Contributed Photo
Greenfield City Councilmember Yanely Martinez meets NALEO President Pauline Medrano at the National Policy Institute in Long Beach.
GREENFIELD — Greenfield City Councilmember Yanely Martinez recently joined nearly 50 other municipal and county level policymakers from across the country for a two-day training session on public finance issues, including budgets, pensions and bonds.
On May 18-19 in Long Beach, Calif., Martinez attended the “National Policy Institute on Public Finance and Pension Fund Management and Bonds” from the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, the nation’s preeminent Latino leadership organization.
According to NALEO, policymakers must undertake efforts to learn and understand the complexity of public finance issues, including budgets, revenue sources, financial statements, pensions and bonds, to be good stewards of their communities’ resources and future vitality.
At the policy institute, Martinez joined leading experts from the public, private and non-profit sectors for two days of professional development that combined classroom and experiential learning and the exchange of ideas and best practices.
“I am beyond grateful for this amazing opportunity to have been selected to participate in the NALEO scholarship,” Martinez said. “I was able to receive important information on public finance and pension, and learn more about fiscal functionality.”
The training provided the opportunity for Martinez and other Latino officials to deepen their knowledge and leadership capacity to strengthen their jurisdictions’ fiscal strength and outlook. Topics addressed through the policy institute curriculum included the role of public officials as fiduciaries; understanding the budget and local government revenue sources; local government financial reporting; financial forecasting; pension funds; and municipal bonds.
During the two-day convening, Martinez and participants networked with policymakers from across the country and acquired tools to help successfully initiate, advocate and mobilize in favor of more effective public finance management for their jurisdictions.
