Richard S. Arrow is a 50+ year veteran in local government.  He has accumulated years of financial and management experience in local government. He is well versed in general governmental and financial operations. Richard has been the District’s Finance Director since 2017.

Richard has served in numerous positions ranging from Staff Accountant, County Auditor-Controller, Finance Director, and Chief Financial Officer for cities and counties.  He has extensive experience in accounting, auditing, financial reporting, debt management and budget and general government operations. In addition, he has served as a negotiator relative to executing fiscal agreements between local agencies in determining service costs and revenue transfers.  He assisted the Local Agency Formation Commission in Marin County with fiscal analysis relative to property tax sharing agreements.  Most recently, he has been interim/contract Finance Director for the County of Douglas, Oregon and Modoc County, California, as well as the cities of Ukiah, Cotati, and Sonoma.

Richard has many hours of lecturing experience in several subject areas - including accounting, property tax, and debt management - to various professional organizations. Richard received his Bachelor of Arts degree from San Francisco State University.  Additionally, he completed post graduate studies in management from Pepperdine University.  Richard holds Certified Public Accountant licenses in both California (active) and Oregon (inactive).

Richard's answers to a few questions about working with the District:

What is your favorite part of your job?

I enjoy interacting with Board and staff, solving problems, and providing advice.

What interest/background brought you to this job?


All my years in public service serving in the financial realm (see above).

What is something you wish more people knew about the District? 

Our District staff are skilled, dedicated, and professional.

*If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Richard, you might think he is a man of few words based on this Q&A.  However, if you'd like to talk about finances, he is happy to spend quite a lot of time explaining the intricacies of government finance to you! His decades of experience in government make him a great financial advisor for the District.