LAMAAA Inducted FY 2009-2010 Officers

LAMAAA inducted the FY 2009 -2010 officers on Sept 02, 2009. The ceremony was attended by past presidents and provided their inspirational talks to the new officers. The new president outlined her general agenda of her administration. Aside from providing Certificates of Appreciation to the outgoing officers, past president BJ Soni acknowledged Linda Granados and Norma Cabana for their outstanding contribution to the success of his administration.

LAMAAA Held its Annual Conference

President's Message

2008 – 2009 LAMAAA team focused on the educational topics for the monthly meetings. With a successful panel discussion in February on City’s budget by Raymond Cirrana, CAO and Bill Lamb, Controllers, the team was set to get ready for the Annual Event in April. The Annual 2009 conference event was a tremendous success. With over 180 members participating and popular authoritative speakers from the City and the Accounting Industry, the conference kept the audience glued to the various topics presented. During these tough economic times, the members were keen to know and learn about the City’s Budget. Thus the theme of the conference was, "The City’s budget crisis, today and tomorrow." All the speakers at the event were impressive and knowledgeable in their presentations. Starting with Councilwoman, Wendy Greuel, also the Controller elect starting July 2009, she inspired the members and encouraged them to learn from the conference. She definitely set the tone of the conference to a right start. Doug Montague and Natalie Brill provided the audience a closer look on the budget crisis that the City is experiencing and provided the various steps the City is undertaking to overcome this challenge. Randi Levin, ITA GM whose popularity in the City is widespread for bringing efficiency in the IT, spoke on the IT environment and provided practical examples of doing more with less. William Holder, member GASB, was the keynote speaker of the day. He spoke eloquently with confidence and professionalism about GASB standards and their impact and implementation. The afternoon session started with FMS presentation by County of Los Angeles representative Romeo Martinez. FMS was introduced in the County in 2005, thus the members were exposed to the experience of the issues involved from the County’s perspective. Bill Lamb from Controllers and Vijay Sonty, AGM, ITA provided the visionary FMS implementation in the City of Los Angles. Tatiana Walsh from Wachovia Bank, cheered the audience and asked them intriguing questions on the transitioning of the procedures from Bank of America. She rewarded the members with gifts for those who correctly answered her questions. Last but not the least was James Olds, Financial Manager from Harbor Department who ended the session with ‘Performance Auditing, How to Maximize audit efficiency’. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my team who extended their service beyond what was expected. I would like to extend my appreciation to all attendees who took time to be present throughout the entire day and to the speakers for their dedication, time, knowledge and expertise for the benefit of all LAMAAA members.