During the recent Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Annual Conference in Washington D.C. from June 29 through July 2, we had the opportunity to videotape eight attendees speaking forthrightly about their areas of expertise, and we’ll be posting them weekly. The first installment featured Lunda Asmani, Chief Financial Officer for Norwalk Public Schools in Connecticut and the new president of the GFOA. The second was with Liz Farmer, officer at the Pew Charitable Trusts.

This week, we visit with Tanya Garost, City Manager of Martensville, Saskatchewan, and recent past president of GFOA. Garost emphasizes the importance of asset management in communities, highlighting the need to maintain infrastructure alongside new facilities. “I know,” she says, “politicians love to build the new but it is so important to share with them the importance of taking forward the asset management plans to look after what we’ve already got.”

She points to the fact that infrastructure management often goes ignored both in Canada and the United States. “There is still a significant infrastructure gap in the amount of money that we’re funding . . . I think it’s incumbent on us to make sure that we are looking for other ways to fund these really important projects and keep our infrastructure renewed.”