Important Message About The "CityBase" Daily News Articles
Published: Sat, 09/03/22
As of today there will be a transition on the "CityBase" articles. They will be sent from Becky & Vic. They are taking over, and it will be an independent service under their care.
I doubt there is anyone in Texas who knows me and doesn't ready know Becky. We have been close colleagues for 30+ years.
You will be getting the typical billing in the next day or two due October 15. All remittance information will be to Becky (Government Resource Associates LLC.) An invoice will be followed by a W-9.
Please make this administrative billing step go smoothly by prompt payment.
So, where am I going? Everywhere and nowhere. I'll be in the background to help. In fact, I hope to contribute essays and analyses to continue to make the service valuable. I am a news junkie who has provided this service for 22 years. The withdrawal won't be easy.
I will also continue with my public and confidential sales tax analysis clients. Otherwise, I'm generally unavailable for additional consulting work.
Thank you for supporting this subscription service!
Lewis
lewis.mclain@outlook.com
Welcome Letter from GRA
Greetings and Welcome from GRA!
Let me introduce the new team and tell you a little about our philosophy and our company. I’m Becky Brooks, President and CEO of Government Resource Associates LLC. My husband since 2017 is Victor Harvey and we are happily living the semi-retired lifestyle - if raising a second family really counts as retired, but more about that later! Vic will be helping provide the subscription service, so that we have double coverage as needed to continue to provide you the latest and most relevant news in municipal finance. Lewis (aka CityBase.Net creator and Texas municipal finance icon, and long-time friend and mentor) has agreed to provide support to us as needed to make the transition as seamless as possible.
Our Philosophy. As with Lewis’s approach, our goal will be to access the key news sources around the state, and sometimes beyond, to keep you informed of events and happenings in local city government. While the emphasis will be mostly municipal management, we will also continue to provide articles related to other local government issues that may help address our own local concerns. If you’ve been in our industry any length of time, you realize there is a lesson to be learned in just about anything that hits the “papers” – even if it’s “I’m glad that’s not me” but hopefully more likely “what are we doing to make sure we have addressed this issue”. In that vein, these articles are distributed as educational and informative. And yes, sometimes just a bit fun or humorous to lighten up our day.
Anticipated Changes. At this point, we don’t expect to change much regarding the approach Lewis has used with CityBase.Net. Philosophically, we stay aligned with the prior approach. Mechanically, we will still continue the following:
- Access approximately 50-60 news sources, feeds and automated google searches around the state or nation (usually over 500-600 articles per day)
- Prescreen and use AI tools for applicability or interest to the subscription base
- Edit, format, and distribute timely to the subscribers
- Annual billing around September 1, to coincide with the most common fiscal year cycle
- An annual rate for 2022-2023 for government and non-profit units of $1,095.
- Allow for multiple users at the same entity with one fee
Background. As an individual, I have been in the public finance and management field since 1983, so hit 40 years in the industry this summer! GRA itself was originally created in early 2000 by my long-time friend Richard Price and I joined him as majority owner, President and CEO of GRA, making it a minority owned business. Initially, we primarily focused on financial planning, information technology, and management support for local governments. After a few business structure changes, and the passing of my dear friend, I was once again solo, focusing on financial consulting.
In March 2018, I joined the City of Grand Prairie and later retired in June 2021 as Chief Financial Officer. During that tenure, I continued to provide regional training services through our local council of government (NCTCOG).
Prior to joining Grand Prairie, I had the pleasure of working for the Government Finance Officers Association of Texas (GFOAT). Most of my tenure there was as Executive Director of the approximately 1000-member organization. Our biggest focus was on developing our public finance officials around the state.
Also on the public service side, I served as City Auditor for the City of Arlington from 1989-1994, as well as a State School in Louisiana from 1983-1985.
Over the course of my consulting career (with Lewis or GRA or on my own) we have served many cities, special districts or similar entities through planning, financial analysis, and professional development services. Now more recently in semi-retirement, my time is spent primarily on training and development opportunities for our public officials, especially in the area of municipal finance.
With that small snippet of a resume, I hope you can see that my experience includes broad exposure to a wide range of different entities, different management styles and different issues. My success is built on a commitment to continued education and constant learning. The favorite part of my career has been helping others grow and do their jobs better. I view this transition to the news service as an extension of that model and personally a good way to stay involved and informed.
As many of you know, I have a long-standing relationship with Lewis. Since 1985 he and his wife Linda have been friends and personal mentors. There isn’t much success I can claim today without some aspect of his influence, and I am grateful that he trusts this ‘baby’ of his with us. We will do our best to continue the good work.
Becky Brooks
Victor Harvey
GRA-Articles@outlook.com