The LAMAAA Memorabilia
Fiscal Year 2003 - 2004
MESSAGES FROM
OFFICERS &
COMMITTEE PERSONS
Zeny de Jesus, President FY2003-04
Oversight Officer - Newsletter
Principal Tax Auditor,
Office of Finance
Leading LAMAAA in 2003-2004 was a very satisfying and fulfilling experience. Our administration proved one thing: people will move and be willing to make sacrifices for lofty purposes. Those purposes must be well defined and people must actually experience the comfort of teamwork otherwise a task may be too daunting for any one.
We worked as a team. To build that team feeling and cooperation, we have had our regular monthly meetings, constant communication through e-mails or telephones but most of all, we had a framework of our goals clearly communicated at the beginning but refined and adjusted in the process and participated by every one.
History, as documented in our Memorabilia, was our guide. Anita Domingo commissioned the first memorabilia. It is a very useful and powerful tool in understanding our history. We continued the Memorabilia to preserve our history and be a guide to future administrations just as we were guided.
Under Anita Domingo’s presidency, LAMAAA was registered as a non-profit organization. We operated as a true non-profit but professional organization. We changed the guidelines of our scholarship with focus on need rather on scholastic achievement, opened our monthly seminars to all professionals in the City with complimentary refreshments and contributed to other non-profit organizations such as the March of Dimes and the Los Angeles Filipino Association of City Employees (LAFACE). Like any non-profit organization, we depended more on our fund raising activities rather than on the regular annual donation of member-donors, which remains to be $10 from the inception of LAMAAA. Due to the increase in tuition fees and other increased scholastic expenses of students as a result of the budget crisis, we also increased our scholarship grant from $500 to $1,000 and increased the number of scholars from the 2 that was done during the term of Bill Lamb to 3.
We aspired to increase our donor-member base. We again looked into our Memorabilia and saw that the highest membership was achieved during the term of Anita. We focused on our goal to surpass that, not for the purpose of competition, but in the spirit of strengthening LAMAAA’s image and presence in the professional community of the City.
Thanks to the consistent efforts of Perla Veneracion and Bill Lamb in making feasible LAMAAA’s regular seminars. We duplicated that effort and worked harder to conduct monthly trainings and bring in more people to the seminars. We never had lower than 80 people at any given time.
To grow, we recognized we needed to expand our membership criteria. We turned to Greg Vergara and sought his advice on how to successfully amend our by-laws because it was during his term that the first amendment was done.
All past administrations linked with the members through the Newsletter. We enhanced our communication with the members by publishing regularly and electronically our monthly Newsletter. Not only did we save our organization extra expenses in printing costs, delivery charges but also in the quality of print. Moreover, we can archive all newsletters and memorabilia for posterity and preserve them in a CD form in the future. We also used the Newsletter as tools for networking by publishing the photos of monthly speakers and the contributing article authors.
We continued to observe our tradition of camaraderie by holding Christmas and Valentine Parties. LAMAAA’s contribution to the continuing education of City accountants and auditors was finally recognized during our Christmas party when we received the long-delayed Certificate of Appreciation from Councilman Tom LaBonge.
We re-defined LAMAAA’s aspirations for our members, focused on leadership and diversity, which are consistent with the demand of our times. We preserved this by composing an anthem. We hope it will survive the test of times.
Lastly, we expanded the participation in our annual training-conference by inviting the Association of Government Accountants to co-sponsor this event together with the City’s Controller Office. For the first time, we had teams from two top CPA firms as resource speakers on “The Challenges of Change,” namely: Simpson & Simpson, the City’s external CPA and Deloitte. We had about 272 attendees at this event, which included representatives from LAUSD, MTA and SCAG.
As the ultimate person responsible for the success or failure of our administration, I believe I have served to the best of my abilities in the face of challenges and demands on the position. As I said in my induction address “an idea without action is just a dream, … but a dream put into action is a milestone.” We achieved another milestone for our organization. Thank you for this opportunity. It was a privilege and an honor to serve you.
Josie Sison, 1st Vice-President
Oversight Officer, LAMAAA Continuing Education Program
Senior Tax Auditor, Office of Finance
Fiscal year's 2003-2004 administration with Zenaida de
Jesus at its helm was marked by astounding achievements made possible
by the hard work and selfless dedication of its officers, committee
chairpersons, committee members and the continuous support of its members.
As the first vice president of the association, I
demonstrated my full support and enthusiasm in every conceivable project -
from continuing education, increasing membership base, developing a LAMAAA
anthem and scholarship award program, to social and fundraising events.
