Staff

Alfonso Casso
Team Leader

Academic Background: Bachelor of Arts in English, Southern Methodist University; Masters in Business Administration, Laredo State University.

Areas of Expertise: Local government, procurement, warehousing and distribution

Casso maintained a computerized inventory system, which was responsible for inventory control, developed and coordinated supply storage and distribution system at Mercy Regional Medical Center in Laredo.

He served on the City Council and served as Mayor-Pro-Tem of the City of Laredo. Casso also served as Purchasing Manager for Bausch & Lomb and for Cast Metal Industries. He has previously worked as Congressional House Intern.

Bob Bearden

Academic Background: Bachelors of Science in criminal justice, Texas Christian University

Area of Expertise: Local sales taxation

In 23 years of service with the Comptroller's office, Bob Bearden has become a recognized expert in local sales tax laws. He has authored several agency publications on local sales tax options for Texas cities and counties, worked with members of the Texas Legislature to draft bills and testified as a resource witness at committee hearings.

Bearden has given presentations to city and county officials, chambers of commerce, and members of economic development corporations, as well as to various local government association conferences and statewide events.

Elizabeth Blount

Academic Background: Bachelor of Arts in History, the University of Texas at Austin; Masters in Clinical Psychology, Stephen F. Austin University.

Areas of Expertise: Legislative issues and local government issues, including unfunded mandates

Elizabeth Blount has 17 years of experience in state government, 12 with the Comptroller's office. Her duties have included administering the agency's State and Federal Grant Directory; tracking and analyzing legislation for the agency and local officials; coordinating and reviewing local fiscal notes as requested by the Legislative Budget Board; monitoring legislative and interim committees; and training staff members in the legislative process.

Before joining the Comptroller's office, Blount worked at the Texas Legislative Council, researching higher and public education and other issues, managed the district office of State Senator Roy Blake and was the Senate Administration Committee Clerk.

Alfredo Cardenas

Academic Background: Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, St. Mary's University.

Areas of Expertise: local government, economic and community development, public administration, and public and media relations

Alfredo Cardenas served as mayor of the City of San Diego, Texas for seven years. Under his leadership, the city obtained a $1.7 million loan from the Texas Water Development Board to provide infrastructure for a new 500-bed substance abuse facility built by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He also led efforts to establish a public library; initiate a garbage collection service; establish a city-owned and operated ambulance service; and gain voter approval for revenues needed to improve local fire-fighting services and telephone service.

Cardenas also started his own newspaper business in 1986, serving as publisher and editor of the award-winning Duval County Picture. He sold the newspaper in 1999.

Before going into business on his own, Cardenas served as director of Economic Development and Community Development for Duval County. In this capacity, he oversaw the implementation of a number of projects including a study on the establishment of an agribusiness park in Duval County and several community development projects ranging from housing to water and sewer services.

Cardenas also served as deputy director for Administration for the Coastal Bend Legal Services; director of Administration for the Community Action Corporation of South Texas; and as a special assistant to US Senator John Tower.

Kathleen Forrest

Academic Background: Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance, University of Texas at Austin.

Area of Expertise: State and local court costs

Kathleen Forrest has 14 years of experience with the Comptroller's office and currently works in Local Government Assistance. For the last five years, she has worked exclusively on court costs, fees and fines. She is a faculty member of the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center. She has participated in two financial management reviews and the fiscal note process

Before joining the Comptroller's office, Forest worked for four years with Gulf Oil Corporation in Houston, Texas.

Scott Odom

Academic Background: Bachelor of Arts in Economics, University of Texas at Austin.

Area of Expertise: Local government

Odom has worked as a local government analyst since January 1997. Prior to this, he was a business analyst for the city manager of the City of Galveston, Texas. He has worked on Financial Management Reviews for El Paso, Smith and Brazoria counties and the City of Mathis and City of Houston procurement. Odom served as team leader on the sales tax calculation team and team leader for the financial management review of the City of New Braunfels' Golf Department. This team provides taxable sales or sales tax data to local governments that are considering adopting a sales tax or have adopted the "sales tax to reduce property taxes." During Legislative sessions, he has monitored committee meetings and worked on fiscal notes for local bills.

Paul S. Lyon

Academic Background: Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, summa cum laude, Southwest Texas State University. Paul Lyon is a Certified Public Accountant.

Areas of Expertise: Auditing and financial management reviews

Paul Lyon has 20 years of experience in Texas state government. At present, he is an experienced analyst with Local Government Assistance, where he has served as team leader for financial management reviews of Smith County and the cities of Leander and Mathis and assisted with numerous other reviews. He also has prepared fiscal notes for bills affecting local governments. Lyon is an advisor for all financial management reviews and other projects, a role that requires him to work closely with team members and local officials, conduct field work, define issues, and develop recommendations.

In 1991, he worked on the first TPR review and later supervised the team that assisted the state's colleges and universities in implementing the Uniform Statewide Accounting System (USAS). In 1984, Lyon managed the Comptroller team that designed and created the prototype for the first statewide report to conform with generally accepted accounting principles.

From 1987 to 1991, Lyon served as director of Accounting for the Attorney General's Office.

Robert (Bob) A. Mathison

Academic Background: Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, University of Texas at Austin. Mathison is a Certified Public Accountant.

Areas of Expertise: revenue estimating, auditing and local government

Bob Mathison has more than 20 years of experience with the Comptroller's office. At present, he is a member of the Revenue Estimating staff, responsible for estimating and monitoring state revenue collections from motor vehicle sales and rentals; motor vehicle registration and inspection; boat and boat motor sales; the issuance of driver's licenses; and the sale of manufactured housing. During each legislative session, Mathison prepares fiscal notes for bills relating to these and other areas. He also contributes to division publications including the Biennial Revenue Estimate, Sources of Revenue Growth, and the Certification Estimate.

Before joining Revenue Estimating, Mathison supervised Local Government Assistance for a decade, offering financial management assistance to local governments, including on-site financial management reviews, classroom instruction and seminar presentations. Prior to this role, he was an internal auditor, responsible for auditing agency processes and funds; and a field auditor, conducting audits of private businesses.

Robert Myers

Academic Background: Bachelor of Business Administration, University of Texas at Austin; graduate coursework in the St. Edward's University Master of Business Administration program.

Areas of Expertise: Local courts and local sales tax options

Robert Myers has 11 years of experience with the Comptroller's Local Government team, where he has assisted local governments in the areas of court costs, purchasing, budgeting, local sales tax options, legal research and the preparation of local fiscal notes. He has provided training to justices of the peace and clerks of justice courts for the Justice Court Training Center, and municipal judges and clerks for the Municipal Court Education Center.