AN INTERVIEW WITH Kevin Bueso: Chief Financial Officer for McHenry County, Illinois.

• Author: Mucha, Mike
• Position: IN PRACTICE

Mike Mucha, GFOA's deputy executive director, spoke with Kevin Bueso, the chief financial officer for McHenry County, Illinois, to discuss his career journey, how to make the most of opportunities, how to build relationships, the role of professional associations, and innovations in the finance office.

Born and raised in Honduras, Kevin came to the United States to attend college in 2003. At the time, he wasn't even sure about his college major, much less a career. He also didn't speak English. He took care of that obstacle by enrolling in a unique program through Dominican University that paired non-English-speaking students from different parts of the world, and "to communicate with each other, we were forced to learn English, and quickly." Making the most of that program, Kevin then set out to earn a bachelor's degree from Robert Morris College, a school in Chicago, Illinois, that focuses on postsecondary business education for a student body that is diverse in age, race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic, and academic backgrounds.

Feeling pressured to declare a major, Kevin decided that he would select one based on the highest grade he received one semester. That semester he had intro-level courses in marketing, technology, and accounting--and accounting won. Kevin enrolled in more advanced accounting classes on his way to a bachelor's degree. In one of those classes, he met Tina Smigielski--who provided the initial opportunity for Kevin to get involved in local government. At the time, Tina was teaching accounting at Robert Morris College, but she was also the finance director for the City of Gurnee, Illinois. She offered students an unpaid internship, and Kevin started with the Gurnee finance office in 2006.

When Kevin graduated from Robert Morris College, he was able to turn his internship into a full-time job at the city. Looking back, Kevin credits Tina with putting him in a position to succeed. "She believed in what I was capable of rather than looking only at what I had done in the past," he said. Kevin's full-time position, which was new at the time, was responsible for collecting several new taxes and fees including food and beverage taxes, amusement tax, business licenses, and water utility payments. In this role, Kevin not only interacted with the public and took payments from businesses, but he also ensured compliance--which included going behind the scenes to audit Six Flags Great America in Gurnee for its amusement tax payments.

When Tina took a new job as the finance director for the City of Waukegan, a much larger neighboring city, she hired Kevin as assistant finance director. "Once again, she took me under her wing, and I was able to take on new responsibilities," he said. In Waukegan, Kevin was responsible for new functions including accounts payable and payroll, and he was thrown right into the fire.

Initially, Kevin was able to take courses from GFOA and the American Payroll Association to pick up subject matter expertise and gain confidence...