NewLogo
American Society for 
Public Administration 
Southern California 
Chapter 
 
August 2013 Newsletter

65th Annual Awards Luncheon Recap
On June 20, 2013, over 100 Southern California ASPA members and friends gathered at the California Endowment in downtown Los Angeles to celebrate the 65th Annual Awards Banquet and Installation Event.

Cynthia Kurtz, President & CEO of the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, served as the Master of Ceremony of the annual event recognizing individuals and organizations that have made a significant and sustained impact in the field of Public Administration in both the professional and academic realms.

For a complete list of the 2013 awardees and full photo album from the event, please visit our website.

SAVE THE DATE 
for the 66th Annual Awards Banquet -
Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at the California Endowment
FEATURE ARTICLE
Why student-professional dinners?
Hear one member share her story of why you should attend Southern California ASPA's next student-professional dinner.

 

 
by Janelle Hu
  

This April, I moved back to California after spending 14 years in Washington, DC as a graduate student turned nonprofit director, Congressional staffer, and management consultant.  Upon learning about my interest in leveraging this DC experience within a city manager's office in Southern California, a friend of mine immediately pointed me to ASPA and suggested I attend the networking event in Orange County hosted by Fran Inman and Lucy Dunn.  The evening was informative, entertaining, and full of talented students and professionals, all committed to continually sharpening their skills and meeting like-minded public servants. 

 

I was fortunate to connect with Paul Hubler and Fran Inman after the event.  Both were generous with their time.  They shared great insight about the landscape of Southern California's job market, provided constructive resume feedback, and imparted wise career transition advice.  I was also able to connect with numerous graduate student professionals, all of whom are eager to make an impact in public administration.  I encourage student and professionals alike to maximize the networking and professional development opportunities that ASPA events offer.

 
* * * 
 

Janelle Hu is a lawyer and management consultant with over ten years of expertise in project management, policy making, and campaign strategy.  She recently led a team with Wittenberg Weiner Consulting at the U.S. Department of State covering contract management, budget formulation, and strategic planning projects that saved over $20 million last year.  Janelle also facilitated the passage of election laws in the U.S. House of Representatives and directed a national nonpartisan voter mobilization campaign with APIAVote that resulted in over 348,000 voter contacts in seven Asian languages across 20 states and 25 cities in 2004.  Janelle has a BA in Sociology from UCLA, JD/MPP from Georgetown, and Certificate in Real Estate Development from USC.

  

 

Take Janelle's Advice

and plan to attend a student-professional this year!
To learn more about upcoming events, visit http://www.socalaspa.org/apps/calendar/.
 
PAST EVENTS
February 27, 2013 Student-Professional Dinner 
Students and professionals gathered at the residence of Mark and Jane Pisano in Los Feliz to engage in discussion with guest speaker Hasan Ikhrata, Executive Director for the Southern California Association of Governments, about the topic of "Career Opportunities in a Changing World." Mr. Ikhrata offered a unique perspective of what career opportunities are projected for the future as he not only has over 25 years of public and private sector experience in Transportation Planning in the Southern California region, but also interacts daily with members of the business community, local government, state and federal agencies, planning entities from other countries, the educational community, nonprofits, and many other groups.
 
At the intimate dinner, Mr. Ikhrata shared that it is important for people aspiring to be successful to be bold, courageous, and creative. In particular, if there are people telling you something is a bad idea, you must forge ahead and find mentors who can encourage and support you. Mr. Ikhrata spoke about the challenges of being an immigrant who was partially educated in another country. He noted that when you have an accent, you better talk from your heart in order to attract people's attention. He encouraged all the dinner guests to find something you're passionate about because you're going to spend so many hours and years of your life doing it.
March 22, 2013 ULV/ASPA Panel Discussion
Over 60 students and professionals gathered at the DoubleTree Hotel in Claremont for a lunchtime panel discussion co-hosted by the University of La Verne. 
Three panelists from Sacramento came to speak on the topic of "The Future of Local Government Administration in California": Frank Benest, 
consultant and retired City Manager of Palo Alto; Dan Carrigg, Legislative Director for the League of California Cities; and Chuck Dalldorf, Senior Policy Consultant for State Senator Richard Roth. 
 
Many in attendance were interested in hearing about the future of local government and what is happening in Sacramento. The panelists emphasized the importance of training the next generation of City Managers.
March 28, 2013 ASPA-USC City Managers Reception
In partnership with the City/County Management Fellowship Board and the USC Price Bedrosian Center on Governance and the Public Enterprise, SoCal ASPA co-sponsored an evening reception at USC that gathered 8 current City Managers together with over 40 students and professionals. The reception featured hors d'oeuvres, beverages and the opportunity to mingle and network with City Managers, public administrators and USC faculty and students.
 
During the evening, there was a Q&A session where the City Managers answered questions about their career paths and opportunities in municipal government. One student noted that this was a great event because usually it is so hard to meet so many City Managers in one place. Attendees were encouraged to approach the City Managers to get their business cards for prospective internships and volunteering opportunities.
April 25, 2013 Student-Professional Dinner
SoCal ASPA's first Orange County student-professional dinner was held at the Santa Ana home of Fran Inman, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Majestic Realty Company. The event was co-hosted by
Fran Inman and Lucy Dunn, CEO of Orange County Business Council. The guest speaker for the event was Dr. Wallace Walrod, Chief Economic Advisor for the Orange County Business Council. Dr. Walrod leads a group of economists at the Southern California Association of Governments in conducting economic analysis of the benefits of a regional transportation plan across six counties. He talked about the benefits of the public and private sectors working together and that being the model for the future in solving problems with reduced funding. Both Dr. Walrod and Fran Inman shared their career path stories and connected with several guests after the event for career advice.
 
