2013 Municipal Professionals Academy
INSTRUCTOR BIOS
Jose Amaya
Dr. Jose Amaya is a Community Development Specialist base in Perry, IA. Jose focuses on
community development in Latino communities. He has led diversity efforts for Hy-Vee, Inc.
and Rockwell Collins. He holds a PhD in English from UCLA and was a former faculty member
at Iowa State University.
Sue Battani
Susan Battani is a Director for Mary Mosiman, CPA, Iowa’s Auditor of State (AOS), and has
worked for the office since graduating from Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman
State University) in 1977. As a Director in the Financial Audit Division, Sue’s primary
responsibilities include providing technical assistance and training to local governments and to
their auditors. She also participates in the Auditor’s Office Quality Review Program of CPA firm
reports and work-papers, is involved with re-audits of local governments, and performs reviews
of certain local government audit reports and work-papers prepared by AOS staff. Sue has been
involved for several years with various local government training programs including programs
for the ISCPA as well as the Iowa Association of School Business Officials (IASBO), the Iowa
Superintendent’s Finance and Leadership Consortium (ISFLC), the Iowa School Business
Management Academy (ISBMA) and the Iowa Municipal Professionals Institute. She is a
member of the Iowa Society of Certified Public Accountants, the American Institute of Certified
Public
John Danos and others from Dorsey & Whitney, LLP
“Amy Bjork, John Danos, Dave Grossklaus and Cris Kuhn are attorneys in the Des Moines
office of Dorsey & Whitney, LLP. Their practices include legal representation of state and local
governments, investment banks and other entities on financing transactions involving state
compliance, federal tax and securities laws issues. Combined they have over 50 years of
experience serving Iowa’s communities.”
Biswa Das
Dr. Das is a faculty in the Department of Community and Regional Planning at Iowa State
University. He joined ISU in August 2012. His main areas of interest are in Public Finance,
Economic Development and Natural Resource and Environmental Economics. Besides teaching
at ISU, as part of ISU Research and Extension, Dr. Das is currently working on a public finance
outreach initiative targeted at Iowa cities and counties that will add to the existing programs in
that area. He also delivers outreach programs relating to community and economic development
of Iowa communities.
Prior to joining ISU, he was a faculty in Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University,
Manhattan where he was the principal facilitator of the K-State economic development outreach
program, assisting Kansas communities in the Strategic Planning process for economic
development. He also worked as a post-doctoral research associate in the Dept. of Agricultural
Economics at University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He received his PhD in Agricultural
Economics from Texas Tech University. In addition, he has over 5 years of experience working
in the financial industry. He was born in India and has lived in the United States for about 13
years.
Shannon Espenscheid
Marlys K. Gaston, CPA, CGFM
Marlys Gaston is a Manager for Iowa’s Auditor of State’s Office and has worked for the
office since 1985. Marlys is a graduate of Buena Vista University. As a Manager in the
Financial Audit Division, Marlys’ primary responsibilities include supervising and reviewing
local government audits and providing technical assistance and training to local governments
and their auditors. She is also actively involved in the Auditor’s Office Quality Review
Program of CPA firm reports and workpapers as well as reaudits of local governments. In
addition she is responsible for coordinating the Auditor’s Office in-house training program.
Marlys is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Government Financial Manager and is
a member of the Iowa Society of Certified Public Accountants and the Association of
Government Accountants.
Susan I. Green
Susan Green serves as the State Training Officer for Iowa Homeland Security and Emergency
Management. Based in Des Moines, Iowa, Susan accepted the position November 2010.
Susan’s career path has always been in the field of emergency management. She has served as a
local County Coordinator in Missouri for Cole and later Jefferson Counties overseeing all related
activities. Her work included plan development later used as a statewide template, incorporation
of local public health into all phases of emergency management (prior to the 9 – 11 attacks) and
aggressive training programs. Notable accomplishments include establishing one of the first
recognized multi-discipline WMD response teams and the development and deployment of the
first totally mobile EOC response unit for use in any type response.
Throughout her career, Ms. Green has been a tireless supporter of volunteer and citizen-based
emergency management programs and a leader in securing and development of assets through
creative partnerships. She spearheaded a legislative initiative for passage of the “Disaster Leave
Law,” for state employees in Missouri. She also established credit hours for teachers and law
enforcement personnel for CPR and first aid training. Ms. Green was responsible for securing the
funding and leading the planning and development of a first-of-its-kind mobile emergency
operations center in the state of Missouri.
Ms. Green is a certified emergency manager and has been a certified hazardous materials
technician, an incident management team member, and is an instructor for the National Incident
Management System (NIMS) for incident command. She has co-authored two national
emergency management courses and is a subject matter expert for several federally-developed
training courses. In addition, she has instructed courses for the University of Missouri, a number
of State agencies, Texas A&M, and the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) in
Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Paul Greufe
Paul J. Greufe, SPHR has over 20 years of experience in all areas of Human Resources
management. He is President of P.J. Greufe & Associates, a business partner specializing in
Human Resources. His experience and expertise range from small businesses to large
corporations and from private sector to public sector organizations. He has instructed
more than 150 graduate and undergraduate courses. He has made many professional
presentations and holds Board Affiliations and Association Memberships. His
undergraduate degree is from Drake University and he holds a masters degree from St.
Ambrose University. He has taught a variety of management and human resources courses
and seminars at St. Ambrose University, Clarke College, the University of Iowa and Iowa
State University.
