Learning locally - City of Coral Springs

“It’s been a fantastic experience to
drive just a few minutes away from
my house, and learn a lot from a
really good group of teachers and
professors, alongside students
who are doing the same thing I
am: working, raising a family and
trying to finish my education.”
– Senior Financial Analyst Chelsea Stahl
features
directors on making sure their initiatives aligned with the
City’s strategic priorities. Most recently, she worked on a
major process improvement, which was to implement the
use of ActiveStrategy within the organization to keep track of
the City’s performance measures.
The Budget season is in full swing, which means Stahl
and the rest of the budget team are extremely busy. Excel
wallpapers her computer screen daily as she works on the City’s
environmental scan. These projections examine the present and
future factors that may influence the City’s direction and goals.
“We provide structure to the big picture by analyzing small
details, in order to keep everything we do aligned with the
City’s strategy,” Stahl said.
All these projections are vital in developing the City’s
Strategic and Business Plans, the key documents that guide
overall operations. The end result of the long planning cycle
is the annual operating budget, which funds the initiatives
found in the City’s annual Business Plan.
“We make sure departments have the resources they need
to carry out their important initiatives,” Stahl added.
Sharing best practices
Coral Springs is reputable among its peers, and the Budget
Division is often asked to share how they do things. “We’ve
been interviewed by people as far away as New Zealand and
Japan and as close as our neighboring cities,” Stahl said.
In the past, Stahl has presented at the Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award Quest for Excellence XX Conference
in Washington D.C. and ActiveStrategy’s Fourth Annual Client
Conference in Philadelphia.
Aside from her day-to-day tasks, she also works on
special projects, such as coordinating the data collection
for ICMA Center for Performance Measurement and
Florida Benchmarking Consortium, revising the employee
satisfaction survey, assisting the Coral Springs Charter School
with its Sterling journey, analyzing financial scenarios for the
City, and various other research projects.
Stahl has also served as the Baldrige Application Writing
Team Category 7 lead, participated in a pilot test of the
Common Community Measures for Obesity Prevention
developed by the CDC in Atlanta, worked with a team to
develop the first “A Guide to Doing Business in Coral Springs”,
served on the Steering Committee for the Visioning Summit,
and provided support for grants and award applications.
“Special projects are exciting since I never quite know
what I will be working on next,” she added.
One-stop education
The Budget Division also participates in the Adult and
Continuing Education (ACE) Academy at the Charter School,
a program developed in collaboration with the School’s
academic staff and the City’s top CEOs. As part of this
program, Budget is currently sponsoring a student intern
who wants to gain experience working on executive level
projects. “We’ve been able to work with very bright and
motivated young people,” Stahl said.
After work, she picks up her niece, Sydney, who goes to
Coral Springs Charter School and lives with Chelsea and
her husband, Jon. “Coral Springs has the best reputation for
schools. Both my husband and I attended schools here, so we
knew first hand that the schools were really good,” she said.
And she isn’t just saying that. She believes it so
wholeheartedly that she decided to pursue her Master’s
degree within the Coral Springs College and University
Partnership.
“When I found out Coral Springs had a College and
University Partnership, I jumped at the opportunity to go.
I was thrilled at the idea of being able to drive only a few
minutes to finish my degree.”
Stahl is currently taking Barry satellite classes in Heron Bay
and will receive her degree in May, less than two years after
starting the program.
CoralSprings.org/budget
Watch CityTV 25 Spring 2010 • Coral Springs • 3