As the oversight officer of LAMAAA's continuing education program, my
first and foremost focus, of course, was to invite capable speakers and
help develop topics geared towards leadership and management. The
balanced approach of having both management and technical sessions were
thoughtfully designed to fit the training needs of its members. The
principles and theories acquired from these monthly sessions can very well be
applied to the members' working environment in their respective City
departments. I am proud to say that these seminars were all, for the most
part, uninterruptedly scheduled each month.
With the assistance and unfailing support of the
continuing education chairman, Jose de Jesus and the committees' members, Perla
Veneracion and Myrna Ledesma, and of course, the LAMAAA officers, we
were able to invite speakers of great caliber. These speakers have
responsible positions within the City. In addition, we had outside
consultants lending their expertise by delivering a variety of noteworthy topics
ranging from taxation to the esoteric areas of strategic planning which
can be applied to both our personal life and career.
We had invited presenters like no less than our Deputy
Controller, Marcus Allen who did a motivational speech on how to develop
Accountants and Auditors for Executive positions which was consistent
with our theme of leadership and management. We had Mae Abeleda who
spoke on Grant Funding and Jeffrey Whitmore who discussed Transforming
Government Collection functions into public (customer) service,
Additionally, we had sessions on City's Financial Strategies in the Face of a
Budget Crisis, by Antoinette Christovale, Monitoring Fraud/Abuses of
Municipal Funds and Legal Implications by Atty. Ellen Fawls from the City
Attorney's Office, which were both very timely and relevant issues due to
the significant impact of the State's budgetary deficit on local
governments.
The ultimate in LAMAAA's educational mission was the
planning and implementation of the traditional spring conference, co-
sponsored by the Association of Government Accountants and the City of Los
Angeles Controller's Office. The theme of the conference was " The
Challenges of Change " which covered topics on GASB Updates, Enhancing
Revenues Through Receivable and Collection System Integration, Sarbanes
Oxley Act of 2002 and PCAOB, Professional Ethics, Optimizing Benefits on IT
Investments, Fraud Detection/Prevention, The New Yellow Book and Audit
Updates, Speakers were from the city's independent CPA's. Simpson and
Simpson and from Deloitte .The number of attendees which totaled nearly
300 is a clear testimony to the relevance to current issues of the
topics presented and to the success of the seminar.
All these completed assignments were borne out of the
labor of love with only one goal: to preserve and maintain LAMAAA's image
as a professional organization with the objective of developing quality
employees while serving the best among city governments-- The City
of Los Angeles!
More power to LAMAAA and its
leaders!
Julie Barba, Secretary
Senior Accountant II, Controller's Office
It was a very fulfilling experience to be one of the officers of the Los Angeles Municipal Accountant and Auditor Association (LAMAAA). Our regular meetings were our top priority to discuss the upcoming events. Although the minutes of meetings were not published, it was approved and filed for every meeting.
Consequently, we’ve proved to all of the members that we were united in providing monthly trainings, the on-line newsletters, and being active in raising funds for the association to meet our goals and objectives. Most importantly, without the support of the members, none of these accomplishments would’ve happened.
Thanks for this opportunity and more power to the incoming administration.
IMELDA V. DE GUZMAN, Treasurer
Financial Analysis and Reporting Division,
Controller’s Office
I never had dull moments for fiscal Year 2003-2004 because of LAMAAA. Being LAMAAA Treasurer and overseeing the Membership and Social Events Committees made me super busy the whole year.
We had 374 members/donors, a record breaker in the history of LAMAAA. We had two fund raising events for our three scholars. We did have Christmas Party held at Our Lady of Cathedral and Valentine’s Party at New Otani Hotel.
I hope my fellow accountants/auditors will continue supporting this prestigious organization.
It was a big honor for me to be an officer of LAMAAA!!
Amy Robles
Chairperson, LAMAAA History Committee
Internal Auditor II, Office of the Controller
What does it mean to serve as a historian? Having prepared an electronic file of the 2001 Memorabilia, I was confident that I could just wing its continuation. What else could be harder than that? Being a historian will be “piece of cake”, or so I thought. Wait until you need to collect all the newsletters since LAMAAA’s inception. WHAT? It’s mission impossible! There’s no central repository of all LAMAAA’s records, much more – collection of newsletters.
To accomplish our committee’s goal, we launch a campaign for members to donate a copy of whatever newsletters they might have. The Webmaster posted our request at the website. The secretary kept all the newsletters we received and put it in a binder. It’s a team effort. I’m the Chairperson of History Committee without any members. Am I not glad to have the whole organization to help me out?
LAMAAA is indeed a professional team of high-caliber individuals who unselfishly gave their best (talents, resources, time, skills, etc.) for the good of the organization and its members. One cannot ask for more.
