| | Published March 13th, 2013
| Experience Plus Transparency Adds up to Success
Getting to know Orinda's new finance director, Susan Mahoney
| | By Laurie Snyder |  | | Orinda's friendly finance team ensures that city revenues are wisely and efficiently managed. From left: Jennie Flores, Norma Costa, Linda Thompson, and Finance Director Susan Mahoney. Photo Ohlen Alexander
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Orinda is a very well-run city with an engaged community, observes Susan Mahoney, the city's new finance director. With more than 30 years in the accounting arena - the last four of which were spent as an advisor to cities of all shapes and sizes - Mahoney is well qualified to issue that verdict.
She is a professional who holds a BS in Accounting and MA in Public Administration, and has played integral roles in the start of "two cities from the ground floor up" - experiences she describes as rare and exciting. Most recently, she set up the finance department for Riverside County's Jurupa Valley - "an equestrian community" with a population of roughly 90,000, and performed a similar role for Citrus Heights, where she stayed for nine years.
"I've also worked for cities that were incorporated in the 1800s," she says, adding that she feels "so fortunate to have been on both ends of the spectrum."
Mahoney arrived in Orinda as a consultant in July 2012, following the retirement of the city's previous finance director. Her department functions quietly behind the scenes, but is essential to the city's smooth operation. She and her staff "provide information to the community, the council, to our fellow employees, to outside agencies - and they all rely on the information we give them because they are making decisions" based on data which must be timely and accurate. "The economy changes what we do," as do amendments to laws and accounting standards. "Finance is not static," states Mahoney.
Collectively, they manage 36 funds - each with its own separate set of books, each operating like a separate business.
Hired permanently by the city on Jan. 1, she has quickly won fans among city leaders and citizens for changes made to an array of documents, including the addition of pie charts and other graphics to staff reports. Reporting in a transparent and user-friendly manner matters, explains Mahoney, because "we are all the government."
Although a responsibility apparently not appreciated by those in Bell, California where officials are currently on trial for their allegedly corrupt dealings, "This council is very involved and interested," says Mahoney. Where other cities report quarterly or mid-year and only to their councils, Orinda has added extra layers of protection - Finance Advisory and Audit committees staffed by council-appointed citizens who have the professional expertise to provide effective guidance.
Her main priority right now is to cross-train her personnel. Regardless of whether employees are sick or on vacation, her staff still needs to get paychecks out and bills paid.
As for her spare time, she enjoys Sudoku and gives back to the region by teaching accounting at Heald College. "The most important thing about me," she positively beams, "is that I have two wonderful children."
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA