PRESIDENT – RHOD DE VERA
Rodolfo de Vera, or Rhod for short, currently works with the Housing department, that’s LAHD with an H. At his acceptance speech, he took time to explain the reason for the extra “H” in Rhod. If you missed it, ask the attendees at the recent LAMAAA Installation luncheon.
Rhod had a long history of running for president. For instance, in both elementary and high school he ran for student council president. In college he run for JPIA (a student AICPA type organization) and so on. He had a perfect score, until LAMAAA. This time he actually won.
Seriously, Rhod as LAMAAA president intends to emphasize the lighter side of being an Accounting professional. He had been seriously immersed in the profession in the past years but at some point, he realized the idea of the accounting nerd had outlived its relevance. (Some people call the turning point NDE.) He was so hard working in school, he finished his accounting degree in 3 ½ years. It sounded like a good idea then but now he regrets missing out on the fun his classmates had with those extra semester/s in college. After college he worked directly with a major CPA firm in Asia he fondly refer to as the IBM of CPA firms (Isip, Boles and Melayo). He worked there for a number of years until he moved on to a number of management companies handling groups of companies. Eventually becoming the Audit and Systems manager before migrating to the US. He passed the CPA exam in 1988 and worked for the city eventually.
There he met his lovely wife Marilu, who was then working for the late Mayor Bradley. Their marriage was an experience in 3D (David, Daniel and Dale.) Rhod’s professional interest had shifted with time – from auditing to accounting systems. He takes pride in being able to deliver reporting systems to accountants using reporting tools such as Focus and SQL/Access. He’s a firm believer of responsive reporting: offering simple solutions to complex problems. Obviously, he’s not a big fan of mega solutions to simple problems.
He actually started his career with the city as an accounting clerk in GSD. And then moving on to the Airports, Public Works, Controller’s, DWP, Rec. & Parks, LAPD, DOT and now Housing. And yes, he actually almost worked for L.A. Zoo and the Convention Center. In any case, the list of city departments he didn’t work for is probably shorter.
As far as hobbies, Rhod still think he can be a successful filmmaker or a serious photographer. But even though time is running out, he’s still not ready to give up his day job. In short, he likes dwelling into multimedia projects also known as slideshows. He also shoots a lot of pictures for fun.
He looks forward leading LAMAAA in the new year with the traditional professional enhancement meetings and seminars. He’s also going to introduce some fun activities as well.
