After a nationwide recruitment, San José City Manager Jennifer Maguire has appointed Rick Bruneau as San José’s new Director of Finance. Bruneau will assume the Director role on April 2, 2023.
“San José is consistently named one of the best financially managed large cities in the nation whose bonds are regularly rated at the highest levels,” said Maguire. “With Rick’s financial experience, I am confident that we will continue to achieve these accolades and successfully continue our commitment of ensuring long-term financial stability for the benefit of our residents, businesses, and investors.”
“Rick continually demonstrates savvy insight into ways to improve upon San José’s already strong revenue management and accounting functions,” said San José Mayor Matt Mahan. “As head of the Finance Department, Rick will utilize his vast experience working cross-functionally to improve our strategy and streamline resources to protect the City’s financial future for all residents.”
Bruneau is a finance leader with 15 years of experience driving strategic and operational excellence and delivering digital transformation initiatives. He began his career in 2008 with the United States Department of Defense as a financial auditor. He moved into the private sector as a Lead Financial Analyst for Morpho Detection, Inc., and in 2013 joined the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco to lead the strategic finance function for the National Cash Business Line. In 2018, he joined the City of San José’s Finance Department as a Deputy Director of the Revenue Management, Banking, and Administration Division. In this capacity, he initiated and implemented various strategic financial initiatives, including the business tax amnesty program, business tax online registration portal, and implemented multiple web payment sites and request forms. Bruneau has also been a key partner in securing new and ongoing revenues for the City. In 2021, he became the Finance Department’s Controller as the Deputy Director overseeing the Accounting Division, including a City-Wide Fiscal Recovery and Grants Management Unit.
Bruneau holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA, and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Eastern Connecticut State University Willimantic, CT. He is also a Certified Public Accountant.
“I am honored and excited by the opportunity to serve the City in this new capacity, and thankful to the City Manager Jennifer Maguire, Mayor Matt Mahan, and the entire City Council for entrusting me to lead the Finance Department,” said Bruneau. “I have a genuine passion for operational excellence and look forward to partnering with City leaders to launch strategic and transformational initiatives that will improve municipal services.”
With an annual operating budget of $25.4 million and 134 employees, the City’s Finance Director’s responsibility is to manage, protect and report on the City of San José financial resources to enhance its financial condition for residents, businesses and investors. The Finance Department works in partnership with several City departments in the Strategic Support City Service Area to effectively develop, manage and safeguard the City’s fiscal, physical, technological, and human resources to enable and enhance the delivery of City services and projects.
The City of San José has earned numerous national awards for its commitment to sound financial management practices. Most notably, the City received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association for the thirty-fourth consecutive year in 2022.
About the City of San José
With more than one million residents, San José is one of the most diverse large cities in the United States and is Northern California’s largest city and the 10th largest city in the nation. San José’s transformation into a global innovation center has resulted in one of the largest concentrations of technology companies and expertise in the world. In 2011, the City adopted Envision San José 2040, a long-term growth plan that sets forth a vision and a comprehensive road map to guide the City’s anticipated growth through the year 2040.