Michael Obgurn, Senior Vice President, Mission Viejo Office
Mr. Ogburn is a principal partner and founder of CFS. He manages the headquarters office of the
firm in Mission Viejo, California. As a principal partner, Mr. Ogburn serves
as the team leader for the firm’s Southern California clients. In that role,
his responsibilities include: 1. development of financial programs tailored to each client’s needs; 2. development of
planning and administrative support functions for each client; 3. financial and
technical support to other employees and clients of the firm.
Mr. Ogburn’s expertise includes the sale and structuring of
fixed income securities including certificates of participation, lease revenue
bonds, lease-purchase agreements, general obligation bonds and QZAB bonds. As
part of the structuring of these financing instruments, Mr. Ogburn is adept at
integrating multiple revenue sources—including the State School Facility
Program, asset management, energy management and developer mitigation agreements into a single, comprehensive
financial master plan over a
planning horizon of five to ten years.
Having sold or structured over $1 billion of fixed income
securities, Mr. Ogburn specializes in school district finance. His clients
include Paramount Unified School District, Ontario-Montclair Elementary School
District, Pajaro Unified School District, Anaheim Union High School District,
Perris Elementary School District, San Jacinto Unified School District, Fontana
Unified School District, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianna Islands, Riverside Unified School District, Cucamonga School District,
Huntington Beach Union High School District and Escondido Union Elementary School District.
R. Mark Epstein co-founded California Financial Services in
1990 after spending almost a decade as Vice President of Public Finance for one
of Wall Street’s largest firms. He is an active owner of CFS and manages the
Northern California Region and the business administration for the. He has participated
in more than $3 billion in municipal funding programs during his fifteen-year
career.
He has a multi-disciplinary approach to providing financial
planning services including the evaluation of facility planning, demographics,
development projections, debt management and credit factors relating to each
districts' unique circumstances.
His expertise includes developing and preparing negotiating
strategies for developer mitigation, joint-use projects and state grant funding
economic master plans, financing programs, revenue generating and funding
alternatives, land acquisition programs and technical financial analyses to
support his municipal clients.
His clients include Newark Unified School District, Sequoia
Union High School District, Eureka Unified School District, Windsor Unified
School District, Belmont-Redwood Shores School District, Cambrian School
District, Calaveras Unified School District, Bret Harte Union High School
District, Manteca Unified School District, Grant Union High School District,
Eureka Elementary School District, Redlands Unified School District, San Miguel
Elementary School District, Lodi Unified School District, Tracy Unified School
District, Arena Union Elementary School District, Loma Prieta Union Elementary
School District and Spreckels Elementary School District.
Mr. Epstein has earned an A.B. in Humanities from Stanford
University
Mr. Epstein has created multiple
programs specifically for California school districts. These include Economic
Master Plans, Landbank Programs, Community Facility Districts, Redevelopment
Agency Funding Programs, Refunding Programs, Certificates of Participation
Funding Programs and G.O. Bond Funding Programs.
Daniel Santo, Managing Director, Educational Services, Sacramento Office
Mr. Santo coordinates CFS’ planning and facility assessment
services to districts, which encompasses all areas pertaining to facility
planning and State School Facility Program and Education Code procedures for
the programs developed for school district clients. These services include
client assistance in master planning, facility assessment State grant funding
and project implementation. In addition, Mr. Santo coordinates client and
company interface with State agencies regarding funding programs, reimbursement
policies, and other requirements effecting school facilities including surplus
property disposition. Mr. Santo manages
the Sacramento office and supervises the Facility Planning Division composed of
four professionals statewide.
Prior to joining CFS, Mr. Santo was
the Director of Planning/Facilities Development for Chino Unified School
District, where he previously served as a school board member for nine years.
Mr. Santo’s experience makes him uniquely qualified to contribute to the
success of any program implemented for CFS school district clients. Mr. Santo is a graduate of the University of
San Diego School of Law and his background includes Contract Management,
District Administration and Cost Control for Federal and State procurement
programs. He is a lifetime member and “fellow” of the National Contract Market
Association.
Dr. Hanson joined CFS following seven years with the
California Department of Education (CDE), School Facilities Planning Division,
serving school districts in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. As a State
Consultant, Dr. Hanson assisted local school districts in developing long range
master plans, selection of school sites, developing technology and educational
specifications and reviewing school designs. She also provided assistance in
developing funding options for site acquisition and school construction for her
client districts. Prior to leaving CDE, she developed the State’s standards for
site selection and school plans that are now incorporated into the California
Administrative Code of Regulations, Title 5. She also developed procedures for
preparing educational specifications including technology and conducted
statewide workshops to assist districts in implementing this procedure in the year
that it was implemented.
