Craig Clay

Biography

Craig Clay is currently Deputy City Manager for the City of Miami Gardens, Florida, the third largest municipality in Miami-Dade County. Mr. Clay is responsible for the strategic oversight and direction of the Community Development, Finance, Parks and Recreation, and Capital Improvement Departments. He is also responsible for the implementation of the City's $60 million General Obligation Bond. Mr. Clay is also working to establish an entity to foster housing and other community and economic development in the City.

Prior to joining the City of Miami Gardens, Mr. Clay was Deputy Executive Director/Chief Financial Officer for the Miami-Dade Public Housing and Community Development Agency. Mr. Clay was responsible for the direction and planning of a $439 million budget. He was tasked with carrying out the operational and administrative functions needed to achieve the department's mission of providing decent, safe, sanitary housing, and developing communities through economic and strategic development. Mr. Clay was directly responsible for the direction, performance, supervision, and day-to-day operations of the Section 8 voucher program and all real estate management and development programs. Additionally, he was responsible for the oversight of the day to day operations of a full-service accounting and finance operation including accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, cash management, loan servicing, and financial reporting. He worked with various mixed-finance development projects leveraging public and private financial resources to facilitate public and affordable housing redevelopment.

Mr. Clay has also served as the Chief of Finance for the Miami-Dade Park and Recreation Department, the third largest County park system in the United States. During his tenure there, he led the implementation of an automated point-of-sale (POS) system in 263 park facilities. The POS assisted with more appropriate cash collection procedures and facilitated real-time revenue analysis and reporting. Mr. Clay also spent time with the Miami-Dade County Department of Procurement Management as the Manager of the Technical Services Division. He had the opportunity of working on various technology projects designed to provide innovative, effective solutions. He coordinated the Enterprise Resource Planning roadmap project for the department, which was designed to develop a long-term strategy for the County's financial management information system needs.

Before joining Miami-Dade County, Mr. Clay spent nine years with one of the four largest accounting and consulting companies in the world. He rose through the ranks from Consultant to Director of Client Services for the Southeastern United States. He successfully supported implementations of financial accounting management information systems at various local government clients. Over the course of his career, Mr. Clay has experience working in 9 of the top 40 largest city and county government entities in the United States.

Education

Mr. Clay holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Morehouse College and a Master of Public Administration degree with a concentration in Governmental Accounting and Financial Management from Florida State University. He is an Adjunct Faculty member at the Barry University School of Public Administration and Policy.

Member

He is a member of various professional organizations including the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO), the Florida Community Development Association (FCDA) and the Florida Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (FAHRO). Mr. Clay sits on the Board of Directors of the Housing Finance Authority of Miami-Dade County where he has been involved in the financing of several million dollars of affordable housing development across Miami-Dade County.