The president's agenda.

• Position: Government Finance Officers Association President Timothy H. Riordan

GFOA has an excellent tradition of providing assistance to professional government finance managers. During my term as president, I want to strengthen that assistance in the areas of

* budgeting,

* technology,

* best practices, and

* training.

I want to focus greater attention on budgeting, encourage GFOA to develop more significant assistance efforts in the technology area, encourage rapid growth in the development and dissemination of the best practices efforts, and insure implementation of the strategic training effort.

First is the area of budgeting. In the public arena, budgeting is the linchpin of all financial management issues; it is the fundamental process through which public goals and objectives are established and evaluated. We need to set standards in government budgeting more definitively than they have ever been set before. We are participating in a major effort to see what can be done to recommend budget standards, an idea we previously shied away from. The National Council on State and Local Government Budgeting and the GFOA Standing Committee on Governmental Budgeting and Management will be key players in making these items reality.

Second is training. In 1995, the GFOA Executive Board adopted a strategic training plan which includes the development of the professional certification program and the goal to double the number and quality of training experiences we provide to our members. We need to make sure that thoughtful and timely implementation occurs.

Third is technology. Computer and communications technology affect every aspect of our jobs, and we have always been on the leading edge of adopting new technologies. At any point in time, a significant number of our members are going through the process of changing software and systems. The computer decisions and implementation questions are not the flashy issues of municipal finance, but they are the reality which all finance professionals face...