From the Chairman's Desk
By David A. Vaudt, GASB Chairman
2016 Stakeholder Outreach Outlook
Improving communications with our stakeholders is one of the GASB’s most
important goals. Under the 2015 outreach plan that GASB Vice Chair Jan
Sylvis and I are just wrapping up, we’ve met with more than thirty
stakeholder organizations across the country. We believe that visiting
stakeholders “on their turf” promotes a meaningful, constructive
dialogue.
The plan that we’re
working on now for 2016 will continue to build and reinforce strong,
productive working relationships with all of our stakeholder groups.
The
plan that we’re working on now for 2016 will continue to build and
reinforce strong, productive working relationships with all of our
stakeholder groups. The ultimate goal of our outreach is for you and
other stakeholders to feel comfortable picking up the phone and saying,
“I have a question” or “I’m facing this issue—can you help me?” If we’ve
issued a new proposal, and it has particular implications for your
membership, we want you to know that we’re anxious hear from you so that
we can talk it through together.
While stakeholders and the GASB won’t agree on every issue, we always
should be able to talk about them and understand each other’s
perspective. The more we meet on an individual basis, the better the
opportunity we have to understand why you have the perspective you do,
how an issue impacts you, and how we can best move forward together.
Every government is different—whether it’s a special purpose government
or a general purpose government, there are different, distinct impacts.
So, it’s critical to get your perspective as we look at standard-setting
alternatives.
The more we meet on an individual basis, the better the opportunity we
have to understand why you have the perspective you do, how an issue
impacts you, and how we can best move forward together.
A Continuous Dialogue
We want to make sure we have a continuous dialogue. While we may have
the opportunity to make presentations at your conferences, we don’t
always have the opportunity to sit down and discuss a specific issue
that’s on your mind.
One of the great benefits of face-to-face meetings with stakeholders is
that it allows us to set up an agenda that targets what we mutually
agree are the most important topics to discuss—standard-setting or
otherwise. It allows you to provide us with input as we update you on
where the Board seems to be headed on a given issue—and provides an
opportunity to get additional feedback from you individually.
If we continue to work on this together, we’ll develop the kind of
relationship where we can sit down even when we do not agree on all of
the positions that the Board might take. We’ll be able to explain why we
have those particular positions, what we looked at, what alternatives
we saw, and why we reached the decisions that we did.
Listening Is the Key
Each time that we have interactions with our stakeholder groups, it’s
more than just speaking. For us, listening is the most valuable part of
the conversation.
This year, our stakeholder outreach meetings have afforded us an
opportunity to listen and to gather information about things that may
need to be addressed in the near team. By receiving this information
through the outreach process, we can be more nimble in our reactions.
We’re able to bring additional items to the Board, consider whether to
add them to the agenda, and think about what kind of timetable we need
to put in place to meet stakeholder needs.
This has allowed us to get input, for example, on key pension issues
from an implementation standpoint and with respect to the impact changes
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is making will have on
state and local government investment pools. (Additional information on
these topics is available in the On the Horizon article in this issue).
If you’d like to talk about arranging a meeting with us in 2016, please email me personally.
Looking Ahead
We’re now developing our plans for outreach in 2016—and encourage you to
be a part of it. If you’d like to talk about arranging a meeting with
us in 2016, please email me personally at DAVaudt@gasb.org. We look
forward to hearing from you.
David A. Vaudt
GASB Chair