CABOC Board of Directors

 

    Tahir Ahad, MBA, CPA, Director, California Association of Bond Oversight Committees

Tahir Ahad is the CEO/President of the school consulting firm, Total School Solutions (TSS). Tahir continues to be involved in providing services to TSS clients; primarily in the areas of facilities programs efficiency studies, performance audits and evaluations, systems improvement, and developing and implementing best educational management practices.

Tahir has had a long career in public education, serving as assistant and deputy superintendent in five school districts. He had the opportunity to manage and implement facilities programs in each of these districts. Since 1999, Tahir has been the CEO of TSS and has been involved with dozens of school districts in his management consulting role, mostly with the school facilities planning and construction projects. Tahir has been involved in improving and strengthening oversight of the facilities programs since the passage of the Proposition 39 (2000), both as performance auditor and advisor/consultant.

   Marc Carrel, Director, California Association of Bond Oversight Committees

Marc Carrel is a nonprofit executive and attorney. He serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Breathe Southern California, which focuses on education, advocacy, and research to reduce air pollution and improve lung health, and the Emphysema Foundation of America, which provides advocacy, education, research and patient support for those with emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

He provides strategic direction and manages the day-to-day operations for both organizations. In October 2021, he was appointed by the Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education to their Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee in October 2021.  The Committee is tasked with overseeing bond proceeds, expenditures, and audits to repair, retrofit, upgrade and replace equipment, classrooms, and facilities in the district’s schools.  The bonds were approved by the voters of Beverly Hills under Measure E ($334 million bond measure approved in November 2008) and Measure BH ($385 million bond measure approved in June 2018).

Carolyn Castillo, President, California Association of Bond Oversight Committees

Carolyn Castillo is the current President of the California Association of Bond Oversight Committees. Carolyn served on the El Rancho Unified School District School Board from 2018 -2022. Prior to being elected, Carolyn served on the Citizen’s Bond Oversight Committee. Carolyn background in facilities management complements the diverse experience to the board for effective oversight.

Retired from Boeing’s Defense, Space and Security (BDS) business unit, Carolyn was a Program Management Specialist. In that capacity, Carolyn was responsible for deploying program management processes across various business units and identifying improvement opportunities. Additionally, Carolyn conducted internal organizational effectiveness assessments and served as an external assessor for the California Council for Excellence (CAPE)

Carolyn is a published author of peer reviewed papers relating to Business Continuity. In addition, she was a contributing author for the Facilities Design and Management Handbook published by McGraw-Hill. Ms. Castillo served on the editorial board of the Journal of Business Continuity & Emergency Management from 2007 through 2011.

Ms. Castillo holds a Master of Management from the University of Redlands, a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology and Bachelor of Arts, Psychology from California State University Long Beach. Other training includes Six Sigma Green Belt and Lean+ Executive Training and Standard Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and Appraisal Method (SCAMPI) In addition, Ms. Castillo is a member of the International Facilities Management Association where she was a speaker at its World Workplace Conference in 2003.

Marcus Crawley, Director, California Association of Bond Oversight Committees

Marcus recently retired from his California General Contractor business after 50 years of experience in all phases of the building trades. The complications of construction performance and collections provided grounding in                ‘do-it-yourself’ actions.  Marcus plans to bring this ‘Can-Do’ attitude to all his civic responsibilities.

As President of the Alameda County Taxpayers Association, Mr. Crawley serves on the Citizens Bond Oversight Committee at Peralta Community College and the Alameda County Budget Oversight Committee.

The cities, schools and agencies have developed a wide array of strategies to undermine accountability.  Marcus is dedicated to ensuring that voters are well informed before tax measure elections and that after the election the tax expenditures comply with the will of the voters.

Marcus holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the University of Nebraska.

 

Chris Hanson, Director, California Association of Bond Oversight Committees.

Chris Hanson, Director, is a member of the Training Materials Committee. Chris has served as an At Large Member of City College of San Francisco Bond Oversight Committee as well as serving on the Report Sub Committee; Public Comment Little Hoover Report 2017.

Chris career ranges from an Equine Body Worker; Therapeutic riding horse handler, negotiator for Skyline Stables and San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) and creator of a Community Outreach Program for horse stables. Additionally, Chris served as a Production assistant at Global Business Network, a scenario planning consultant firm and network.

   Gina Haynes

Gina is a licensed civil engineer with over 25 years’ experience. She works in the public sector managing multimillion dollar projects. For over twenty years she has worked for the City of Pittsburg as a Senior Civil Engineer/Associate Engineer (Capital Improvement Division). She manages the Capital Improvement Section of the Public Works Department, Engineering Division.

Gina was awarded the CABOC’s Outstanding CBOC Member Award in 2021. She is a member of Mt. Diablo USD CBOC. School bond oversight and the accountability of school bond proceeds have been advanced by her persistence.

     Jason Hunter, Assistant Treasurer, California Association of Bond Oversight Committees.

Jason Hunter is the Co-Chairperson of the Legislation Committee.  Jason has served as both a member of the Riverside Unified School District’s Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee and as past chair of the Riverside Community College District’s Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee.  He is well-recognized locally as an ardent government watchdog, advocate for taxpayer, ratepayer, and fee-payer interests, and community activist.

