Candidate for
Auditor; County of Riverside

Hi! I'm Justine.

Family: I've lived in the Inland Emprire for almost 40 years moving here in 1969 to be near my parents while my husband was overseas in Southeast Asia with the Air Force. I've lived in Riverside County since 1991. I was a stay-at-home mom during the earlier years and didn't go back to school until 1975 when I took intermittent classes at San Bernardino Valley College. With my children in school I went after my degree in earnest and graduated from California State University San Bernardino in 1979. In 1988 my husband and I separated and divorced. In 1990 I married Cesar Quinones and began a new volume in my life. That book included raising two more wonderful children.

I am very proud of my six children (my four and his two). All of them have succeeded in graduating from recognized colleges and universities and developing careers that make them self-sufficient and socially aware persons. We are blessed with six grandchildren who continue a history of concientous civic performance and academic achievement.

At this time my life and Cesar's has come full circle and we are caring for my mother on a shared basis with my siblings and his father on a more full-time basis.

Professional Experience: In 1979 I went to work with the accounting firm of Eadie & Payne in San Bernardino gathering experience needed to get my Certified Public Accountant license. One year with Eadie & Payne and two years with Ross, Landis,& Pauw in Riverside gave me the experience I needed to be able to get certified.

I then worked for Sunkist Growers for three years gathering important experience in corporate accounting and internal audits. I left Sunkist Growers to work in a family run accounting business in San Bernardino but was lured to government by a search for internal auditors at the County of Riverside.

I started with the County in June of 1987 as a Senior Internal Auditor. In this position I had the opportunity to interact with several departments and the courts. Most notable for me was the audit at the Building & Safety department where we were able to establish a designation of funds in order to carryover permit fees related to open permits. This safeguarded monies and matched funding to services on a more consistent basis. In less than two years I found myself as a Principal Accountant responsible for a general accounting and reporting staff who prepared all countywide financial reports as well as numerous other comparative statements and communications with rating agencies, other County departments, and State and Federal departments and agencies. In 1994 I was offered the opportunity to be the Administrative Analyst in charge of fiscal operations for the Medically Indigent Services Program (MISP) at the County Regional Medical Center. Working in MISP gave me different challenges to develop better efficiencies and to be more effective in medical service offerings for the less priviledged and uninsured. The first year I was able to initiate an in-house medical bill paying operation that created four additional jobs while saving the MISP program contract services. This change netted the program almost $800,000 more to be directed to medical services. Subsequent years the savings were higher as there was no additional programming fees. Through my encouragement Riverside County participated as a beta site for the Statewide AIDs drug program administration. Becoming part of that program allowed our patients access to more funding and saved the County (and the MISP) over a million dollars the first year in prescription funding. This money was used for other patient services. My MISP staff and I worked together with County Human Resources and Benefits personnel to make the County-run health insurance program, Exclusive Care, a reality providing the eligibility matrices and payment processing services that had been established for the MISP program back in 1995. I felt like I had done a lot to establish a base for MISP services and an attitude that made customer care with efficiency and effectiveness a priority.

In 2001 when I was given the opportunity to move to the Waste Management Department (WMD) of the County, first as their Accounting Manager and later as their Administrative Manager II, I sought more challenges and I was not disappointed. While at WMD I worked with staff to design interactive financial statement documents, internal quarterly budget-to-actual reports, a budget preparation system that required requestors to justify both capital projects and personnel, and a redefinition of the various programs, projects, and activities within the department. I participated in the review and critique of the countywide financial system and instituted a performance based personnel review format for the administrative staff (accounting, payroll, purchasing, budget, and fleet services) who worked for me including a strong emphasis on goals and objectives. A simple thing like a budget calendar that included the whole year's budget reporting and updating was put into place as an information item for all supervisors and managers.

When the Early Retirement Incentive was offered in December 2008 I was at a time in my service that made it difficult to pass up. Hence I retired in March 2009 from the County. With the urging of friends, students, and colleagues I decided to enter this election. Not only do I know that I am qualified professionally I believe that I have the sense of duty and desire to succeed that is required in these difficult economic times. I want EVERYONE to be comfortable with their government's financial operation and to be a part of it.

I never totally retired. I've continued to teach classes at the University of California at Riverside Extension. I have been teaching the governmental accounting sections (there are two) of their Certificate in Accounting for Government and Not-for-profit Organizations and the Accounting Certificate since 1994. This has allowed me to for a long and, for me, beneficial partnership of learning, education, and interaction with students and accounting professionals through out Southern California. For several years I taught the entire certificate curriculum (2 parts accounting and 1 part budget) but when another instructor was found for budget I returned to teaching the accounting parts. I continue to enjoy and look forward to the classroom interactions and challenges that student questions and experiences bring to my professional benefit.

Education: I graduated from California State University (CalState Univ), San Bernardino with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, concentration in Accounting in 1979. With the encouragement of the comptroller at Sunkist Products division I started a Masters of Business Administration program in 1984 to hone the information that I needed to pass the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) exam. I passed the exam in 1985 and after gathering the required experience gained the designation in 1987. In 1989 the experience that I had with the County of Riverside and my CPA allowed me to apply for the Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) without testing. While I worked in the Auditor-Controller's Office I actively maintained all my certifications but after moving to the hospital the costs and time needed to attended the meetings and maintain certifications became too much and I allowed the CMA and CGFM to lapse in 1998. Finally in 1999 I returned to CalState Univ San Bernardino and completed my Masters in Business Administration -- Operations Management in 2001. Although I have not maintained the memberships and designations for the CMA or the CGFM the technical and theoretical education and experience needed to earn the designations has forever influenced the way I approach work and life.

Community service: For the last three years the elder care needed for our parents has taken large amounts of our time. I still have been able to participate in fundraising activities for breast cancer awareness, literacy, and alternatives to domestic violence. Usually these participations include a race and, when able, I've worked to encourage my grandchildren and children to join me in the activity.

In the past I've been active in Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts sponsoring and mentoring certain badge activities including skiing, bicycling, and cooking, earning for myself a Bronze Pelican religious award, and going on campouts and retreats to help the Scouts earn their awards.

For two years I tutored 7th and 8th grade students at our church school in preparation for the Mathcounts exams and went with the students as support on the day of the contest where they earned awards each year.

I have been an active participant in reading programs at the local elementary school and athletic programs at the local high school where I acted as the photographer for the cross country running team for five years and as treasurer for the team for two years.

As I move into this new phase of my life I am becoming more involved in activities at the local senior centers and continue to support the local blood bank with donations.

Personal Activities & Accomplishments: I enjoy traveling -- both near and far, photography, cooking, decorating, singing, sports (especially skiing), and knitting and crotcheting. In 2006 I climbed Mt. Whitney summitting the mountain after 5 days in the back country -- marvelous! In 2005 on my second visit to Machu Picchu, Peru my husband and I climbed Huayna Picchu and the trail to the Puerta del Sol. In both 1995 and 2000 I participated in and finished the LA Marathon.