City of St. Helens Welcomes New Finance Director

Headshot of Gloria Butsch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 23, 2023

St. Helens, Ore. – The City of St. Helens is pleased to welcome Gloria Butsch as the City’s new finance director. She begins work in St. Helens on March 15, 2023.

Butsch joins the City of St. Helens after working at the City of Independence, Oregon for 11 years. During her tenure in Independence, she was involved in the development and financing of their downtown riverfront which housed a former rock pit and concrete plant. She also led the refinancing of debt obligations which saved the city several million dollars in interest costs.

“St. Helens really caught my interest when I learned about the Riverfront Project,” said Butsch. “It closely parallels the projects I’ve been involved with in Independence. After visiting the area a couple times and reading staff testimonials, I knew that St. Helens is a place that I want to live and work.”

Prior to working at the City of Independence, Butsch was an audit manager for a public accounting firm in Newport where she performed audit fieldwork for various government entities. She was also a finance manager for two years at the Seal Rock Water District.

“We look forward to welcoming Gloria to our team,” said City Administrator John Walsh. “As our budget season gets underway and we have several major infrastructure and redevelopment projects starting, we are happy to have someone in St. Helens with extensive knowledge of government finances. Her experience with riverfront development and financing will be an added benefit for St. Helens.”

Butsch is heavily involved with the Oregon Government Finance Officer’s Association (OGFOA). She is the association’s current president-elect and becomes president on February 28, 2023. She has served on OGFOA’s Board of Directors since March 2017 and has led the Small Jurisdictions Forum program since 2019. She has also served on the Education Committee since 2010 and the Hospitality Committee since 2017. She has also served as a reviewer of OGFOA’s Distinguished Budget award program.

Butsch has been a member of Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL) since 2015 and served on the Oregon Public Performance Improvement Association (OPPIA) from 2018 to 2020.

Butsch has spent most of her life on the West Coast. She grew up in a small town in Northern California before living in Alaska for almost 13 years. She moved to the Oregon Coast in 1996 and has remained in Oregon since. In her free time, she enjoys travel and golf with her husband.

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For further information regarding the new St. Helens Finance Director, please contact Communications Officer Crystal King at cking@sthelensoregon.gov.