February Editors Alley - Greetings and Happy Leap Day!
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Greetings, CSMFO Members, and Happy Leap Day! There’s no question we can all use an extra day in our year, so whether you’re using today to catch up at work, enjoy time with family or friends, or even plan a marriage proposal, I hope you making great use of this time that we only get to enjoy every four years. Personally, I have chosen to use part of this bonus day to share with you my first Editor’s Alley article of the year!
First and foremost, I am thrilled to serve as your Communications Committee Chair for 2024! Many thanks to Will Fuentes from the City of Campbell for serving as Chair for the prior two years and preparing me so well for this role. I am also grateful to the CSMFO Board of Directors for recognizing the value that our commercial members bring to the organization and allowing them to participate in committee leadership. As a result, the Communications Committee appointed its first commercial Vice-Chairs, and we could not have made a better choice! Please allow me to introduce Wing-See Fox from Urban Futures, Inc., and Heidi Schoeppe from Webb Municipal Finance, LLC. Each of them are valued contributors to CSMFO, and I know they’ll do an exceptional job helping to lead this Committee in 2024. You’ll get to know them both a little bit better in future Editors Alley articles in the coming months. Also continuing on the Communications Committee as Senior Advisors are Will Fuentes and former CSMFO president Drew Corbett. We are so grateful for the experience they bring to the Committee and the leadership and guidance they provide to our members.
This year’s Communications Committee membership includes everyone from experienced leaders to new faces with fresh ideas, and we are always looking for new participants. If you have a passion for writing or have ideas to share, please reach out to any of our leadership and find out how you can get more involved. The Communications Committee has a lot of great content in store for our members, beginning with the publication of the 2024 CSMFO Conference Magazine in the coming weeks, so stay tuned!
Speaking of the conference, what an amazing experience for those of us who were lucky enough to attend! Congratulations to CSMFO President Ernie Reyna, the Host Committee, M&AMS, and SMA staff for coordinating an event that will not soon be forgotten. From the energizing keynote speakers to the educational sessions to the fun networking events sprinkled with a little bit of pixie dust, I left the Disneyland Hotel feeling engaged with my profession and inspired to bring everything I learned back to my organization. (And also tired. Really, really tired).
Regardless of the location, I look forward to the annual conference every year as an excuse to break out of the daily grind of my work week and spend time with like-minded professionals who are experiencing many of the same challenges and successes as I am. It’s part group therapy, part education, and part just letting off steam with some really fun people. Listening to all the presenters, I was in awe of the innovations taking place in our profession, and the dedication of these individuals to continually improving and enhancing the way we serve our communities. And I was thankful to the commercial sponsors, CSMFO leadership, and staff for providing opportunities for us to connect and unwind at the end of those very busy conference days.
Did I love coming back to 800 emails and double the meetings the following week? Nope. Was the annual conference worth it? Absolutely. At least we have this very special extra day in February to help us recover and prepare for a very busy few months ahead. Now if I could only figure out how to get some extra hours into my day…
Thank you for allowing me to share a little bit of my Leap Day with all of you, and I hope you carry the motivation and inspiration we received at the conference into March and beyond.
Jennifer Becker has been with the City of Burbank for over two decades and was appointed Financial Services Director in 2021. She currently serves as Chair of the Communications Committee and Vice Chair of the San Gabriel Valley CSMFO Chapter. Jennifer earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California. She is an avid Trojan football fan, and on non-football weekends you can find her skiing in Mammoth or hiking around Southern California with her husband and daughter.
