Q & A WITH ED HARRINGTON.

• Author: Martin, Timothy
• Position: IN PRACTICE

In summarizing his conversation with Ed Harrington, GFOA's Timothy Martin said this is a life someone should make a movie about. He wasn't exaggerating. Ed talked about his early life, becoming an accountant, almost losing his life over it, his fascinating career with the City of San Francisco, and even the Tao of Ed ("If you are ready for the next thing, the next thing shows up").

You grew up in San Francisco, and you were the youngest of five children. I think it's fair to say that you faced some real tragedy, having your father die when you were nine and your mother die when you were 13. Can you tell us a little about your early life?

I grew up in my brother's house, and I don't remember a lot about childhood. I think when those things happen, it sets you back a bit. I do remember some good things. I remember my mother teaching us that no one is better than you, and you are no better than anybody else. And that has served me well throughout my life. When I run into people who are very difficult and think they're very important, it doesn't bother me as much because I know that they're not any better than lam.

Is that where you got your confidence?

I think there's something that comes out of loss--you can say, I may as well give it a try. What do 1 have to lose? And very few things can't be fixed. You can make all kinds of mistakes and learn from them, and you can fix them. If you're always afraid of not being able to do something, then nothing happens. So, I guess the fear factor was low.

You've mentioned that working at KPMG was like going to college for the second time. This was a very large accounting firm. What was your mindset when you went there?

If I was going to be in finance, I should get a CPA license; and to get a CPA license, I needed to work for an accounting firm. And if I was going to work for an accounting firm, it would make more sense to work for a big one and get a lot of experience. It was like getting a master's degree, frankly. I interviewed with a variety of firms, and I asked them questions. I asked every firm how many women and how many people of color they had as partners--because I'm gay and I didn't want to work for a company with Neanderthal views. I wanted to work for someplace where I could be accepted and be a real person and grow. KPMG was much better about all of that than the other companies I talked to.

A lot of people might not be comfortable asking questions like that.

I was comfortable enough to say, "Hey, is this someplace I want to work? It's not just your choice." And I've always kept that in mind when I've interviewed people. I've been surprised how sometimes people interview folks as if they're the only decision-makers in the room. The person applying for the job has a choice to make, too.

You were still in your 20s at this point, and you'd been given a lot of management responsibility. Did you ever get the feeling people might be looking at you and wondering how this guy got this job?

I've actually had people ask me that. But I had an IT background. I had been doing IT consulting when I was in school. I passed the CPA exam, by the way, so they...