerly included in the contract with SMA and three separate contracts with M&AMS for services associated with the Annual Strategic Planning Session, the VIP event during the Annual Conference and the administration of the virtual conference. A motion was made to approve the recommended action to retroactively approve the extension of the contract from April 30, 2023 to April 30, 2025 with the option for two one-year extensions with the current provisions except the item to include a $10 fee for each commercial member who attends the Annual Conference. The motion was approved by the Board.

Jean presented the next item which was another follow up from the June Board meeting. The orientation plan for new Board members, committee chairs/vice chairs and chapter chairs/vice chairs were brought back with changes resulting from Board directed input from leadership. The plan is a living document and will be updated as changes arise in CSMFO business practices. The Board approved the plan.

Don Patterson, Vice Chair of the Administration Committee, who started his comments by saying he was doing the best job he could channeling Margaret Moggia, discussed the activities of a working group with the Career Development Committee (CDC) and the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) to establish a California certificate to be an add on for those individuals who want to obtain a Certified Public Finance Officer (CPFO) through GFOA. Don stated they are going to send a survey out to membership to gauge interest in the program.

President Rich Lee discussed the next agenda item regarding a strategic goal from 2022 regarding establishing a definition of a Finance Officer. Rich discussed the research he did regarding the establishment of the goal. After additional work and research, it was determined that this goal was not necessary or productive at this time.

Board Director Jason AI-Iman discussed the California Business Roundtable Initiative and efforts a working group had completed to date. Jason recommended sending the attached letter and asked for authorization for funding of $50,000 to help fund opposition to the proposition. The Board ultimately approved not sending a letter and authorized $100,000 in two increments if requested from participating groups.

Jean presented the next item which was an update to the CSMFO’s bylaws providing for commercial members to participate in various leadership positions including one director position on the Board. The bylaw changes were approved by membership at the end of July. The Board approved the bylaw changes.

President-Elect, Ernie Reyna, presented the next item regarding potential changes to the Annual Conference rates charged to members. The proposed Annual Conference budget is close to being completed and projects a loss of approximately $7,600, using 2023 conference rates. Modest conference rate increases occurred beginning in 2020 but have not kept up with inflation; especially during this high inflation environment. Consequently, different cost increase scenarios were explored with the intention of generating a modest conference surplus. The scenarios considered a 10%, 15%, 20% and 25% increase to the conference rates. Based on the analysis, the recommendation was to increase the conference rates by 25% which would generate an estimated surplus of approximately $154,888. This surplus would help balance the operating budget of CSMFO which had a 2023 structural deficit of over $200,000. After a great deal of discussion, the Board approved on a 6-2 vote to increase the rates by 10% over the next three years with adding back daily rates and continuing a charge for the Wednesday night event.

John Adams, member of the Finance Committee and Past President, presented a follow up item from the June Board meeting with an update on the Long-Term Financial Plan and recommended fee increases. The purpose of the plan is to eliminate the current budgeted operating deficit starting in 2024 and to establish principles to achieve fiscal sustainability. There was a lengthy discussion on the recommended fee increases. The Board ultimately approved the recommended fee increases for members’ dues ($5 for professionals and $10 for managers), job posting fees for both members and non-members, a 15% increase in training fees and incorporating these changes in the proposed 2024 budget. The Board also directed the Commercial and Membership Committees to determine the appropriate structure for recommended fee increases and approved the adoption of the policy principles for the Long-Term Financial Plan.

BOD Meeting June 2023

The Board of Directors convened a virtual meeting on Thursday, June 15, 2023.

The meeting started with the approval of standard consent items, including the minutes from the April 2023 Board meeting, April and May 2023 financial statements and check runs and the Executive Committee agendas for the months of May 2023 and June 2023. Also included on consent was a contract with the Disneyland Hotel for the 2023 Strategic Planning Session and three contracts associated with the 2024 Annual Conference.

