Office of Management and Budget (OMB) - Who's Who
Talia Lomax-O'dneal
Talia joined the OMB in September 2000 from the State of Tennessee's Department of Finance. She has worked extensively in the field of finance in the public and private sector for more than 15 years. She has received numerous leadership and professional awards for her work. She is a Certified Government Financial Manager and is a member of the Government Finance Officers Association.
Talia received her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Darlene Carlton
Darlene began her employment with Metro in March 1973 at the Metropolitan Water Department. She transferred to the Budget Office of the Finance Department in September 1976.
Darlene attended M.T.S.U. and David Lipscomb University.
Donna Foster
Donna Foster joined the Metro Nashville Government Finance Department in September 2006 as a Finance Officer in the Division of Accounts. In September 2008, she joined the OMB team as a Budget Analyst.
Donna received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Middle Tennessee State University.
James Gadsden
James, a budget analyst, came to OMB in 2006 from General Services where he worked in accounting and financial services for five years. Prior to Metro, James worked for the State of Tennessee as a tax auditor and for a local television station as assistant controller. He is a Results Matter wave one black belt.
James graduated from The University of Tennessee with a B.S. in accounting.
Kathy Green
Kathy joined the Office of Management and Budget in January, 2005. She began her professional career with Bank of America where she provided treasury services for four years while earning her college degree. After graduation she served as Cash Management Officer for the consolidated government of Augusta, Georgia. In the three years Kathy was with Augusta, she implemented a system for bank reconciliation that modernized the city’s reconciliation process with the latest Treasury Management Services. Kathy’s other duties were providing pension, payroll, general ledger reconciliation services, and budget preparation.
Kathy earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Augusta State University in Augusta, Georgia.
Leigh Anne Hagar
Leigh Anne joined the OMB in 2004 to promote Metro’s Financial Policy initiatives. Now she oversees the operating budget preparation. She started working for Metro in the Finance Department in 1998. During her time with the Finance department, she has worked as an auditor in Internal Audit and as an accounting manager in Division of Accounts. She has also worked on several financial system implementation projects with Metro. Prior to working for Metro, she was employed by Union Planters Bank as a Commercial Lender.
Leigh Anne received a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from Belmont University and a Masters degree from Cumberland University.
Kenneth Hartlage, CPA, CMA
Ken joined OMB in November 2004. Prior to coming to Nashville, he co-led the City of Fayetteville, North Carolina’s strategic planning program, including the development and implementation of methodologies to cost city services resulting in the elimination of a structural budget deficit. He also oversaw budget activity and provided financial guidance to city departments. Ken has worked with the Field Division of the U.S. Census Bureau, where he led the team which designed the division’s Oracle based operations management system, and designed a scorecard for performance management.
Ken received a Bachelors of Arts in Economics from Lake Forest College. He holds a Masters of Science in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University. He is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant.
Chinita Hudson
Chinita joined the OMB on November 1, 2002. Before joining Metro, she was a Fraud Analyst in the Medicare Division of CIGNA. Her primary responsibility was the recoupment of funds fraudulently or erroneously paid to Medicare providers. She also has experience in internal audit and insurance.
Chinita received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and MBA from Tennessee State University.
Bill Hyden
Bill Hyden joined the OMB on November 1, 2001. He had previously been with the Tennessee Office of Criminal Justice Programs. Responsibilities there included writing discretionary and formula grants, the Criminal Justice Records Improvement Plan (Byrne), National Criminal History Improvement Plan (NCHIP), Criminal Justice Records Improvement Task Force for Statewide Technology Integration, Electronic Fingerprint Submission for state and local governments including AFIS, and served as Office of Criminal Justice Programs' liaison to the Tennessee's Law Enforcement Community.
Bill has over 20 years law enforcement experience that includes street level, training and supervision.
Bill earned Criminal Justice and Sociology degrees at Tennessee Technological University
Herbert L. Majors, CPA
Herb joined the OMB team in March 2001 to manage Metro's Full Cost Accounting initiative. He has an extensive career in governmental accounting over the past 17 years. Herb has served as the Director of payroll operations for Metro and the State of Tennessee, and as Internal Audit Manager for the State of Tennessee, Department of Health and Environment. He has been recognized for his support and implementation of several Federal/State/Local government initiatives in human resource systems and Federal reporting.
