By Pepper Parr
BURLINGTON, ON July 9, 2012 The City of Burlington has announced that Joan Ford, long-time city employee and acting executive director of the finance department, has been named director of finance effective July 9.
Ford’s home position was deputy treasurer with the city. She has served as acting executive director of finance since July 2010, after one year as acting director of finance from April 2009 to April 2010.
“Joan has been doing an excellent job in the acting role as head of the finance department,” said Kim Phillips, general manager of corporate services. “I look forward to continuing to work with Joan as she continues to lead a top-notch finance team at the city.”
Joan Ford, Director of Finance – Finally!
Ford, who has been with the city since 1988, has an Honours BA in Economics from the University of Waterloo and is completing her CMA designation through the CMA Executive Program with the Certified Management Accountants of Ontario. She has progressed through a number of finance roles at the City of Burlington, including:
Financial analyst
Senior financial analyst
Supervisor of financial policy
Manager of revenue and taxation
Manager of financial planning and taxation
Deputy Treasurer
“I am pleased to continue in this leadership role,” Ford said. “Finance has a skilled and professional staff team in place that is committed to serving the needs of City Council and the people of Burlington.”
The city recently restructured its three divisions to balance workload, develop synergies within divisions and increase corporate capacity to best reflect the needs of the community. Kim Phillips and Scott Stewart are two of the three general managers. Recruitment for a third general manager will take place this fall.
Now that you’ve read all the bafflegab – know that Joan Ford did all the hard work that had to be done to get where she is. Getting her Certified Management Accountant (CMA) designation was not easy – she had a household to manage and a budget process that was at times close to a killer.
Ask her for a budget number – and zap – she had it at her fingertips. Look for a new innovative way to get data into the hands of department heads who had their own budgets to manage and at the same time put numbers in the hands of council members – and both Joan and her staff come up with good ideas.
While not only doing the job that we really didn’t pay her for doing – she developed one of the smartest departments in the city. Some of the people in her department have moved on to other departments where a tougher, more accountable approach to the numbers will begin to be felt.
Congratulations Joan – you earned this one.
Now take a well-earned vacation and have the CMA certificate framed and on your office wall.
