Public Service Stories | Public Budgeting & Financial Management
One of the most important things people in public service do is manage the taxpayers’ money so that an agency/government can effectively and efficiently provide services.
This issue of the Public Service Stories Videos focuses on six people who have worked primarily in public budgeting and financial management. Their inspiring stories provide a sense of the broad range of opportunities--at all levels of government--to make a difference through managing public finances.
If you like numbers, enjoy planning and analyzing, and need to be a part of something truly significant, you must take a look at these profiles. They could change your life.
Dan Ahern - former first assistant inspector general for management in the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General. Interview recorded in 2014. Making government work is the focus of this video. Take a look.
Michael Massiah - chief, Capital Planning, Execution & Asset Management, New York and New Jersey Port Authority. Interview recorded in 2014. Michael's story is about how a large public agency can make a significant difference for people who never expected to have a meaningful career. Be sure to watch this.
Audrey Mathews - former deputy director for the Office of the Budget, District of Columbia Government. Interview recorded in 2014. Meet the first woman to break the color barrier in Beverly Hills City Hall.
J. Fred Silva - senior policy advisor for California Forward. Interview recorded in 2013. Can you imagine budgeting being fun? Fred Silva tells you why he enjoys it so much.
Selvi Stanislaus - executive officer of the California Franchise Tax Board. Interview recorded in 2013. Don’t miss this fascinating story of how a girl born and raised in Sri Lanka becomes the head of the second largest tax department in the United States.
Peggy Stewart - former director of administrative services for the City of Poway, California. Interview recorded in 2014. Peggy’s story focuses on how local government employees can make a difference in potentially disastrous financial situations. Take a look.
Suggested Assignments for Students
Review videos for one or more of the following:
- What in the speakers’ backgrounds led them to choose public service?
- What career paths did each follow?
- What is the content of the budget and finance work they’ve done?
- How does their work fit into public service?
- What is the role of education in their career choice/career path?
- Where did each feel they made a difference in the lives of others?
- What values led them to public service and/or were reinforced by their experiences in public service?
- What surprised you about any of these individuals and their stories?
- Which speaker did you like best and why?
- What are your take-aways from these videos?
- What are the common threads in all the videos? How does the Dan Ahern video tie them together?
A Special Thank You
UNO thanks Paul Danczyk and Richard Winter, of the Sacramento Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) for their generosity in providing the video interviews of Selvi Stanislaus and J. Fred Silva for use in this project.