AGA TOPICS Newsletter

From the National President

By: Samuel T. Mok, CGFM, CIA, CICA

I have good news to report.

The 2009 National Leadership Conference was a great success, both in content and revenue. Dr. Van Daniker reported that our attendance far exceeded expectations and it was a completely sold out event, both in attendees and exhibition booths. This is no small accomplishment during a severe national financial crisis and its resulting budget constraints. The speakers were all first rate. We received media coverage from major national media outlets as well as the very popular D.C.-based Federal News Radio. Unlike previous conferences, I did not receive a single complaint from anyone.  I congratulate the three co-chairs (Jonathan Bruel, IBM, Peter Franchot, Comptroller, State of Maryland, and AGA National President-Elect Designate Lisa Casias, Deputy CFO, U.S. Department of Commerce), the Technical Committee (please see list at the end of this article), as well as the executive director and the National Office staff for turning such a sterling performance. As your National President, I take great pride in being part of the leadership team overseeing such a record-breaking event and the complete elimination of any past concerns and complaints regarding AGA conferences. The challenge now is to repeat this feat in New Orleans in June, three months from now. The New Orleans PDC will be my last public event as your National President and I will turn the gavel over to National President-Elect, Billy Morehead, Ph.D., CGFM, during the event. I have invited Billy to work with me in a leadership capacity to guide the PDC planning process.

I have other good news to report.

The AGA radio program is moving along in high gear and I have persuaded Jane Norris, a well known D.C. radio personality (and my former colleague at U.S. Department of Labor) to help us with our program. Jane is the co-host (with Tom Temins) of the renowned daily Federal Drive Show (1500 AM on Federal News from 6 – 10 a.m.) and she is donating her service to AGA. We just completed our third show and I think we have finally achieved the quality and level of professionalism we targeted from the beginning. Jane is co-hosting the AGA program with Dr. Van Daniker. For those of you outside the D.C. Beltway, you can listen to the AGA radio program at your convenience via your computer. We will also send each chapter a copy of the program on a CD and chapter officers are welcome to use these recorded programs to create local radio programs or events. Please contact our executive director Dr. Van Daniker for details. I want to thank Clif Williams, CGFM, of Grant Thornton for doing an excellent job in chairing the radio program committee and providing excellent leadership. I also want to thank Hal Steinberg, CGFM, for securing top-flight guests for our radio program and Dave Bennett, CGFM, the third member of the AGA radio program advisory committee and member of the AGA National Executive Committee, for making sure the program serves the best interest of AGA. And Dr. Van Daniker, who has no radio broadcast background, is evolving into a radio pro. We will need to worry about him when he starts growing a ponytail and wearing dark glasses (like Shock Jock Howard Stern). 

The FBC did excellent work on the internal control assessment project and turned in its agreed to assignment on time, as promised, to the NEC. The NEC accepted the Finance and Budget Committee presentation and a final document will be presented by the FBC to the National Board of Directors in June for approval. So good work, National Treasurer Thad Juszczak of  Grant Thornton, Mary Lechner, CGFM, of Savantage Solutions, as well as our own AGA CFO Cristina Barbudo. They spent countless hours on this project on top of their other FBC responsibilities. I also want to express my deep appreciation to Grant Thornton and Savantage Solutions for supporting their employees in this and other AGA endeavors. 

The Governance Committee, under the very able leadership of Oregon State Controller John Radford, CGFM, also met its goals and turned in a very well thought out and professional document for NEC consideration. The NEC accepted its presentation and a final document will be presented to the NBD for approval in June. Please see the list of the committee members at the end of this article. They all made great contribution under tremendous time pressure in this endeavor. I am most grateful for your commitment and dedication. 

I have even more good news to report.

I have finally completed my discussion with our executive director about his performance assessment plan and provided him with his mid-term assessment. I am very pleased with the progress made by the AGA National Office staff, under the leadership of Dr. Van Daniker during the first half of my tenure. I have also provided him with some suggestions in areas I feel can enhance the AGA "brand."

I have made good progress in the AGA executive director succession project. Dr. Van Daniker has named Susan Fritzlen as the chief operating officer of the AGA National Office. In this capacity, Susan will back up Dr. Van Daniker when the need arises. Susan's appointment should not be confused with the selection of the next AGA executive director. Her appointment is the first step towards a well thought out and smoothly coordinated continuity of operation (COOP) for the AGA National Office executive team that I requested. If AGA needs to appoint a new executive director, the NEC and the NBD will make that decision when the need arises. 

I am indeed very pleased with the progress made so far on all these projects and initiatives. I have every reason to believe that I will be able to turn over to Billy Morehead a better AGA than the one I was given, and he can hit the ground running when he assumes office. I have already included him in all my important decision-making, and I brief him and Lisa Casias on a weekly basis. 

In conclusion, I give myself a bright green on the following initiatives for the reasons stated above:

§        Executive Director Succession Plan

§        Enhanced National Office Financial Operation: Internal Control

§        The AGA National Governance Protocol

§        The AGA Radio Program

§        The National Leadership Conference

§        The AGA Executive Director Evaluation Plan

I need to continue to work on the Responsibility and Accountability of the National President Initiative. However, I expect to also achieve a “green” status on this issue before I leave office.

Given all of the green so far, I can safely say Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all. 

Chairs:
Jonathan D. Breul, MPA, Executive Director, IBM Center for the Business of Government; Partner, IBM Global Business Services

Lisa Casias, CPA, Deputy Chief Financial Officer and Director for Financial Management U.S. Department of Commerce; AGA National President-Elect Designate

Peter V.R. Franchot, JD, Comptroller, State of Maryland

Members:
Sheila O. Conley, CGFM, CPA, Deputy Chief Financial Officer, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Dennis Duquette, CGFM, CPA, Director, Federal Audit & Enterprise Risk Services, Deloitte

Scot Janssen, CPA, Senior Audit Partner, KMPG LLP

John D. Kenney, CPA, Director, Comptroller of Maryland, General Accounting Division, State of Maryland

Young Kim, Director, Grant Thornton LLP Global Public Sector

Joseph L. Kull, CGFM, CPA, Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP; AGA National Treasurer-Elect Designate

Samuel T. Mok, CGFM, CIA, CICA, AGA National President

Cindy Schwimer, Executive Director, Public Sector, Oracle USA, Inc.

Relmond P. Van Daniker, DBA, CPA, Executive Director, AGA

David M. Zavada, CPA, Partner, Kearney & Company

Sam