Many guests, ranging from students and young professionals to seasoned public servants, shared after the event that the tangible value of belonging to SoCal ASPA can be seen at these student-professional dinner events. At these dinners, guests have an opportunity to network and find or become mentors, whether they are students, in mid-career, or looking for a career change. One professional shared that he enjoyed spending 20 minutes speaking with several students about their career goals as it reminded him of when he was their age and it felt good to be able to share insights from his career. He gave the students his business card and noted that he hopes they do follow up and contact him.
MEET THE 2013-14 COUNCIL 
The Chapter Council is the governing body for the Southern California Chapter of ASPA. It is made up of public administration professionals, academics and students who serve in a volunteer capacity for a two-year term. The Chapter Council leads and guides the Chapter's efforts throughout the year, and members have the opportunity to enhance their leadership skills and increase their network for strategic relationship building and information sharing through interactions with practitioners, academics and students in the field of public administration throughout Southern California.
 
Please welcome the new members who joined 
the Chapter Council in July 2013:
  • Kenneth Piguee, Chapter Secretary, Legislative and Policy Coordinator, Association of California Cities-Orange County
  • Robert Blume, Lieutenant, Professional Development Unit, LA County Sheriff's Department
  • Sherry Gaur, Strategic Public Finance Associate Consultant, Parsons Brinckerhoff Strategic Consulting
  • Brett Reid, Immigration Services Officer, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security
  • David Rochman, 2013 MSW/MPA Candidate, USC School of Social Work/ Price School of Public Policy
  • Michael Thies, Administrative Intern-Communications, City of La Mirada
  • Akiko Yamagami, Senior Transportation Planner, Southern California Association of Government
To see a complete list of the 2013-2014 Chapter Council, 
please visit our website.
 
 
Meet the current President and the President-elect:
Paul Hubler, President (2012-2014)
Paul Hubler is serving a two-year term as President of the Southern California Chapter of ASPA.  Paul works as Director of Government and Community Relations for the Alameda Corridor-East Construction Authority, a local government agency charged with constructing a $1.7 billion program of rail-highway grade separation projects and other public infrastructure improvements in eastern Los Angeles County.  Paul has worked in Washington, DC and Sacramento as deputy chief of staff to a California Congressman and State Senator, and started his career working as a newspaper editor and paralegal.  Paul joined ASPA to broaden his professional horizons by networking with public administrators and leaders outside his regular circles and became involved in the Chapter Council to provide similar networking and professional development opportunities for MPA students and young professionals. He has a master's degree in public administration from the University of La Verne and a bachelor's degree from Pitzer College.  He lives in Glendale with his wife, Patty Rhee, and their two elementary school age children. 
Christie Bautista, President-elect (2014-2016)

Christie serves as an Environmental Scientist for the California Environmental Protection Agency Department of Toxic Substances Control. She has specialized in environmental policy for the past 16 years with experience in private industry, local government and state government.  One of her favorite duties is providing classroom instruction to regulators throughout the state on principles of environmental inspection and enforcement.  Christie joined ASPA because of her passion for public service and helping others advance in their goals as government professionals.  She obtained a Bachelor of Environmental and Occupational Health, and a Master of Public Administration from California State University Northridge.  Currently, she is a Doctoral candidate of Public Administration at the University of La Verne.  For leisure Christie is a group fitness instructor in the Los Angeles area and enjoys taking up new challenges. 

 

E-mail [email protected]

In This Issue
Feature Member Article
Past Events Recap
Meet Council Leaders
Upcoming Events

 

UPCOMING 

EVENTS

 

Student-Professional Event at ULV

September 26, 2013
6:00-9:00 p.m.
Register here before Friday, September 13

Location:
University of La Verne

Guest Speaker
Greg Devereaux, CEO of San Bernardino County

....

 

Student-Professional Dinner in Burbank at the Ovrom's

 
October 21, 2013
6:00-9:00 p.m.
Registration Open Soon

Location:
Burbank, CA

Guest Speakers
Rod Gould, City Manager of Santa Monica, and Scott Ochoa, City Manager of Glendale

  

.... 

 

Student-Professional Event at CSUDH

November 12, 2013
4:00-7:00 p.m.
Registration Open Soon

Location:
Cal State University, Dominguez Hills Campus

.... 

 

Call for 66th Annual Awards Nominations

March 2014
Please find the awards categories and past recipients online here.

.... 


Student-Professional Event at CSUF

March 20, 2014
4:00-7:00 p.m. (Tentative)
Registration Open in 2014

Location:
Cal State University, Fullerton Alumni House 
 

.... 

 
ASPA Southern California Chapter 66th Annual Awards Banquet & Installation Event
 
June 25, 2014
11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. 
Registration Open in 2014

Location:
The California Endowment

 

 

We would like to hear from you!

 

The ASPA Southern California Chapter Council is planning additional panel discussions and student/professional networking events. If you have suggestions for issues you would like to see explored in a panel discussion, are interested in hosting a student professional dinner, or in getting more information about any of our events and our chapter, 
please e-mail [email protected]

 

Quick Links 

 

 

 

Like us on Facebook

View our profile on LinkedIn

Thoughts or comments on our newsletter? 

We'd like to hear your thoughts on future topics, areas for improvement, etc.  
Please contact our editor, 
Euria Chung, Vice President
of Marketing & Communications, at
[email protected]

ASPA- Southern California Chapter