Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Las Virgenes Unified School District

Born in San Antonio, I grew up there and graduated from the University of Texas -Austin with a BBA in Accounting. I have practiced as a CPA for over 40 years,becoming a partner with Arthur Young and Company (now Ernst & Young) in San Antonio, Texas and Albuquerque, New Mexico. I left public accounting for seven years to work in industry, then returned to public accounting in 1988 in California and continue today. My work experience is broad. As an Arthur Young audit partner I managed audit and related work for larger businesses and governmental entities, including school districts. As a sole practitioner, my work currently is with individuals and small businesses, with a focus on taxation.

While in New Mexico I audited several large and small state agencies, and thereby gained an understanding of the systems and incentives built into governmental bureaucracies, which are interestingly very different from business. This experience has helped me comprehend the characteristics of school and state management practices.

California state law places the burden of funding schools on state government; in many other states local property taxes provide most of the funding. School funding thus is subject to the will of the Governor and state legislature. In bad economic times such as these, school funding suffers. Strong and knowledgeable financial leadership is a necessity in these times.

Being involved with community activities has been second nature to me. I have seven grown children, five of whom are LVUSD graduates and one who teaches 3rd grade in LVUSD.

In 1998 our family was honored by being named Family of the Year by Kiwanis International for the states of California, Nevada and Hawaii.

It is because of the excellent education provided to my children by a caring, motivated teaching staff, that I am proud to serve on tthe Las Virgenes Unified School District Board of Education.

Experience briefly:

CPA In local private practice, eight years LVUSD Board experience, former President, consensus builder and team leader, balanced approach to solving problems