A face can launch a thousand ships. A picture can say a thousand words. A historian can eloquently develop this administration’s goals, activities and accomplishments into a great novel like the saga of “The Lord of the Rings” or “Harry Potter” style. The thing is: the Board agreed to grant each chairperson an 8.5 by 11-inch page in the memorabilia. Since I do not intend to strain your eyes, I’m just going to give you the highlights.
Accomplishments of this administration:
- Over 370 members should be entered in the Guinness Books of Records;
- Three (3), not two, scholarship awards of $1,000 each;
- Second amendment of By-Laws (first was made in 1995);
- Created the LAMAAA anthem;
- Monthly training-seminars;
- Monthly electronic newsletters
- Annual Educational Conference In Collaboration with the Association of Government Accountants, and the City Controller’s Office: 8 CPE hours;
- Continued the LAMAAA Memorabilia in electronic form
- Recognition of LAMAAA by the Council (Councilman Tom LaBonge)
From the start, the goals are defined and re-defined. Achieving these goals get clearer as Zeny keeps on reiterating them. She established responsibility and accountability. Oversight Board Officers Program ensures that we stay on track with LAMAAA’s goals as we monthly monitor our progress. Zeny kept her Board Officers and Committee Heads motivated, not just with free lunch (happy face) but also with challenges that tap your potentials.
With Zeny as our leader, failure is not an option. It is a challenge to follow her footsteps.
Lourdes M. Saludares
Agent of Process
It was a pleasure to serve as a Liaison Officer of LAMAAA during the year 2003-2004. I am proud to be part of this dynamic and awesome group.
LAMAAA has obtained its recognition as a public charity from the IRS on July 10, 2001. Consequently, the officers and board members were confronted with registration and filing requirements by the California Attorney General, the Secretary of State and the Internal Revenue Service Exempt Organization. I have done all that is needed to satisfy the statutory requirements of these government agencies.
Historically, we waited for two months for our State exemption letter and six months to get the IRS exemption letter. Being the Agent of Process of LAMAAA, I have made a commitment to be a diligent adviser on all matters involving exempt organization and compliance with and the government.
Noemi Z. Cuevas
Chairperson, Membership Committee
Fiscal Systems Specialist I, Office of Finance
Many of us were called but few responded. Many were invited but few accepted. I am glad I did. I am glad I heeded the call to serve LAMAAA and have accepted the challenge to chair LAMAAA’s Membership Committee for 2003-2004.
At the start of this fiscal year, we saw LAMAAA expand its membership base. On August 2003, LAMAAA members overwhelmingly amended Article III on Membership of LAMAAA’s by-laws thereby redefining the eligibility for membership to:
“All persons employed by the City of Los Angeles, whether employed by a Council-controller department or a department controlling its owns, who, had held and/or had passed the probationary period in at least an entry level position in Accounting or Auditing or Finance, or, are currently holding professional positions in non-Accounting/non-Auditing/non-Finance areas but have academic background or degree in Accounting.”
The membership criteria have been amended while retaining LAMAAA as a professional organization of municipal and local government accounting, fiscal and auditing practitioners in the City of Los Angeles. As a result of the amendment of the by-laws, LAMAAA welcomed 12 members; 7 Management Analysts, 2 Senior Management Analysts, 1 Systems Analyst, 1 Administrative Coordinator and 1 Special Investigator thereby raising to an unprecedented total membership count of 374 members. Though a few may not be covered in the new membership criteria, their membership has been approved since they hold professional positions and manage accounting or auditing staff.
This all-time high membership record in LAMAAA’s history was achieved through the able assistance of the members of the Membership Committee, Lydia Schmitz, Sarmila Guha and Karin Hamayac, the relentless dedication of the officers and of the departmental coordinators and most importantly the continuous support of the members. Your unwavering confidence in LAMAAA swept LAMAAA to new heights. Let us applaud ourselves, as this is the legacy we graciously leave LAMAAA.
Remember LAMAAA = members. Thank you.
Dolly Galang
Chairman
,
Scholarship and Awards Committee
Zenaida De Jesus, as the president of LAMAAA for the fiscal year 2003-04
demonstrated a high level of administrative competence. She continuously
conducted meetings that achieved results and encouraged open communications to
reach mutual goals and understanding.
As the Chairperson of the scholarship committee, I was given the task to choose the “Best” candidate to receive the scholarship award.