At CFS, Dr. Hanson assists school clients in the preparation
of eligibility documents and State School Facility Program strategies resulting
in applications for State funding. She also prepares educational specification
documents, Five Year Facility Master Plans (as required for State funding) and
coordinates architects, educators and facility planners in identifying long
term facility planning strategies. She also has a special expertise in
assisting County Offices of Education in developing eligibility and
applications to fund special education and Community School classrooms (on
district campuses) with State Funds.
Gene Hartline retired as Assistant Superintendent of Business Services at Paramount Unified School District and joined California Financial Services (CFS) as Managing Director of the Mission Viejo office. Mr. Hartline’s role at CFS stems from his extensive experience in school district finance and facilities planning. He specializes in facilities assessment and development of financing options for school districts clients.
Mr. Hartline received his B.A. and
M.A. from California State University, Fresno and did graduate work at the USC
School of Administration and Finance.
He began his career in education in 1961 as a teacher in Kern County. His subsequent work in education includes a
total of 17 years in the position of Assistant Superintendent of Business
Services at Irvine Unified, Escondido Union, Moreno Valley Unified and
Paramount Unified School Districts.
Mr. Hartline was the Founding Chair of the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (C.A.S.H.) in 1978. He also chaired its committee for Cost Containment in School Construction, in addition to providing leadership for two successful bond issues for his districts.
Tarana Alam, Vice President, Bond Administration, Mission Viejo Office
Ms. Alam is Vice President of Bond Administration for Master
Lease, Land Bank, Cash Management, Bridge Funding Program, CFS Flexible
Interest Rate Program, and various other financing programs implemented for
districts. Her primary responsibilities include: coordinating the closing of
financing programs, developing and implementing project accounting/tracking and
administrative support systems tailored to each client’s existing budgetary and
tracking systems, preparing project payment schedules and prepayment analyses,
processing and preparing payment invoices and vendor disbursement
documentation, coordinating and
updating insurance requirements and other compliance documentation
required under the financing documents,
and preparing periodic program status reports and fiscal year-end reports for
client management and independent auditor use.
Ms. Alam identifies vendor disbursement, billing and annual certification and compliance requirements under the financing documentation and recommends streamlined procedures and documentation consistent with each client's current operating procedures and tracking and budgeting systems. In addition, Ms. Alam assists each client with the day-to-day management and troubleshooting of the financing program implemented.
Nina Santo, Vice
President, Sacramento Office
Ms. Santo’s primary responsibilities include the preparation
of master planning implementation
documents including financial program plans, master plans, Williams lawsuit reports, needs analyses and other documents
required to support facility planning programs.
Prior to joining CFS, Ms. Santo was a public finance
associate with the law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP,
specializing in tax-exempt health care, education and multifamily housing
financings. She has assisted clients
with transactions such as the issuance and refunding of general obligation
bonds, lease revenue bonds, 501(c)(3) bonds and certificates of participation. Previously, Ms. Santo served as a judicial
law clerk for the Honorable Garland E. Burrell, Jr., United States District
Judge in the Eastern District of California.
In addition, Ms. Santo has more than a decade of experience in the
nonprofit world, including supervising local operation of federal and
state-funded programs and serving as a public information officer and staff
writer.
Mr. Willis prepares financial reports required for receipt
of State Funding including Financial Hardship applications, Close-out audits
and assistance regarding the use of district and State funds for Growth and
Modernization projects.
Prior to joining CFS, Mr. Willis was the Chief of Fiscal
Services for the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC), where he was part
of the Senior Management for the OPSC, and reviewed, analyzed and made both
program and fiscal policy recommendations to the State Allocation Board (SAB)
on the Financial Hardship Program and the close-out audit process under both
the Lease-Purchase Program and the School Facility Program. Mr. Willis
participated in developing many of the forms, policies and procedures that are
currently used by districts seeking State funding. In addition, Mr. Willis has served on various statewide panels and
forums as a featured speaker for the OPSC regarding the various programs of the
office.
Mr. Willis has a B.A.
in Accounting with a minor in Finance from Skadron College.