Jama Lopez for HSVPOA Board of Directors

My decision to seek a seat on the Hot Springs Village Board of Directors was not an easy decision to make. It started with friends, neighbors, and acquaintances asking me to run for the Board. I realize this is a huge commitment, time-wise, but more importantly is the commitment of living up to the trust of the property owners and doing what’s right, even though it may go against the board members’ majority opinion at the time.

I’m offering my education and professional background to bring financial and non-profit board experience to the HSVPOA Board of Directors.

I do not have a hidden agenda; I do not have a conflict of interest; I do have the advantage of being licensed as a Certified Public Accountant, in the State of Texas and have had the opportunity to actually work in the POA offices the summer of 2020. When our CFO submitted her resignation, Diana Podawiltz called and asked if I would be willing to come to help out in accounting. I was more than willing to do just that. I expected this to be a volunteer position, but, for the protection of HSV, I had to be put on the payroll in order to be covered under E&O (Errors & Omissions) insurance. So, along with John Paul, interim GM at that time, we were each paid $10 per hour.

Those who know me, know I am not a shy person. In fact, I lean a bit too much in the other direction. I fight for what’s right and am tenacious to the extreme. I believe, in most cases, the answer isn’t always Yes or No, but “perhaps”. I try hard to help reach an agreement that is beneficial to both sides. I strive to build a consensus.

When I started in public accounting, I started as an auditor, with KPMG. For whatever reason, I seemed to be assigned many non-profit audit jobs. The out-of-town time commitment at KPMG was difficult as we had a twelve-year-old son and my husband’s job, as superintendent, with Union Pacific Railroad demanded he be gone approximately 60 to 70 percent of the time. I felt our son’s coming teen years were much more important than my working for an international CPA firm, so I applied and was hired by a large, regional firm. They handled many of the largest non-profits in the San Antonio area, so it was a good fit. My time there was an incredible experience of learning and helping non-profits, municipalities, churches, and numerous other industries. What most of these clients needed was a CFO, but were unable to afford the cost on such restrictive budgets.

It was then I decided to be a CPA to Go. I was already known in the community and with my peers, as I had been the 2001/2002 president of the board for the San Antonio Chapter of CPAs. I was called many times to help clients when the controller quit or was fired, the auditors needed preliminary work done, the books were in a shamble, or a conversion had been made to a new general ledger software and the transition was not going well. So, for ten or eleven years I was a contract controller/CFO for many non-profits. Probably the most I handled at one time was three or four. Some needed me three days a week, some just one, and some just a couple of times a month. I was always on call and willing to provide whatever they needed to keep the accounting department running smoothly. My goal with each was to get them to where they didn’t need me. I guess you could say I walked in, did what needed to be done, and then transitioned myself out and on to the next.

If you want someone who will take her fiduciary responsibility very seriously and someone who will do what’s right for all property owners and the Village as a whole, I would appreciate your vote.

I am happy to answer any questions you may have. Please feel free to contact me via email at cpatogo13@gmail.com.

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