Yakima City Manager Vicki Baker has announced that Viren Mayani has been appointed as the City’s Finance and Budget Director. Mayani replaces Mark Roberts, who resigned from the City in January.
“The City is fortunate to have Viren as part of its senior management team,” said Baker. “He has financial management experience in a broad range of industries, including government. He has enabled streamlining and modernizing for the organizations he has served, enhancing their finance and budget operations,” said Baker. “Viren is an outstanding addition to the City’s senior management team.”
Mayani has already been participating in budget and finance-related meetings remotely. His first day in the office will be September 3rd.
“I’m excited to join the management team at the City of Yakima and to be able to utilize my education and experience to help the community,” said Mayani. “I look forward to addressing some of the budget and finance issues facing the City and charting a course toward transparent and transformative fiscal stability.”
In recent years, Mayani has served as a consultant for start-ups and non-profits. He worked for the City of Atlanta from 2006 to 2010 as business manager to the executive offices of the mayor. In that capacity, Mayani’s primary responsibility was to create, publicly defend to the city council, manage and track an annual budget of about $220 million. He also managed the business of ten verticals within the executive offices of the mayor. Mayani’s professional experience also includes serving as a chief financial officer, chief operating officer, and controller for several private sector companies, including the nation’s second largest alternative news media group, “Creative Loafing,” Kennesaw State University, and others.
Mayani earned a bachelor of commerce degree in accounting and financial management from the University of Bombay, India. He also earned a bachelor of general law degree from the same institution. Mayani holds a master of business administration degree in marketing and operations from the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania.
He is past president of the Georgia Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, held a seat on the Atlanta Committee on International Relations, is a member of the Financial Executive Network Group – Atlanta Chapter, is a board member of the India, China, American Institute, and is a member of the American India Foundation. Mayani has served on the boards of numerous organizations, including the Asian American Heritage Foundation, the Georgia Symphony Orchestra, and Who’s Who in Asian-American Communities. He has worked with three Nobel laureates and has been a White House guest under two administrations.
As Yakima’s finance and budget director, Mayani will oversee a staff of about 35 employees in the Financial Services, Purchasing, and Utility Services divisions. The total budget for the City’s Finance and Budget Department in 2024 is about $5 million.
