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Taylor Announces Regional Advisory Board

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Athens -

Auditor of State Mary Taylor announced appointments to the Auditor of State’s Southeastern Ohio Regional Advisory Board.  This is one of eight boards that Taylor is establishing throughout the state. 

“Our first meeting on Friday was very productive,” Taylor said. “These meetings are great opportunities for us to meet periodically with the clients of our office to understand how we can better serve them.”

The regional advisory board meetings provide local officials a forum to discuss major issues facing their communities that involve interaction with the Auditor of State’s Office. The boards are part of Taylor’s continued commitment to better serve local governments. 

Each board has representatives from every type of local government - county and city officials, township officials, school treasurers and local independent public accountants. The meetings will also provide local government entities with up-to-date government accounting regulations. 

The Southeastern Ohio Regional Advisory Board consists of the following officials:

Jill Thompson, Athens County Auditor
Thompson has served as county auditor since October 2000. She serves on the Conference Planning/Education and Support Services/Public Relations committees of the County Auditor’s Association of Ohio. She also serves as a representative to the Ohio Council of County Officials.

Mr. Pete Couladis, former Athens County Auditor
Couladis served 22 years as county auditor and two years on Athens City Council. He is a past president of the County Auditor’s Association of Ohio, the Athens County Shrine Club, the Athens Rotary Club and the Ohio University Alumni Marching Band Society.

Senator James A. Carnes, former state Senator
Carnes served as a member of the Ohio Senate for nearly ten years. He also served on the Belmont County Board of Elections and was chairman of the board for 11 years. Carnes has served on the Ohio Commission on Aging, Area Agency on Aging, the Ohio Advisory Council on Aging and the Ohio Mine Examining Board. He has also served as the deputy director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

Frankie Lee Carnes, Belmont County Board of Elections
Carnes has served on the Belmont County Board of Elections since 1974. She is an organizer of Sterling Service Tea Ministry. Their mission is to serve spiritual, social and inspirational needs of our sisters who have been touched by cancer. She is a 1961 graduate of Wheeling Hospital School of Nursing.

David K. Smith, Gallia County Commissioner
Smith is currently the president of the Gallia County Commission after serving as vice president in 2005 and 2006. He has a private dental practice in Gallipolis. He serves on many local boards in Gallia County as well as local, state and national boards of the Dental Society. He is a certified Flight Instructor and Commercial Pilot and has been a private pilot for 23 years. In addition to his dental practice he is the owner of several other businesses in Gallia County.

Tony Brown, Guernsey County Auditor
Brown has served as county auditor since 1990. He is currently on the executive committee for the County Auditor’s Association of Ohio and has served as president of the Southeastern Ohio CAAO two times. He is a graduate of Muskingum College with a business degree and previously worked in the legal department of Advantage Bank.

Ken Wilson, Hocking County Auditor
Wilson has served as county auditor since 1995 and was president of the County Auditor’s Association of Ohio in 2006. He is an assessment administration specialist with the International Association of Assessment Officers and has his certification from the Ohio Certified Public Managers.

Edward Armstrong, Jackson County Commissioner
Armstrong currently serves as county commissioner. He is secretary of the Jackson County Economical Development Executive Committee and was recently appointed to the Southeastern Ohio Broadband Task Force. He is actively involved with the Jackson County Airport and works closely with the Clean Ohio Program for Jackson County to clean up abandoned industrial sites.

Clyde Holdren, Jackson County Auditor
Holdren is in his second term as county auditor. He previously served as the chief deputy auditor for 12 years and has a combined total of 16 years with the office.

Chris Kline, Lawrence County Chief Deputy Auditor
Kline was appointed chief deputy auditor for Lawrence County in 1999 and is responsible for the day to day operations of the office. He has worked in the auditor’s office since 1991 and is active in the County Auditor’s Association of Ohio where he currently serves on the Legislative/Executive Committee.

Jason Stephens, Lawrence County Commissioner
Stephens was first elected county commissioner in 2000. He is a certified financial planner and graduated from Lipscomb University with a degree in finance/economics and business management.

Mary Byer-Hill, Meigs County Auditor
Hill began her term as auditor in July 2006. She has 13 years of experience in the Auditors office and is a graduate of the University of Rio Grande. She is active in the County Auditor’s Association of Ohio and is a member of the Racine Chapter of Eastern Star.

