The South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA) has named Richard Chess to the position of director of finance, effective July 21.
He brings to the position extensive governmental accounting and management experience. Prior to joining the SFRTA senior management team, Chess served as the director of finance and accounting for the city of College Park, Ga., having management responsibility of the department of finance and accounting, budgeting, property tax division, purchasing department and customer service division.
Chess was the accounting and tax audit director for Scottsdale, Ariz., accounting manager for Reno, Nev., and Daytona Beach, Fla. Other positions included auditor for the state of Florida office of the auditor general and Florida Department of Education, Orlando. In addition, He was also the accounting supervisor for the Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority.
His experience includes nearly 10 years on Wall Street with regional, national and multinational public accounting firms, among them Samuel, Klein and Co., Newark, N.J.; Deloitte and Touche, New York; and Mitchell, Titus and Company, New York. His client base consisted of governmental, nonprofit, quasi private/public companies. He has performed audits on such entities as the Metropolitan Transit Authority, city of New York, Essex County, New Jersey, New York City Traffic Violations Bureau, Hudson County Court System, New Jersey, and American Express Pension Fund.
A Jersey City, NJ native, he is a graduate of Dillard University in New Orleans, LA, and holds a Masters Degree from the University of Phoenix (Orlando). He is married and has a daughter.
