Margaret Olaiya Appointed as Finance Agency Director for the County of Santa Clara
Ms. Olaiya will oversee the County’s payments and collections, financial resources, accounting systems, and public and vital records
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CALIF.— Ms. Margaret Olaiya has been appointed as Director of the Finance Agency for the County of Santa Clara. She brings more than two decades of experience with the administration and, effective December 13, 2021, now leads an agency that oversees three departments: Controller-Treasurer, Tax and Collections, and Clerk-Recorder.
“Margaret has demonstrated that she knows how to set priorities and can keep large departments functioning efficiently under any circumstance,” said Chief Operating Officer Miguel Márquez, J.D. “These departments are the backbone of County operations, and it’s critical that we have someone who brings strong leadership during challenging and unpredictable times.”
Ms. Olaiya had been serving as Acting Director of the Finance Agency since December 2020. Over the past year, she has overseen the County’s efforts to maximize funds related to the treatment and prevention of COVID-19, and the monumental efforts behind the financial reporting requirements of County operations during the pandemic.
“My mission is to help our administration operate in a way that ultimately improves the lives of our residents,” Ms. Olaiya said. “We need our finance departments to be effective, efficient, and transparent. This is especially true when we have nearly 2 million residents who rely on a functioning government during uncertain and difficult times. At the end of the day, everything we do is done with public service in mind.”
Ms. Olaiya began her career with the County in 2001 in the District Attorney’s Crime Laboratory, where she developed a new filing system to support cases, redesigned the evidence room, and contracted services with police departments across the county. From there, she went on to various roles with the Registrar of Voters, the Office of Budget and Analysis, and the Office of the Public Defender. Most recently, before overseeing the Finance Agency, she served as Director of the County’s Department of Tax and Collections, where she reorganized the staffing structure of three divisions and led an operation that annually collected over $7.1 billion in property taxes and revenues.
Ms. Olaiya holds a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from the University of Lagos in Nigeria, and a post graduate diploma in Business Administration from London South Bank University in the United Kingdom. She was also chosen to participate in the Leadership and Transformation Program at Stanford University’s Center for Professional Development.
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ABOUT THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA
The County of Santa Clara government serves a diverse, multi-cultural population of 1.9 million residents in Santa Clara County, California, making it more populous than 14 states in the U.S. The County provides essential services to its residents, including public health protection, environmental stewardship, medical services through the County of Santa Clara Health System, child and adult protection services, homelessness prevention and solutions, roads, park services, libraries, emergency response to disasters, protection of minority communities and those under threat, access to a fair criminal justice system, and many other public benefits.
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Media Contact: Laurel Anderson/Quan Vu, Office of Communications and Public Affairs, (408) 299-5119, [email protected]
Posted: December 21, 2021