The Time Has Come

The time has come. The applications are in and the interview process will begin this week for a new Jefferson County Finance Director. In the realm of important decisions that are made in this County, the hiring of a new Finance Director is most likely in everyone’s top five and I could argue that it should be number one. This man or woman will be the keeper of the coffers. Actually, the more accurate description would be that the Finance Director is the keeper of the County checkbook. Most people would agree that there are very few individuals that they would allow open access to their checkbook. We should feel the same about the County’s checkbook and treat this decision with the importance that it deserves.

Chairman of the Finance Committee, Commissioner McGraw, will lead a committee of seven-three other County Commissioners, the Mayor of Jefferson County, the Director of Jefferson County Schools and the Highway Superintendent. Thus far, Chairman McGraw has done a commendable job of keeping transparency (while respecting the applicant’s position with their current employers) and having unity among committee members. It is obvious that he would like a decision of such importance to have the support of the entire committee, if possible, and that would go a long way to easing the public’s mind because this committee membership is very diverse and representative of a wide portion of the citizenship of Jefferson County. If they can agree on one candidate then there is really very little room for fodder, and McGraw appears to be aware of the importance of public perception-particularly regarding the position of Finance Director.

Currently, one candidate has been given the nod for an interview by every Committee Member, save Tipton who was absent due to illness. Another candidate found the approval of five and two others made the short list of four Committee Members. Frankly, the comprisal of the short list was as democratic as it could get. Naturally, sometimes applicants look great on paper but do not fare as well in person. Some discussion arose regarding the need for the Finance Director to have a CPA designation. Argument was made that a CPA designation would not be an indicator of how well equipped a candidate would be for such as diverse position and I agree-to a point. I certainly believe that there are individuals that could excel at the job without benefit of being a CPA. However, I believe that the importance of the designation depends greatly on the age of the applicant. Those over the age of 40 may have had little reason to sit for the CPA exam, depending on their experience, and the lack of the designation is relatively meaningless. Younger candidates are in a generation of professionals that regard extra designation, such as CPA or MBA, as a necessity to reach the pinnacle of their profession. Therefore, I would question why, in the day and age that a college degree has less meaning then it did 20 years ago, was this candidate not reaching to distinguish him/her self from the pack? Maybe it is as simple as they landed THE career position straight out of the box, but that rarely happens, at least in the last couple of decades. Naturally, experience should top the interview list, as well as the ability to work with a diverse group of people and handle an enormous amount of stress, all while managing an office and the County Checkbook. Those traits require the drive to reach for professional excellence and, in the younger demographics where the experience pool is not as deep that requires going that extra mile. CPA, MBA or perhaps most appropriate, a CGFM (Certified Government Financial Manager) should be considered in that younger applicant group. Older candidates, who began their careers when a college degree really did open professional doors and advancement was based on work ability and ethic, should have plenty of professional experience to off set the lack of designation.

I have a lot of confidence in this Finance Committee and that is not something that I say often. They are intelligent, diverse and committed to finding the best candidate. To date, they are considerate of each other and have worked well together. I wish them luck because their success is our success and we could all use a win on this one.