CFPUA Names New Chief Financial Officer
John McLean, former Director, Office of Statewide Reporting & Accounting Policy for the State of Louisiana, selected for post
CONTACT: Leslie Ogilvie, substituting for Mike McGill
(910) 332-6625
leslie.ogilvie@cfpua.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wilmington, NC, May 9, 2016: Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) is pleased to announce that John McLean has been selected to become CFPUA’s Chief Financial officer. Mr. McLean was chosen following an extensive search over the last three months. Mr. McLean comes to CFPUA from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where he served as the Director, Office of Statewide Reporting & Accounting Policy for the State of Louisiana. He begins work today.
Mr. McLean has worked exclusively in government and nonprofit finance. He began his career at the Louisiana Legislative Auditor where he supervised the audits of the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for the State of Louisiana, the use of federal program dollars related to disaster recovery for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and state-sponsored insurance enterprises. He then served as the State of Louisiana’s Accounting Director. In this role, he directed the maintenance of the centralized statewide accounting system, supervised all financial reporting responsibilities including the CAFR, and served as a financial advisor to state officials.
Mr. McLean holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Accounting from Louisiana State University. He is a Certified Public Accountant and is a member of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Government Finance Officers Association.
In a recent study by the UNC School of Government’s Environmental Finance Center, CFPUA’s financial approach received its “optimal” ratings for: 1) Cost recovery (operation budget strength); 2) Operations revenue v. expenditures; 3) Debt service coverage ratio; 4) Measures of liquidity (ability to pay current bills); including cash on hand; and 5) Condition of physical assets.
“CFPUA is proud of our track record of financial stewardship. In recent years, while we have improved our water and sewer systems, we have elevated our bond ratings and are in a strong financial position for the future," said Jim Flechtner, Executive Director. “John’s skillset fits in perfectly with the rest of our Finance Team, which does an excellent job of balancing between funding our systems’ needs while keeping rates affordable for our customers.”
“I look forward to joining CFPUA,“ said McLean. “A clear and successful financial gameplan is being carried out that respects the investments our customers are making in their water and sewer systems. My goal is to help CFPUA achieve even greater heights in the coming years.”
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Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA) was formed by the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County to combine their water and sewer operations. It began operations on July 1, 2008. Today, the Authority serves more than 67,000 water customer accounts and more than 65,000 wastewater customer accounts. It oversees more than 1,000 miles of water distribution mains and nearly 1,000 miles of sewer mains. For more information, visit www.cfpua.org.