The meeting progressed to discussion/action items starting with an update of the 2023 Strategic Action Plan from the responsible committees and parties.

Executive Director Jean Rousseau presented the next item which was a follow up to the Smith, Moore and Associates (SMA) contract item on the April board meeting agenda. Jean confirmed that hotels had reduced their commissions on conference contracts from 10% to 7%. Direction was requested on whether to include Meeting and Association Management Services (MAMS) services within the contract with SMA. After some discussion, the Board directed the MAMS services be in a separate contract from the contract with SMA and be brought back to the Board in a future meeting.

Jean presented the recommended Orientation Plan for new Board members, committee chairs/vice chairs and chapter chairs/vice chairs. A discussion ensued with some suggested additions to the plan. The Board directed the plan to be circulated to leadership for additional feedback and be brought back to the Board in the August meeting.

Margaret Moggia, Finance Committee Chair, along with members of the Committee provided an update on their efforts to develop a Long-Term Financial Plan. A discussion ensued and minor additions were requested by the Board and a request was made that additional comments be sent directly to the Committee.Margaret provided an update on the Certified Public Finance Officer (CPFO) program. There were four scholarships awarded this year for the GFOA program. There was a discussion regarding the development of a certification program directly related to California content. The Board and attendees all are in favor of pursuing a California portion of the test.

Nick Kurns, Career Development Committee Chair, informed the Board of a new course on financial management and analysis. The course was initially launched as a webinar at the beginning of the calendar year and was a success. The Board approved moving forward with development of content for the class.

BOD Meeting April 2023

The Board of Directors convened an in-person meeting in the City of Perris on Wednesday, April 19, 2023.

The meeting started with the approval of standard consent items, including the minutes from the February 2023 Board meeting, February and March 2023 financial statements and check runs, and the Executive Committee agendas for the months of March 2023 and April 2023. Also included on consent was a March 31, 2023 membership report, recommendations for the Commercial Partner Committee and four contracts associated with the 2024 Annual Conference.

The meeting progressed to discussion/action items starting with an update of the 2023 Strategic Action Plan from the responsible committees and parties. Since this was the first Board meeting after finalizing the plan in February, most of the goals are in their early stages of progress.

The next item on the agenda was a discussion regarding extending the Strategic Planning Session in October and moving the traditional Board meeting thereby allowing more time for planning purposes. The Board approved the three-day timeframe and to move the Board meeting to another day in October.

President Rich Lee then discussed the role of the CSMFO Treasurer function. The Board discussed numerous options for the function and decided the Finance Committee Chair should serve as the Treasurer.

Executive Director Jean Rousseau presented the contract with Smith, Moore and Associates (SMA) for administrative services and recommended the extension of the contract for two years to April 30, 2025, with two one-year renewal options. Rousseau explained the overall increase in the annual contract amount of $23,173 was due to the inclusion of two current and separate contracts with Meeting and Association Management Services (MAMS). The overall increase included a request from MAMS for an annual increase of $12,000 to offset a reduction in commissions from conference hotels due to changes in the industry. The Board expressed some concern about the inclusion of MAMS contracts in SMA’s contract and asked if there was verification of the reduction in hotel commissions. The board ultimately decided to extend the SMA services portion of the contract to December 31, 2023 with a 5% cost of living increase. The Board directed the matter be brought back to the Board in June with an analysis of MAMS services.

Jason Al-Iman, Professional Standards Committee liaison, presented the California Business Round Table (CBRT) Initiative agenda item and discussed various response options for the Board to consider. The Board decided to establish an ad-hoc group to develop a response letter.

Debbie Rosales, Membership Committee Chair, presented the positive results of a survey sent out regarding the mentorship program. The program currently has 104 participants, 76 mentees and 28 mentors.

Margaret Moggia, Finance Committee Chair, discussed the Committee’s efforts to update the policies and procedures manual and they are still working on a draft to bring to the Board.