By TERRY PUGH
Martensville City Manager Tanya Garost’s history-making term as President of the Government Financial Officers Association (GFOA) will officially end when the organization holds its 119th annual conference in Washington, DC from June 29 to July 2.
Garost is the 10th Canadian, and the first Canadian woman, to lead the GFOA since its founding in 1906. At the upcoming conference in the United States capital city, she’ll be handing over the reins to her successor, Lunda Asmani of Connecticut, in front of an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 delegates from across North America.
“It has been an incredible experience,” said Garost, who previously served as President of the Government Finance Officers of British Columbia. “I’ve learned a lot, travelled to many places and met thousands of people who share a passionate commitment to excellence in local governments.
“All over the world, the challenges are very similar, and through communication and education, we can learn so much from each other.”
The GFOA represents public finance officials throughout the United States and Canada. The association has over 20,000 members in federal, state, provincial, municipal and school agencies. GFOA’s mission is to advance excellence in public finance.
Garost said while finances are the main focus of the organization, there’s a recognition that the impact of financial decisions are broad and far-reaching.
“Local governments, particularly in the United States, own a massive amount of infrastructure,” said Garost. “And they have to look after it and make sure it’s there for future generations to use. A lot of cities have economic challenges which impact their ability to address those infrastructure shortcomings.”
Garost said asset management involves making short-term and long-term budgetary decisions about maintaining, replacing and repairing municipal infrastructure. In order for the best decisions to be made in a democratic manner, elected officials and municipal administrators need to have accurate data.
Garost said municipal finance and public works professionals must work together to provide elected representatives with the information they need.
“Elected officials have to make decisions for their communities,” she said. “And those decisions have a number of different layers within them that they have to consider.
“As staff, it’s our job to ensure that elected officials are making their decisions based on the most accurate information that we have at the time. So when a city council makes a decision, it’s not a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ decision.
“But, what does come into play is whether they’ve made an ‘informed’ or an ‘uninformed’ decision.
“So ideally, staff ensure that they are able to make an informed decision; that the information they have is understandable, and they are aware of any unintended consequences.”
While Canadian municipalities are making progress in the area of asset management, she said Australia is much further advanced, while the United States, overall, is still catching up.
Garost attended an international conference in Sydney, Australia late last fall, where she was interviewed for an online ‘Infrastructure Matters’ video by David Jenkins (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm0QNxtMvww) of the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA).
In that IPWEA interview, she shared insights on the role of finance professionals in asset management and public service delivery, as well as suggesting strategies for fostering collaboration to achieve better infrastructure outcomes.
“Canada and Australia have a lot in common,” said Garost. “Our forms of government are parallel, for example. But, they have a really good handle on asset management, and the Australians have figured out better ways of reporting on it. The GFOA has been working closely with an organization in Australia to deliver education and training on asset management to our members here in North America.”
Garost credited the Martensville civic staff and Martensville City Council for supporting her year as GFOA President.
“My executive team here at City Hall has been amazing,” she said. “They stepped up and helped out. The Mayor and Council have been fantastic. Without their support it wouldn’t have been possible for me to take on the role of President.”
She said that, as a Canadian leading an organization whose membership is primarily American, the past several months have been particularly interesting.
“I’ve been to several conferences in the United States recently,” she said. “And certainly there’s been a shift in the demeanor between the two countries; we’ve seen travel drop off.
“But, it’s put me, as a Canadian, in a unique position to be able to address some of the challenges they’re having, and there are many, in a non-partisan way. The United States is very divided, but they don’t see me as representing one side or the other. They see me as just providing the information in a fair and balanced way. So that’s very positive.”
Garost said the GFOA is working to expand its membership in Canada, particularly among the small and mid-size municipalities.
“Smaller organizations make up probably 70 to 80 per cent of our local governments in Canada,” she said. “And they’re the ones that need the most resources, support and training, which the GFOA can provide.”