Surviving Financial Distress: Fiscal First Aid - Internet Training, May 21, 2009
Faculty
Melanie D. Purcell, Assistant Director, Municipal Technology Advisory Services, University of Tennessee Melanie Purcell serves as the sssistant director for the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) at the University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service. She has served local governments for the past 16 years including as a village manager, deputy city manager, finance officer, and budget director. She holds a master of public policy degree from the University of Michigan and a bachelor of arts degree in economics from San Francisco State University. She is a Certified Public Finance Officer and is active with GFOA committees. She has been a reviewer for the GFOA Distinguished Budget Presentation Award program for 13 years, a reviewer for GFOA's Popular Annual Financial Reporting program for two years, written several articles on local government finance for professional associations, and taught public budgeting for MTAS, the Michigan Municipal League, and Eastern Michigan University.
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Timothy J. Soave, Manager of Fiscal Services, Oakland County, Michigan Tim has been employed by Oakland County, Michigan, since January 1979. The last 25 years Tim has been in the Department of Management and Budget. During that time, he has overseen four function areas: financial analysis and planning, general fund/general purpose accounting, grants accounting, and grants compliance. Since January 2002, Tim has served as the manager of the fiscal services division. In this capacity, he heads a 90-person division that provides all aspects of financial management and reimbursement for the county with the exception of cash management and investments. During his tenure with fiscal services, Oakland County became the first unit of local government in Michigan to receive all three GFOA financial presentation awards. He has also been very active in the GFOA as a reviewer for the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award program since 1997. He also earned the Certified Public Financial Officer (CPFO) designation in 2005.In addition, Tim has served his state professional association, the Michigan Governmental Finance Offices Association (MGFOA), for a number of years including serving on the board of directors for 10 years as president, vice president/secretary, treasurer, GFOA representative, and a director. During this time, MGFOA membership grew by 30 percent and the association spearheaded various pieces of legislation improving governmental finance in the state. Tim has also participated on the MGFOA’s Professional Development Committee for 14 years, where he designed and implemented a number of professional training courses related to public budgeting and is the current chair of the association’s strategic planning committee. In September 2008, Tim received the MGFOA’s Life Membership Award for his service to the association and for contributions towards the advancement of municipal government and financial management in the State of Michigan. Shayne Kavanagh, Senior Manager, Research and Consulting Center, GFOA, Chicago, Illinois Shayne Kavanagh is the senior manager of research for the GFOA. He has worked on a number of strategic planning and long-term planning projects. He served as the project manager for projects at the City of Montclair, California, the City of Gresham, Oregon, the City of Rialto, California, and the City of San Clemente, California. Mr. Kavanagh has authored the GFOA publications Financing the Future: Long-Term Financial Planning for Local Government and Financial Policies: Design and Implementation. He has spoken on the topic of financial planning and policies at the California Society of Municipal Finance Officers, the New England States GFOA, the Michigan Government Finance Officers Association, the International City/County Management Association, National League of Cities, and the GFOA annual conference. He has written articles on financial planning that have appeared in journals such as Government Finance Review, Public Management, and School Business Affairs. Prior to joining the GFOA, Mr. Kavanagh was the assistant village manager for the Village of Palos Park, Illinois. Mr. Kavanagh graduated from with his MPA degree from Northern Illinois University where he was the ASPA student of the year for his graduating class. 
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