Our currently featured Knowledge Network user serves the public in a place that enjoys 300 sunny days per year. Alan Rosen, budget manager of Washoe County, Nev., recently came to Reno from Georgia. Now living in the “biggest little city in the world,” he has easy access to Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park, but there’s plenty to keep him busy with his work in Washoe County.

It’s no surprise that Alan’s main area of focus is budget, but he combines that with specializations in performance measurement and process improvement. Approaching these three areas together lets him “see the full picture of organizations and processes,” Alan says. When working with his colleagues and the public, this point of view “helps to clarify what’s important and how to provide services more efficiently and effectively.” Of course, there’s more to local government than running the numbers, and Alan appreciates the opportunity to learn about such a wide range of topics. “Public safety, recycling, air quality, social services, libraries, parks, the list goes on and on,” he says. “What other profession provides so much variety in one setting?”

The Knowledge Network is a very useful tool for Alan and other ICMA members to get quick access to information on those topics. It also “helps point me in the right direction when I’m not sure what questions to ask,” Alan says. “Sometimes when I ask, people’s answers move me in a direction I had not thought of previously and helps me understand the full breadth of my inquiry.”

After the budget books are closed, Alan’s passion is writing for film and television. While living in Georgia, he wrote, produced, and directed a show about traveling through the state on the cheap. “Georgia on a Budget” was even nationally recognized with an honorable mention in the Hometown Video Awards. No word yet on whether his next production will feature Washoe County native Dawn Wells, best known as Mary Ann from “Gilligan’s Island.”

Learn more about Alan Rosen in his Knowledge Network profile, and be sure to create or update your own profile to help your colleagues get to know you!