Criterias were set up. Candidates should have a GPA of 2.5 and at least 23 semester of units and enrolled in the Junior College level. The award was specifically for
a low-income individual, who was on a student loan or a working-student
himself. The candidates were also required to provide a 500-word essay discussing his/her plan
how to give back to the community. The three successful candidates were each given a $1000.00 and a certificate from the Office of the City Attorney, signed by Rocky Delgadillo and presented by Zeny de Jesus, President of
LAMAAA.
The year 2003-04 was very significant for LAMAAA.
During this year, the LAMAAA by-laws were amended (second amendment), the LAMAAA
anthem was created, and the LAMAAA memorabilia was made available
electronically.
Congratulations for a “Job Well Done” to all LAMAAA officers, Chairpersons (past, present & future) and to all members who supported and made a difference
for the organization.
“MABUHAY’ to all!
Leonard Malabuyoc, Jr.
Chairperson, Social Events & Community Service Committee
Tax Auditor II, Office of Finance
For the past twelve months, I had the privilege of serving as LAMAAA’s Social Events and Community Service Committee Chairperson, a job which I couldn’t have done successfully without the support and encouragement of our officers, the enthusiasm and help of committee members and the cooperation and commitment of many of our members.
Our first fund raising event was a turn-around bus trip to Laughlin, Nevada on October 25, 2003. A total of 53 people joined in this event for a fun day in Laughlin. The event raised $480 for the Scholarship Fund.
On December 3, 2003, we held our annual Christmas Party in a new venue – the Center at the Cathedral Plaza. We solicited gifts from our active and very generous members and awarded them as prizes to the lucky ones in attendance. The highlight of the party was when LAMAAA was presented its long overdue Certificate of Appreciation by our guest of honor – Councilman Tom LaBonge. President Zeny de Jesus graciously accepted the certificate on behalf of LAMAAA.
Our Valentines Dinner-Dance Party was held at the New Otani on February 13, 2004. More than 70 people attended this event and everyone had an enjoyable evening of socializing and dancing until midnight.
In April 2004, we had a turn-around day trip to Coachella, California. We raised a record $1,342 in this event for the scholarship fund. It turned out to be our finest and most successful fund-raising event for the year.
Also in April, the Board authorized and approved a donation of $300 to the March of Dimes in fulfillment of LAMAAA’s commitment to give back to the community.
Our final event was the Induction of New Officers, held on July 8, 2004 at the New Otani. The highlights of this event were the singing of the new LAMAAA Hymn for the first time and the ceremonial oath taking of the new officers,
It has been a personally gratifying experience to see all of our planned social events turned out so successfully. The year went by so quickly but along the way, I met new acquaintances, seen old friends and learned a few new things about the membership. We had a great team who worked the hardest, took on the challenges, and made things happened. Above all, we thank all of our members who had supported or attended our social events this past year.
To President Zeny de Jesus, whose leadership, vision and optimism has guided LAMAAA to one of its very best years ever and to Vice-President Josie Sison, who had been so gracious with her time, support and encouragement, thank you for the opportunity to serve under your administration.
Art Faelnar
Web Editor
Tax Auditor II, Office of Finance
Four years ago, I joined LAMAAA as a newly promoted Accountant with the Department of Building and Safety. Before I joined the city, I had the opportunity to learn website
making. After attending my very first LAMAAA meeting, I thought
that the organization could make use of a website – to electronically disseminate information, display photographs and
other things.
I sent an email to Anita Domingo, who was the President at that time. I offered to volunteer my services to create a website and told her we could have it free through Geocities. She agreed and that was the start of my close affiliation with the Los Angeles Municipal Accountants and Auditors Association.
We have a saying - “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” With the free web space
that we had came multiple ads that popped-up every time one opened the website and
access was very limited. Apparently, some members got annoyed. Ursula Villanueva, the 1st Vice-President under Bill Lamb’s term, called to ask what
I could do about it. Since then, we have been paying a minimal amount for a web space
and got our very own domain name (www.lamaaa.org) through Yahoo!. And the annoying
ad banners were history.
Zeny de Jesus, President for FY2003-04, saw the real potential of the website. She decided to do away with printing the LAMAAA Newsletter and
to go for an electronic
version instead. It made sense because we saved money and labor in the printing process.
The savings were then used for other worthwhile purposes. All that was needed was for contributors to submit their articles to the Newsletter editor, forwarded to me for graphical enhancement/publication and Presto! It is there for everyone to see – in
color.
I will never get tired doing this volunteer work especially when I get appreciation from the organization and the members.
I am glad that the members happily support the Newsletter team's effort.
In addition, I am happy that my music was chosen
in the "Search for the LAMAAA Anthem" contest. Rommel Panlilio and I
wrote the lyrics. We
shared the $300 prize!
My best wishes to LAMAAA! And more power, too.