Jason serves on various other public and private boards and committees in the Riverside County area.  He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, with a degree in civil engineering and earned his Master’s in Business Administration, with a Finance concentration, from the University of Texas at Austin.

After two decades working in the private and public sectors for the engineering and utility industries and overseeing multiple billion-dollar budgets, Jason is now owner of a management consulting company specializing in energy, finance, and government operations.

Anton Jungherr, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the California Association of Bond Oversight Committees

Anton is the author of Operational PPBS* for Education: A Practical Approach to Effective Decision Making, Harper & Row, New York, 1971. (*Planning, Programming, Budgeting System) He earned his Master of Education degree in Educational Administration from Columbia University, and received a Master of Public Administration degree from Syracuse University.  Mr. Jungherr also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Connecticut.
 

    David Lyell, Director, California Association of Bond Oversight Committees

David Lyell is the Owner/CEO of ABSIHC INC. This non-medical homecare company provides support services for seniors and newly discharged patients allowing them to recover or age in place with dignity and grace.

David spent 40 years at Stater Bros. Markets with a brief break to try his hand at real estate and loans. He spent 35 of those years in management, where he chose to do the right thing even if it was unpopular. He is also a certified notary for the state of California.

David is interested in the school bond oversight because school districts and school boards need to be accountable for taxpayer money. The proper allocation of resources is imperative to provide the education our children need. He is also interested in running for the school board in the future and feels this will help him become an advocate for his community.

   Jonathan Reynolds, JD, Director, California Association of Bond Oversight Committees

After graduating from law school (J.D., May 2018, cum laude), Jonathon relocated to the Central Coast of California to begin his career in family law. After moving to California, but prior to joining Lustig Law, Jonathon gained years of valuable experience in family law at another law firm in the area.

Concurrently with his work at that law firm, he also worked as a consultant for the Academic Mastery Program at Pepperdine University School of Law from May of 2019 through the summer of 2020. In that role, Jonathon provided instruction to recent law school graduates studying for the bar exam, and generally provided academic support to the supervising Dean as needed. Jonathon is the Chair of City of Glover Beach Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee.

 

Ourania Riddle, Director, California Association of Bond Oversight Committees

Ourania an advocate for open government was named the “2015 Tax-Fighter of the Year” by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.  Ourania has authored the Measure N, the Dixon Open Governance Act, which was placed on the November 2012 ballot which ultimately failed due to misrepresentation from its opponents.

Ourania served  on the Solano County Jury, She served on the Board of Directors of the California Grand Jurors Association, was a trainer for the statewide county Grand Juries. She was also the Editor of the Grand Jurors’ Journal.

In 1993, Ourania along with others started a newspaper, the Dixon Independent Voice (IV). As a reporter, she wrote unbiased, informative news for the citizens of Dixon. Ourania is a member and volunteered for Californians Aware, a government watchdog that helps reporters and citizens understand their rights, in order to hold government accountable, open and transparent. Currently, Ourania is the secretary of the Solano County Taxpayers Association.

Thomas A. Rubin, CPA, CMA, CMC, CIA, CFM, CGFM, Chair of Audit Committee, California Association of Bond Oversight Committees                

Thomas has been a senior executive, consultant, and auditor for well over 100 governmental agencies, primarily in California, over four decades.

For seventeen years, he was the consultant to the Los Angeles USD Bond Oversight Committee overseeing its $28 billion program.

He worked in all aspects of the program, from assisting in preparing the ballot measures going to the voters to property tax revenue estimates to planning, design, construction, procurement, the project stabilization agreement, small business enterprise program, inspection, and external grants funding.

He organized and led the welcoming session for new BOC members, did tours, special studies, met with senior executives, worker bees, Board of Education members, and covered public meetings. He also did reports on Charter Schools. He had a major role in preparing the Memorandum of Understanding between LAUSD and the BOC, as well as the BOC by-laws.

   Laura Santos, Director, California Association of Bond Oversight Committees

Laura Santos attended school in Bassett Unified School District and then earned a degree in Political Science from UCLA and a JD from UC Davis.

After practicing law for ten years, she began a career in public relations, media, and promotions.  She has decades of experience in community engagement and organizing. Much of her career has been spent in disadvantaged communities addressing equity and justice issues in education, health, water, and the environment. 

She sat on the Bassett USD Bond Oversight Committee before being elected to the Bassett USD board in 2007. She also served on the La Puente Valley ROP board, and in 2013 she was elected to the Mt San Antonio College, which has a billion-dollar construction program.

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Jack Weir, Director Emeritus, Co-Founder and Former Chairman

 

 Jack Weir, CABOC Director Emeritus, Co-Founder and Former Chairman

Jack Weir is the Co-Founder of the California Association of Bond Oversight Committees. The Association of Bond Oversight Committees was chartered to provide training, guidance and support services to citizens responsible for oversight of school bonds throughout California.

Previously, Mr. Weir served as the Executive Director of the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association while also serving on local citizens’ bond committees to ensure good governance of taxpayers’ dollars. A retired executive for Pacific Telephone and Telegraph, Pacific Telesis Group, Jack has served the community on the city council for Pleasant Hill. Jack is the founder and principal of Change for the Better, an organizational and information systems consultancy. In addition, Jack has held leadership positions for the Contra Costa County transit agency and New Directions Counseling Agency.