Ronald C. Green

1 2 Y E A R S O F P U B L I C S E R V I C E A N D

G O V E R N M E N T F I N A N C E

Greetings!

For nearly 12 years, I have served the City of Houston as a member of City Council and as City Controller. Before entering public service, I practiced law as the managing partner of my own firm and as a regional and district counsel to a national fraternity.

Municipal government is exciting, challenging and demands multi-tasking. But most of all, it is rewarding. When you consider all the components that make up a large city—its water and sewer systems, streets and sidewalks, parks and libraries, public safety and courts, airports and transit system, health clinics and solid waste collection, and much more—you realize how un-livable a city would be without good governance.

I have been privileged to serve alongside many dedicated City Council members and two very good mayors. I salute them for their hard work, vision and commitment to their constituents. Unfortunately, I believe, Houston’s current term limits cost the citizens the continuing service of too many of these public servants.

Making a city “work” for its citizens requires partnering and negotiating. I mentioned “vision” earlier, and good governance certainly requires that. No one in city government has a “crystal ball,” but proper and appropriate governance requires future-oriented thought, not just reacting to the current demands. A city’s budget is not elastic; that calls for creative choices, especially for a city like Houston which is growing so fast—about 150 new residents each day.

It has been a genuine pleasure and honor to work with my colleagues in municipal government and the department directors, as well as our many partners in the community, here in Houston—what Forbes Magazine calls “the next great global city.” With due respect to Forbes, Houston has felt like a great global city for some time to me.

Public Finance and Government Experience

• Over a decade of experience in public finance and economic development, including managing the City’s $13 billion debt portfolio and issuance of over $8 billion in par for new money projects and refinancings for all credits, including general obligation, water & sewer, hotel occupancy tax, and airport.

• Spearheaded optimal debt refunding campaign that generated approximately $500 million in savings during City tenure.

• Navigated debt issuance process amid significant legal challenges, including adoption of tax restrictive propositions and contestation of the City’s water rate increase.

• Managed the City’s multi-billion variable rate debt program and participated in the issuance and structuring of over $6 billion of the Water System’s debt, including negotiating liquidity facilities for the conversion of $1.4 billion of auction rate securities to variable rate demand bonds, index notes and long-term fixed rate bonds during the height of the financial crisis.

• Devised proactive rating agency strategies for the City’s various credits that resulted in upgrades for the City’s general obligation and water & sewer credits.

• Initiated and hosted annual Houston Area Investor Conference.

• Expanded investor outreach efforts, which included addressing revenue challenges during the economic downturn, pension and OPEB liabilities, and addressing the impact of implementing GASB accounting statements.

• Intricately involved in the development of economic initiatives, including complex real estate transactions, tax abatements, 380 agreements, beneficial land exchanges and other tax incentive programs.

• Coordinated process for securing Attorney General approval and executed contracts, attestations and certificates required for the issuance of debt, including the tax certificates, bond purchase agreements, and closing certificates.

• Revamped City’s disclosure policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the SEC’s recently expanded MCDC initiatives.

Houston City Council Member, At Large, Position 4, January 2004 - December 2009

An elected member of the City of Houston’s legislative body, which enacts and enforces all ordinances and resolutions. Responsibilities included appropriating bonds, awarding contracts, approving city expenditures, leasing or disposing of property, determining property assessments and altering/adopting the annual budget.

• Chairman of Budget & Fiscal Affairs Committee, with oversight of the City’s general fund budget and funds used for capital improvements totaling more than $4.2 billion annually.

• Responsible for Monthly Financial and Operations Report, strategic purchasing, competitive bidding, customer service issues and oversight of Municipal Courts reforms.

• Member of Transportation, Infrastructure & Aviation Committee; Neighborhoods, Housing & Redevelopment Committee; Quality of Life Committee; Pension System Governance Committee; Legislative Advisory Committee; Houston Galveston Area Council – Transportation Policy Committee.

Houston City Controller, January 2010 to Present

Elected service to the City of Houston as the City’s Chief Financial Officer, responsible for ensuring that the assets of the City are properly accounted for and expended in a manner consistent with applicable laws, policies, plans and procedures.

To accomplish this goal, the City Controller performs various functions including but not limited to the following:

• certifying the availability of City funds prior to Council approval of City commitments,

• processing and monitoring disbursements that total $2.4 billion annually,

• investing the City’s funds,

• conducting internal audits of City departments and federal grant programs,

• operating and maintaining the City’s financial management system,

• conducting the sale of the City’s public improvement and revenue bonds,

• and producing both monthly and comprehensive annual financial reports.

The Office of the City Controller has six divisions which include Audit, Financial Reporting, Technical Services and Operations, Treasury, Administration and Executive.

To view articles and speeches by Ronald Green, go to www.houstontx.gov/controller

Audit Division

Promoting efficiency, quality assurance

The Audit Division performs the Internal Audit function for the Office of the City Controller. This includes providing independent, objective assurance, attestation, and consulting services designed to add value and improve the City’s operations. The Audit Division helps City departments bring a systematic, disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of various processes (i.e. risk management, control, and governance).

During Controller Green’s term, 35 audits and special projects were performed; together, these efforts resulted in $25 million in direct cost savings and over $3 million in hard-dollar recoveries.

Financial Reporting Division

Pulling together the numbers for public disclosure

The Financial Reporting Division is ultimately responsible for the preparation of both the Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) and the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), although every division of the City Controller’s Office contributes to the CAFR effort. The CAFR is available on the City Controller’s website: www.houstoncontroller.org and on a USB drive by request.

