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.

Mr. Ogburn is a frequent presenter at C.A.S.H. conferences and is an active member of CalFed, a California advocacy group for federal funding of school facilities.

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R. Mark Epstein, Managing Director, Santa Rosa Office

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 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.

Mr. Epstein has earned an A.B. in Humanities from Stanford University.

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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.
 
In addition to his duties with CFS, Mr. Santo is also active in the legislative implementation and bond committees for the Coalition for Adequate School Housing (C.A.S.H.).

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Betty Hanson, Vice President, Educational & Facility Planning

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.

Dr. Hanson’s clients include Etiwanda School District, San Miguel School District, Antelope Valley High School District, Lancaster School District, Azusa Unified School District, Tracy Unified School District, Fontana Unified School District, Escondido Union Elementary School District, Paramount Unified School District, Los Angeles County Office of Education (SELPA), San Luis Obispo County Office of Education (SELPA), Sonoma County Office of Education (SELPA), Marin County Office of Education (SELPA) and Imperial County Office of Education (SELPA). 

Dr. Hanson is a graduate of the University of Iowa and received her doctorate degree from Pepperdine University (Ed.D. Administration).

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Tarana Alam, Vice President, Mission Viejo Office

Ms. Alam is the lead analyst and Vice President of administration for CFS's School Facility Bridge Funding Programs, Land Bank Programs, Flexible Interest Rate Programs, State School Facility Funding Programs, General Obligation Bonds, 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.

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Gene Hartline, Managing Director, Mission Viejo Office

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.

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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.
 
Ms. Santo graduated summa cum laude from Whittier College with a bachelor’s degree in English and social science and received her law degree with great distinction from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law.

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Michael Willis, Vice President, Sacramento Office

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.

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Julie Arthur, Regional Director, Mission Viejo Office

Julie Arthur joined CFS in February 2007 and provides school districts throughout the state with professional assistance with school facilities, construction, and funding processes. She interacts with a variety of State agencies on school districts’ behalf to resolve many issues.  She graduated from California State University, San Bernardino with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration.  Ms. Arthur received her Certificate in Education Facility Planning from UC Riverside Extension in 1997.

Ms. Arthur came from the commercial and residential development and construction industries of the private sector in 1996 to work for the Desert Sands Unified School District as a Project Manager of Facilities and Construction Services.  She was selected by San Jacinto Unified School District in 2002 as Director of Facilities and Planning during a time of double digit student growth. During her service to the SJUSD and DSUSD, she completed in excess of $100,000,000 worth of school construction projects under hardship and non-hardship State programs.  Julie has utilized a variety of construction delivery methods including lease/leaseback, developer-built facilities, CM multiple prime and hard bid contracting.  She oversaw the development of thirteen (13) Community Facilities Districts at San Jacinto USD and has been directly involved in running two successful G.O. Bond campaigns.  Her unique background in construction and finance provides special insight into the design and construction process and enables her to act quickly and effectively on behalf of clients to maximize funding opportunities.

Ms. Arthur was chosen as Riverside County Office of Education’s Classified Administrator of the Year, 2005 for her expertise and talent in addressing school facility issues facing California’s school districts. Ms. Arthur has been a member of the CASH organization for over 10 years and is a frequent moderator and panelist at CASH Conference workshops and presentations.  She speaks on school construction issues, financial hardship issues and public school financing topics.  Julie is a participant in the inaugural class of the CASH School Facilities Leadership Academy.  The Academy is a collaborative effort between CASH and Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT).  CASH and FCMAT are committed to preparing these graduates who will take their place among the California school community to provide leadership and stewardship of public school resources.

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