Herb is a member of the International Who's Who of Professionals and is a Certified Public Accountant with a Bachelor Degree in Accounting and minor in Computer Science.
Greg A. McClarin
Greg joined the OMB in January 2001 as the newly formed Capital Investments Coordinator, responsible for researching, creating and implementing an overall capital project management strategy for Metro Nashville. Greg brings with him over 10 years of experience in the financial management field as a Vice President / Senior Financial Analyst and Assistant Portfolio Manager at First American National Bank [Regions] here in Nashville. He was responsible for the daily management of First American's $6 Billion investment portfolio, the cash position and the annual corporate revenue forecast.
Greg received a BS in Business Administration, majoring in Architecture and Finance with a minor in Accounting from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
Kimberly Northern
Kimberly began her employment with Metro in January of 2006, with the Department of General Services Shared Business Office. June 2008 she joined the OMB team as HR Coordinator.
Kimberly attended Austin Peay State and University and Cumberland University.
Essie Robertson
Essie joined the OMB in February 2006 in Cost Planning and Management. Before joining OMB, she was a CPA for Southern & Associates managing small business accounting, taxes and real estate. Essie also worked in the accounting departments of Northern Telecom Finance and Hospital Corporation of America. Essie contributes to OMB over 20 years of accounting experience in public, private and government sectors.
Essie is a Certified Public Accountant with an undergraduate degree in Accounting and Information Systems from Belmont University.
Rebekah Stephens
Rebekah Stephens is the Coordinator of Strategic Business Plan development for the Metropolitan Government of Nashville’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Since coming to the OMB in 2004, she has been an integral part of the government’s Managing for Results initiative, assisting in the creation and implementation of 37 Departmental Strategic Business Plans. Rebekah led the implementation of a centralized, web-based performance data collection and reporting system. She is the lead facilitator for Strategic Business Plan development.
In partnership with the Department of Human Resources, Rebekah designed and delivered training to provide managers performance improvement tools.
Prior to joining the OMB, she worked in the Metro Nashville’s Department of Law. Her primary responsibility was determining liability in claims made against the Metropolitan Government.
Rebekah is a member of the Association of Government Accountants, and a nationally recognized speaker in the field of strategic planning and performance management. Rebekah received a Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Middle Tennessee State University.
William Tharp
William Tharp is a Strategic Management Coordinator at Nashville Metropolitan Government Dept. of Finance/OMB. He previously served as a Senior Policy Analyst at the Ochs Center. His recent work includes an ICMA study of Performance Measurement in the City of Durham, North Carolina, a strategic assessment of the River City Company in Chattanooga, Tennessee, an analysis of the economic impact of a proposed coal burning power plant in Early County, Georgia, and a review of the economic benefits of the May Town Center development in Nashville Tennessee. Prior to joining the Ochs Center, William was a Finance Officer at Nashville Metropolitan Government Dept. of Finance/OMB. He holds his Ph. D. in Urban Affairs from the University of Louisville and has taught as an adjunct at Vanderbilt, the University of Louisville and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Heidi E. Weigel, MBA
Heidi joined OMB in October 2008 as a Finance Officer III. Heidi has lived all over the world, China, Italy, Mexico, and various places in the US. She has a wealth of experience in the government and private sectors. She was the Budget Dir. for the City of Kingsport, Tennessee, where she managed all budget development and execution functions. She held positions as the Dir. of Business Management, and Dir. of Sales Compensation for COM data Corporation, Resources Analyst for NASA in Washington, DC, and Financial Analyst for the U.S. Naval Academy and US Army in Italy, as well as an educator of both children and adults. She received the U.S. Army Certificate of Achievement, and distinguished herself with performance awards from NASA. She is a Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, and extensive experience in Performance Management and Sarbanes-Oxley Compliance.
Heidi received Bachelors of Arts degrees in Education, Geography and Accounting from the University of Maryland. She holds a Masters of Business Administration in International Business from Averett University.