During Controller Green’s term, five CAFRs (as of end of FY 2014) were issued on schedule; 65 MOFRs (as of March 2015) were presented to City Council. Additionally, the office issued the annual Trends Reports.

Treasury Division: Debt and Investment

Seizing the moment for re-financing

The Treasury Division is responsible for managing the City’s $3.2 billion investment portfolio in accordance with state law and the City’s investment policy. Fitch has awarded the City’s general investment its highest portfolio rating, AAA. The Treasury Division is also responsible for overseeing a debt program of approximately $13 billion. The City has 16 commercial paper programs totaling $1.750 billion, six auction-rate security issues, six series of variable rate demand obligation bonds, three SIFMA indexed notes, and four interest rate swaps with a total notional amount of $902 million and credit agreements totaling $ 2.65 billion.

As of March 2015, 21 municipal bond refinancings spearheaded by the Controller’s Office have resulted in savings of $474 million for the City without extending the term of debts. The City continued to have excellent ratings by the rating agencies.

Operations and Technical Services Division

The “workhorse” of the Controller’s Office

The Operations and Technical Services Division is responsible for City wide contract certification and fund reservation; approval of Accounts Payable (AP) payments to comply with policies; the City-wide vendor and payroll disbursement; auditing reconciliations of City wide bank accounts; reconciling travel advances; approving City-wide personnel action requests; performing approval of payroll processing; handling financial and accounting records management and imaging retrieval; performing vendor liaison functions; issuing annual tax form 1099 to vendors as IRS required; escheating unclaimed checks to State Comptroller Office; implementing SAP accounts payable and related enhancements and new system features; managing the Controller’s Office information technology services; and administering operations administrative procedures.

In order to increase transparency and show the nature of disbursements made by the City of Houston, in 2012 the Controller’s Office made daily payment records available on the City’s web site. The new eVendor Disbursement page is located at:

www.houstontx/gov/controller/evendordisbursement.html

Executive Division

The “voice” of the Controller’s Office

The Executive Division oversees the initiatives, reports and requests for information that are the responsibility of the Controller’s Office. The division serves as liaison to City Council and the City’s departments. The division continued the Bank on Houston initiative, a City-sponsored program to connect unbanked residents with the financial mainstream.

Ronald C. Green

12 Years of Public Service and Government Finance

Ronald C. Green was elected Houston City Controller on December 12, 2009, after serving three terms on Houston City Council, At-Large, Position Four. He has been re-elected Controller twice and began serving his third and final term in January 2014.

As City Controller, Mr. Green oversees a $13 billion debt portfolio and over $3 billion of investments. With rates at historic lows during the past three years, the Controller’s Office has sought out several refinancing opportunities that have generated over $474 million in savings without extending the life of the debt. In addition to management of the City’s treasury functions, every payment issued by the City of Houston is processed by the Controller’s Office. The Office also prepares several reports to provide financial data and operational statistics regarding the City, including a monthly report, an annual audited comprehensive statement, and a trends report.

As Controller, Mr. Green has spoken widely regarding municipal finance, the City’s budget and the metropolitan area’s economy, including Bloomberg News, C-SPAN, Bond Buyer, Governing Magazine, National Federation of Municipal Analysts, Society of Municipal Analysts, Houston Realtors Association, Greater Houston Partnership, Association for Corporate Growth, Exchange Club of Houston, Institute of Management Accountants, Leadership Houston, West Side Chamber of Commerce, National League of Cities Futures Panel, Houston Association of Realtors, Houston Contractors Association, Houston Council of Engineering Companies, Women Professionals in Government.

Mr. Green is a native Houstonian. He earned both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Houston, as well as a law degree from Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law. He is also a licensed real estate broker. He teaches a popular Government Finance course at Texas Southern University.

Mr. Green is a skilled litigation attorney with extensive experience in federal and state courts and expertise in diverse areas of the law, including commercial litigation, Title VII employment discrimination, business transactions, real estate, personal injury, white collar criminal defense, public finance and governmental relations. He has been admitted to State Bar of Texas, District of Columbia Bar, Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas and U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit. He is a Certified Mediator.

Mr. Green is a founding partner of his own law firm and is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., 100 Black Men of America, Inc., UH Alumni Organization, UH Black Alumni Association, the Government Finance Officers Association, National Association of Bond Lawyers and the Houston Lawyers Association. He serves on the National League of Cities’ 2015 Board of Directors and NLC’s Executive Committee; he was appointed to the Governmental Accounting Standards Advisory Council (GASAC) in January 2013.

Annual Houston Investor Conference

City Controller Ronald Green initiated the annual Houston Investor Conference in 2013, and continued the conferences in 2014 and 2015, each of which had larger attendance than the preceding conference. The two-day Houston Investor Conference explored strategies, trends and opportunities for future investment in the City of Houston and featured presentations on city and regional debt issues, along with panel discussions from senior finance officials. The Houston Investor Conference gave investors a current snapshot of the City’s financial and operational data and allowed City financial experts to differentiate its credits from other comparable credits in the market. Importantly, the conference allowed City personnel to speak directly with institutional investors and answer specific questions concerning the City’s expected growth.

“Tax exempt municipal bonds have been a mainstay for cities for a century,” says Controller Green. “Three quarters of all public infrastructure built by states and cities is financed by these bonds, so in a very real way the bonds contribute to job growth as well as sales and property tax revenue while keeping homeowners safe from escalating taxes. It’s important to note that Houston voters have overwhelmingly approved bond ordinances over the years, and we are very excited to have this opportunity to ‘show off ’ Houston to our conference attendees.”

Concurrent with the Investors Conference, the Controller’s Office unveiled the new Investors web page at www.houstontx.gov/controller/investorrelations/index.html