Kay Tatman, former Morgan County Treasurer
Tatman served as county treasurer for 22 years. She retired August 31, 2007.

Gary Woodward, Morgan County Auditor
Woodward has served as county auditor since 1986.

Anita Adams, Muskingum County Auditor
Adams has served as county auditor since March 1999. She previously worked in the county auditor’s office for 17 years. She is past president of the Southeastern Ohio County Auditor’s Association and currently serves on the County Auditor’s Legislative Committee. She is a member of the Government Finance Officers Association, the International Association of Assessing Officers, the Ohio Weights and Measures Association, the Muskingum County Township Association and the Muskingum County Farm Bureau.

Jeffrey A. Croucher, Noble Local School District Treasurer
Croucher has served as treasurer 1995. He previously served as assistant treasurer for Caldwell Exempted Village School District and is past president of Ohio Association of School Business Officials.

Connie Bunting, Village of Caldwell Fiscal Officer
Bunting is the current fiscal officer for the Village of Caldwell.

Trent Williams, Portsmouth City Auditor
Williams is currently the auditor of Portsmouth. He is a certified public finance administrator and has eleven years in government financial administrative service. He was awarded the GFOA Award of Financial Reporting Achievement seven years in a row.

Walden (Mac) McFarland
McFarland is a retired Porter Township Trustee having served three terms. He is also a retired business owner-Civil Engineer-Backhoe Service. He is a former member of the Wheelersburg Board of Education having served four elected terms. He is a graduate of Bliss College and is a member of Wheelersburg Kiwanis and the United Methodist Church.

Cindy Owings, Vinton County Auditor
Owings currently serves as county auditor and began her first term in March, 2003.

Dorothy Peppel, Washington County Treasurer
Peppel has served as county treasurer since 1980. She previously served as a clerk, deputy and then chief deputy in the Treasurer’s office for a total of 54 years. She is active in many local organizations and received the Woman of the Year Award for Washington County from the Chamber of Commerce in 2007.

William McFarland, Washington County Auditor
McFarland has served as county auditor since March 2003. Previous to that he served 22 years Marietta city government. He is a member of County Auditor’s Association of Ohio, the Ohio Farm Bureau, the Township Trustees Association, the Sons of the American Legion and the American Red Cross.

Jill Shawd, Barlow Township Fiscal Officer
Shawd has served as fiscal officer since 2004. She has 20 years of financial experience having worked as bank examiner, controller and operations manager, national account manager and institutional investment management sales.

Ken Phillips, Wolfe, Wilson and Phillips, Inc
Phillips is a partner in the firm Wolfe, Wilson & Phillips, Inc.  He has been with the firm since 1998 and has more than 20 years of accounting experience with an emphasis on governmental audits. He is a certified public accountant and a graduate of The Ohio State University. Phillips is a member of the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Randall Perry, Perry & Associates, CPA’s
Perry is the founder and managing stockholder of Perry and Associates, A.C.  He is a certified public accountant licensed in Ohio and West Virginia and has 37 years of experience in public accounting and auditing. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants, the West Virginia Society of Certified Public Accountants and is past president of the West Virginia Public Accountants Association.

Jason Uhrig, JL Uhrig & Associates, Inc
Uhrig is the principal/manager of the firm J.L. Uhrig & Associates, Inc.  He has been with the firm for more than 11 years and completed his education in accounting and finance at The Ohio State University. He is a certified public accountant with more than 11 years of government auditing experience. He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Ohio Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Association of Government Accountants.

Teresa Wooldridge, Pike County Board of Elections
She has worked at the Pike County Board of Elections since 1998 and has served as director since 2000.  Wooldridge previously worked in the private sector as a sawmill and logging business owner.

Pandora Neuhart, Monroe County Auditor
She has held the position of Monroe County Auditor since December 1998.

The Ohio Auditor of State’s Office is one of the largest accounting offices in the nation.  The office strives to ensure that all public funds are spent legally and appropriately and works aggressively to root out fraud, waste and abuse in public spending. Taylor encourages anyone suspecting fraud or misspending of public dollars to contact her office toll free at 1-866-FRAUD-OH (1-866-372-8364).

For more information about the State Auditor’s Office, please visit: www.auditor.state.oh.us.