By: Samuel T. Mok, CGFM, CIA, CICA
With my term as AGA National President coming to a close, I would
like to take this opportunity to both share with you my reflections
on the office of the president and offer some suggestions for the
National Executive Committee and the National Board of Directors to
consider.
As you know, the National President is chosen by the Nominating
Committee through majority vote. The Immediate Past National
President chairs the committee and the Nominating Committee members
are either appointed by the National President or are elected among
national or chapter level officers according to certain provisions
of the AGA Bylaws. The National President candidates must meet
certain predetermined AGA qualifications and no campaigning for
office is permitted. While the election process is not perfect, it
has come under criticism recently, I found it to be sound and
effective under the circumstances. The only suggestion I have in
this area is to consider loosening up the candidacy requirements so
there is a broader pool of candidates to compete for the top
leadership post. We do not have such strict candidacy restrictions
for becoming the president of the United States and AGA should not
be any different. Currently, we have an extremely small pool of
qualified candidates from which we can select a National President
due to these restrictions.
Since AGA is a not for profit (501c3) organization that derives much
of its revenue from government sources, directly and indirectly,
voluntary compliance with the most stringent prevailing government
ethics standards and practices is a recommended sound management
approach. As the “thought leader” for accountability and
transparency, AGA should, of course, practice what it preaches.
Enabling the AGA National Office to become the model operation for
accountability and transparency should be a priority and a measure
of staff performance within the National Office. For example, GAO
and the inspectors general offices always hold themselves to much
higher standards than the rest of the government. We should do the
same. Unfortunately, AGA still has some way to go in this area.
Given the heightened ethical standards mandated by the Obama
administration, I recommend that AGA establishes a very competent,
qualified and INDEPENDENT Ethics Advisor position to help it focus
on these matters. This should be an unpaid position filled by
someone with a good track record in the ethics profession and that
person should have no prior financial ties to AGA and will promise
not to enter into any financial relationship with AGA after vacating
the position.
One of the management challenges in our accountability and
transparency area is the lack of an institutionalized and robust
checks and balances process at the National Office level for
day-to-day operations. Another is the lack of clear definition over
accountability (and therefore authority) between the “elected”
National President (who is an unpaid volunteer, usually with a
demanding full-time day job) and the salaried full-time executive
director who is serving in a staff position. While nobody has ever
accused me of being shy or passive, I am still grappling with that
elusive issue after almost one year as the National President. Much
to my surprise, I have been challenged more than once about my
authority as the president when I inquired about routine management
policies and matters.
It is very important to point out that in this article there is
neither intended suggestion of improper behavior by any National
Office staff member nor any hint of irregular activities at the
National Office. But, in my opinion, it is an issue of
accountability and transparency culture that needs an institutional
updating if we aim to fully practice what we preach. To achieve an
optimum level of transparency and accountability, the relationship
between the National President and the executive director should be
similar to the cabinet agency (AGA National Office) where the
political appointees (elected volunteer AGA national officers,
including the president) provide the policy AND operational
leadership and oversight (therefore checks and balances) over the
career executives (the AGA National Office management staff).
However, some at the national level would rather view this
relationship being akin to that of a part time legislature (NEC and
NBD) and the full-time executive branches (National Office) where
the two are equal. I believe that in a well managed traditional
hierarchical organization for business professionals, the top leader
of the organization should have unfettered access to operational and
management information about the organization and, as such, he/she
should be the ultimate accountable officer. Under the current AGA
set up, I am not sure if that person is the National President or
the executive director. I appointed a Governance Committee under
the leadership of John Radford, CGFM, state controller of Oregon, to
examine this issue and I understand that our National
President-Elect, Dr. Morehead, plans to continue the efforts of this
committee to determine whether the AGA governance structure needs to
be modified.
Another issue related to the National Presidency is the one-year
term limit. AGA is a complex operation with vibrant programs year
round. Frequently, by the time the new president “masters the
throttle,” it is time to leave office. I recommend that
consideration should be given to a possible two-year term, upon
approval of the NBD. This will allow some flexibility to ensure
continuity of leadership under unusual situations.
Last but not least, I believe there should be a comprehensive review
of the current AGA revenue model and the related success measurement
metrics. For example, we rejoice in a growing membership, an
expanding number of chapters and a steady flow of research papers. I
applaud all these successes, and I am grateful for the hard work and
dedication of our national staff, especially the leadership of our
executive director, Dr. Van Daniker. Nevertheless, I am of the
opinion that most of the “success measurements” we are currently
using should be updated. For example, while we have about 15,000
members nationally, what is the geographic penetration rate by
locality? There must be more than 100,000 government financial
management types in the Washington D.C. area, yet in my twenty plus
years of AGA activity participation at the Greater Washington D.C.
area, I have never witnessed more than several hundred active
members supporting AGA chapter events at any given time. I think we
can and should do much better. The National Office can and should
play an active role to assist with these efforts. With more than 90
chapters nationally, we should have up-to-date chapter “heath
status” monitoring in an organized and timely manner to prevent
sudden collapse or “hallowing” out of chapters because of over
dependency of membership on a single government agency or senior
executive. With the research papers being published, there should be
a business-oriented measurement on the usefulness of these papers
and the actual results achieved. We cannot confuse process with
results. As the national economy continues to deteriorate, I also
think that we should impose a very disciplined business case
requirement on budget funding suggestions. I have other suggestions
in this vein, but I will leave my last article with the above
mentioned ideas.
You may disagree with some of the above reflections and suggestions
but I feel it is my duty to put them on the table and on record
after my short tenure. It is up to the NEC, NBD and you, the
members, to decide whether these issues have merit and I urge you to
truly consider these issues and the suggestions. It is important for
you to voice your opinion to your NEC and NBD representatives. You
are also welcome to send your comments to me directly at
agapresident@gmail.com.
In closing, I want to thank you for the opportunity and privilege to
serve you and I hope I have lived up to your expectations. After I
step down from office, I will resume living up my life motto as I
pass along to all of you:
Make some money
Have some fun
Leave some footprints
Sam
P. S. There are two other matters I wish to share with you. Many
members contacted me with questions and suggestions
expressing regrets for not being able to have AGA play a significant
role with the Obama administration transition. As we know, President
Obama will nominate a new comptroller general as well as a dozen
cabinet CFOs. AGA should play a very active role in providing input
to the President and Congress regarding the desired qualifications
of the candidates for these positions. This input should be approved
by the NEC/NBD before being made public. So far, we have been
watching in silence on the sideline. I will propose letters to the
President and Congress on these matters and will ask the NEC and NBD
to endorse these letters. On a second note, I would like to make
full disclosure for the record that my total amount for
reimbursement of travel and travel-related expenses over the span of
19 chapter visits during my year as president come out to under
$6,000. There have been no other expenses claimed to this date.