Staff

Chris Cook
Team Leader

Carmen Adams

See Human Resource Management.

David Ballinger

Academic Background: Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, Auburn University.

Areas of Expertise: project management; contract/grant management

Key Projects: David Ballinger is working on the Council of Competitive Government's statewide vehicle fleet management plan; a methodology for state government outsourcing and in-house reengineering; and topics concerning contract management.

Ballinger has been employed in the Comptroller's Competitive Strategies Division since February 2000. Before joining the Comptroller's office, Ballinger was a project manager in the New Model Department of Honda of America Manufacturing for more than two years. His activities there included management, quality control, and process improvement initiatives. In addition, he tracked design change requests for all Honda Civic suppliers.

Before working for Honda, he was an artillery officer in the US Marine Corps for more than seven years. His duties included managing motorized transport, communications, and weapons assets as well as the day-to-day scheduling of more than 100 personnel. He also managed six drill instructor teams and more than 600 recruits.

Dan Contreras

Academic Background: Undergraduate study in Business at Texas Tech

Areas of Expertise: Productivity Bonus Program and the State Employee Incentive Program, which is a statewide employee suggestion program.

In November 1999, Contreras transferred to the Comptroller's office from the Texas Incentive and Productivity Commission (TIPC). At the TIPC, he assisted with the day-to-day operations. He administered State Employee Incentive Program, targeting over 230 agencies and universities.

Contreras also assisted in the administration of the state's Productivity Bonus Program, which targets over 135 state agencies. Contreras also assisted in the preparation of reports required by the Legislature, maintained agency financial reports and served as Agency Information Resources Manager.

He also was the coordinator and contact for the agency's Uniform Statewide Accounting System, Uniform Statewide Payroll System, and the American with Disabilities Act.

Mary Cheryl Dorwart

See E-Government Team.

Richard D. English

See Staff Management Team.

Shannon Franklin

Academic Background: Bachelor of Arts in English, University of Texas at Austin; Master of Arts in Human Services with a specialization in Administration, St. Edward's University.

Areas of Expertise: Process reengineering, contract management, business planning

Key Projects: the Council of Competitive Government's state vehicle fleet management plan

Before joining the Comptroller's office, Shannon Franklin worked as a business planner for the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). At TDI, Franklin participated in projects involving business planning, business process reengineering and disaster recovery planning.

Franklin previously worked at the Texas Incentive and Productivity Commission (TIPC), where she administered a group incentive program for state employees. She also coordinated training and promotional activities for TIPC programs across the state. Before joining the commission, she spent three years at the Children's Trust Fund of Texas, where she monitored grant contracts and provided training and technical assistance to agency-funded child abuse and neglect prevention programs.

Peggy Fulmer

See Government Performance.

Travis Harrell

Academic Background: Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Business, Sam Houston State University.

Areas of Expertise: economics, budget analysis, and forecasting

Before joining the Comptroller's office, Travis Harrell worked for the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) as a budget analyst, maintaining the budgets for the agency's Houston and San Antonio Child Support Offices. Before joining the OAG, he worked as a sales representative for the Huntsville Truck and Tractor dealership.

Travis joined Competitive Strategies Division in February 2000 as part of the Activity-Based Costing Team.

Carol Lauder

See Government Performance.

Sidney J. La Quey

Academic Background: Bachelor of Arts in Government, University of Texas at Austin; Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, University of Texas at Austin. La Quey is a Certified Public Accountant.

Areas of Expertise: activity-based costing, accounting

Key Projects: activity-based costing, statewide human resources portal, GASB 34- implementation, online sales of surplus property, construction price-fixing investigation

Before joining the Comptroller's office, Sidney La Quey worked for Skrudland Photo, an online photo-processing firm, as manager of Financial Reporting. La Quey reported directly to the firm's controller, and was responsible for preparing financial statements. Since 1985, Sidney has had his own bookkeeping firm, and his own CPA firm since 1992. The firm conducted bookkeeping and tax return services for local companies. During that time, he also owned a commercial and personal lines insurance agency, acting as recording agent for that firm. Before 1985, La Quey was a staff accountant for a small Austin CPA firm, responsible for the preparation of personal, corporate, and partnership tax returns and financial statements.

Loretta Lewis

Academic Background: Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, Lamar University.

Areas of Expertise: Human services, children's issues and health care

Key Projects: Texas Performance Reviews

Since joining the Comptroller's office in 1997, Loretta Lewis has worked on issues including fraud in state employee health care; state government customer service; federal aid to local governments; and child care issues. She has contributed to several articles for Fiscal Notes, the Comptroller's newsletter.

Before joining the Comptroller's office, Lewis managed the district offices of State Representative Al Price in Beaumont and Senators Parker and Haley in Conroe. She also served as a recruiter for the U.S. Census Bureau and as director of a Title XX day care center.

Richard Rowe

Academic Background: Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Sam Houston State University.

Areas of Expertise: process engineering, project management

Before joining the Comptroller's office, Rowe worked for Lockheed Martin IMS as a project/operations manager, where he guided two $20 million statewide projects over a three-year period. His responsibilities included the development of training and implementation plans, overall project management, and liaison with state agencies and legislators to ensure project completion.

Before joining Lockheed, Rowe worked for the Texas Department of Human Services for eight years, serving as a contract manager responsible for developing requests for proposals, monitoring contracts, and developing new methods for contract monitoring. Rowe worked on electronic benefits and Lone Star Imaging System projects as part of the Lone Star Technology Division.

James A. "Jim" Scogin

Academic Background: Bachelor of Science in Recreation and Parks, Park Administration, and Resources Planning, Texas A&M University; Master of Aeronautical Science, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University.

Areas of Expertise: information operations management, management information systems, strategic planning, government contracting, project management

Key Projects: seat management, procurement reform, telecommunications billing

Jim Scogin is a retired US Air Force officer with more than 20 years of experience in information operations management, strategic planning, government contracting, and program management. Scogin has directed several large-scale government and business process reengineering projects, and has planned, coordinated, and implemented a number of worldwide Air Force operational readiness exercises.

Before joining the Comptroller's office, Scogin served as site manager for an information technology (IT) services provider at the National Drug Intelligence Center and as the director of Personnel Systems and program manager for a Department of Defense IT contractor, managing more than 250 IT professionals and $16 million in annual revenues.

Marci Shafto

Academic Background: Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, Texas A&M University; Masters of Business Administration in Accounting, St. Edward's University. Marci Shafto is a Certified Public Accountant.

Areas of Expertise: Accounting, financial planning and activity-based costing

Marci Shafto has more than seven years of experience in various accounting fields, with special emphasis on financial planning and manufacturing and material process flows. During her career, she has analyzed inventory, costed semiconductor equipment, prepared cost-center budgets, and completed several cost analyses involving activity-based costing for private industry.

Before joining the Comptroller's office, Shafto worked for Dell Computers in Corporate Planning. In this capacity, she prepared a three-year financial plan for the Americas Region, which includes the United States, Canada and Latin America. In addition, she has participated in projects involving competitive analysis, business process reengineering and internal process documentation.