SACRAMENTO, Calif. — ABC10's Chris Thomas sat down with the newly sworn-in California Department of Finance Director, Joe Stephenshaw, the first African American to hold the position.
Stephenshaw helped managed a cyber attack against the department and came in during a multi-billion dollar budget shortfall.
All eyes are often on the nation's most populous state, and that includes bad actors looking to make a quick buck. California has the fourth largest economy in the world, and the state's newly sworn in finance director had his hands full when the department was hit by the unthinkable, a cyber attack.
Stephenshaw provided his first public comments on overcoming adversity and making history.
This interview has been edited for brevity.
Chris Thomas: You've certainly had to hit the ground running from a multibillion dollar budget shortfall to tackling a disruptive hack. Talk about how you were able to maneuver through all of this.
Stephenshaw: Yeah, I definitely came in at an interesting time. After a couple years of unprecedented surpluses, facing the shortfall is definitely probably not something that one would wish for entering this position. And as we were building the budget, we did have a IT security incident at the beginning of December. This department really is a shining star, in my eyes, of state government. The department really rallied together.
Chris Thomas: Talk about how challenging that process was. I've heard some people had to abandon their computers and use pen and paper to get work done?
Stephenshaw: Yes, we did. We were faced with a situation where we had to make adjustments to get our job done. We had to go back to some of the some of the old conventional ways. But we were able to pull through that, and I really have to take my hat off to the employees of the department for making sure that we were able to overcome the obstacles that we had in our way and deliver the governor's budget.
Chris Thomas: So you earn your Master's in Business administration from Sacramento State. You're now raising your family here in the Capital city. What has this community meant to you? And how do you think it prepared you for this role?”
Stephenshaw: Sacramento is my home. I've been here for most of my life. I love the city. I really appreciate now as an adult and a father raising my family here of what a wonderful place it is to raise a family.
My kids now are eight and six. So I think if they fully appreciated what I did, they might be (proud), but right now, I'm just Dad, who doesn't understand anything.
Chris Thomas: All jokes aside, you have just achieved a major milestone becoming the first African American to lead the California Department of Finance. Did you ever dream you will be sitting in this seat making history?
Stephenshaw: I didn't. Honestly, it has not quite all set in yet, because it's such a huge role and responsibility. I was sworn in in August. And it feels like it's been a number of years with everything that we've gone through in developing the governor's budget and releasing the governor's budget.
Chris Thomas: As we work through this, many have raised concerns about climate change funding being one of the biggest hit items in the possible budget cuts, even as we continue to be a land of extremes here in California from deadly wildfires and drought one year to flooding and mudslides the next. Respond to those who call the budget shortsighted?
Stephenshaw: We're currently going through the public process in legislature. Going over the governor's budget, they're holding hearings. Now, the budget committees, the budget subcommittees, it's the opportunity for the public to tune in, weigh in, understand what has been contemplated in the budget deliberations. And so I just would encourage folks to get involved and to really understand better what all goes into the process and the decision making in developing the annual financial plan for the state.
Chris Thomas: One of the things we wanted to do is really highlight this Black History Month that there are people in our midst even today who are making history and making a difference in our community. What does that mean?
Stephenshaw: I have to acknowledge that nobody does it by themselves. There's always support. I recognize that. I had that myself as I advanced in my career. It's my responsibility now to provide that same type of support to younger generations as they advance through their careers as well.
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