GASB project – project description

Staff

Wilson S. Campbell joined the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) staff in May 1998 as Project Manager assigned full time to the Service Efforts and Accomplishments (SEA) project, working closely with James R. Fountain, Jr., Assistant Director of Research. Prior to that, he served as Special Assistant to Texas State Auditor, Lawrence Alwin. In that role, he was actively involved in the development of the Strategic Planning and Performance Based Budgeting System in Texas and consulted frequently with representatives of federal, state, and local government as well as foreign governments and students about performance measurement and accountability. Before that, he served as the Director of the Texas State Auditor’s Office Performance Audit Division. Mr. Campbell has served as a member of the Planning steering committee for the Managing for Results Conferences hosted by the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. He holds degrees from the University of Wyoming and Wichita State University. wscampbell@gasb.org

James “Jay” R. Fountain, Jr. is under contract with the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) to continue work on reporting of performance (SEA) information. In 2003, he retired as Assistant Director of Research at the GASB. He is currently involved in service efforts and accomplishments (SEA) reporting. Prior to joining the GASB, Mr. Fountain served as the Assistant City Manager of Dallas, TX. Mr. Fountain has been both Vice Chairman and Chairman of the National Council on Governmental Accounting. He is the co-author of Performance Auditing in Local Government. As part of the GASB’s SEA project team, he was a co-author of the initial SEA overview publication of GASB, the individual report on Elementary and Secondary Education, the report on Citizen Discussion groups, and the Special Report, Reporting Performance Information: Suggested Criteria for Effective Communication. Mr. Fountain received a B.B.A. in accounting and an M.B.A. in finance, both from University of Florida, and an M.Sc. in urban life from Georgia State University in 1977. He is a Certified Public Accountant, and a CGFM, and earned his Certificate of Management Accounting in 1979. jrfountain@gasb.org

Researchers

Paul Epstein is Principal of Epstein and Fass Associates in New York. With Dr. Lyle Wray, he co-leads the Citizen’s League Sloan Foundation funded team conducting research on citizen engagement in performance management. He is also helping a large county agency implement the “balanced scorecard” approach to performance management. Mr. Epstein designed the Sloan Foundation-funded project on citizen-driven performance assessment n Montclair, NJ, and Dayton, LH. He has 29 years experience in performance measurement and improvement. He has helped citizen groups and entire local governments develop performance measure and improvement projects. He has also assisted local, state, federal, United Nations, and non-profit community agencies that provide a wide range of services. Mr. Epstein’s publications include the widely-used text Using Performance Measures in Local Government. The report of a professional committee he chaired was cited by Congress in its report on the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993. That year he was tapped by Vice President Gore’s National Performance Review to assist initiatives to improve customer service, productivity investment, and performance measurement. In 2003, he received ASPA’s Distinguished Performance Measurement Practice Award.