Daisy Huffman
Daisy Huffman is the City Clerk for the City of Garner. She has been with the City for 13
years. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in public accounting. Daisy is a Certified Municipal
Clerk with both IIMC and IMFOA and is currently serving on the Iowa Municipal Finance
Officers Board.
Darla Iverson
Darla Iverson is the chief financial officer for Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System
(IPERS) in Des Moines, Iowa. She oversees human resources, financial management, budgeting,
investment accounting, employer reporting, property management and office services.
A graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, Darla holds a BA in Management/Business
Administration. Darla is also a Certified Public Manager. Prior to joining IPERS in 1995, Darla
worked for the Iowa Department of Administrative Services where she was responsible for the
department’s budgeting and accounting processes.
Carrie Johnson
Carrie graduated from Iowa State University and started her career working with local
governments at the Iowa League of Cities. She worked for the League for more than eight years
in various roles in the membership services area. After taking some time off to be at home with
her daughter, Carrie rejoined the workforce with Public Financial Management, Inc., a financial
advisory firm that works with many Iowa cities and counties. In 2010, Carrie joined the Iowa
Department of Management as Property Valuation and County Budget Administrator. In her
current role, she works with the property valuation system and the Utility Replacement Tax. She
also works with county budgets and annual financial reports, as well as county hospital,
county/city assessor, and county agricultural extension budgets.
Alan Kemp
Alan Kemp joined the League in July 1999. As the Director of Membership Services, Alan
has the overall responsibility for the League’s technical assistance and training programs.
Alan answers member inquiries; provides research support and develops educational
workshops on topics of interest to municipal officials. Alan also provides professional
assistance to the Iowa Municipal Attorneys Association and the Iowa City/County
Management Association. Before joining the League, Alan was the City Administrator for
the city of Mitchellville and prior to that; he was an Administrative Assistant for the city of
Windsor Heights. Alan is a graduate of the University of Iowa with bachelor’s degrees in
Political Science and Journalism. He is currently finalizing his Masters in Public
Administration at Iowa State University by completing a management study of combined
city and school district libraries.
Cindy Kendall
Cindy is the Extension Specialist at Iowa State University Extension and Outreach for
Municipal Finance. Working in the Office of State and Local Government Programs, Cindy is
Director for the Iowa Municipal Institute and Academy as well as a resource at the Iowa
League of Cities. She has been involved in municipal government for over 30 years. She
earned a B.A. from Upper Iowa University in 1978, MPA in Public Administration from Iowa
State University in 2013 and graduated from the Municipal Clerk's Institute in 1981. In
1995 she received her certificate as Government Financial Manager from the Assoc. of
Government Accountants. Cindy was the Finance Officer/City Treasurer in Marshalltown
and City Clerk in Grundy Center and Strawberry Point. Cindy served on the Board of
Directors for the Iowa Municipal Finance Officers Association, the Municipal Fire and Police
Retirement System of Iowa and various other committees and mentoring programs. She
currently serves as chair to the City Finance Committee.
Erin Learn
Erin Learn is the City Clerk for the City of Manchester, Iowa. Erin has over 10 years of
experience as a local government official. She started her governmental career as the City Clerk
for Strawberry Point, Iowa. Prior to working in the public sector, Erin was the Division
Operations Manager for Entertainment Publications based out of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Erin has a Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of Northern Iowa in Public
Administration and Political Science.
Beth Lewis
Glenna Musselman
Glenna Musselman is the senior staff accountant for Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System
in Des Moines, Iowa. In this position since 2004, she is responsible for the overall efficiencies of
the accounting operations and processes, and providing professional advice to IPERS staff with
complex accounting issues, including areas of internal control, reporting, and record keeping.
A graduate of Iowa State University, Glenna earned a BS degree in Accounting in 1998. She
earned her Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certificate in 1999. Prior to joining IPERS,
Glenna worked for AmerUs Life Insurance Company as senior investment accountant. She is an
active member of the Government Finance Officers Association and Public Pension Financial
Forum.
Ted Nellesen
Ted Nellesen is the City Budgets Director for the Iowa Department of Management. He
obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Iowa State University in 2005 and his
Master of Public Administration from Drake University in 2010. Ted joined the Department of
Management in July 2012, taking over City, Township and miscellaneous levy authority budgets.
Prior to joining the Department of Management in July of 2012, Ted worked as a consultant for
the municipal financial advisory firm of Public Financial Management (PFM).
Ron Prescott
Ron was born in north central Iowa and grew up on a farm outside of Popejoy, Iowa. After
completing six years in the Naval Nuclear Power program, Ron returned home to Iowa to
farm with his father and completed his Agribusiness degree.
After a few years of farming during the 1980s, Farmers State Bank of Dows hired him as an
Agricultural Loan officer. Six years later Ron was promoted to President and began
working with Dr. Neil Harl working with his International School of Agricultural Banking,
Credit and Finance at Iowa State University.
Ron began working full time at ISU in 1994 and was responsible for international projects
dealing with agribusiness and finance. After traveling to numerous former Soviet Union
countries for short term training and living extended periods of time in Romania and
Ghana; Ron has returned to Iowa and was offered the position of ISU Extension and
Outreach Retail specialist in May of 2012.
Ron currently is working to promote the Retail Trade Analysis reports, build relationships
with retail trade centers in Iowa and is a Co-Director for the Iowa Retail Initiative at ISU.
Christopher J. Seeger, ASLA, GISP is an Associate Professor and Extension Specialist in
Landscape Architecture and Geospatial Technology at Iowa State University. He specializes
in the integration of geospatial technologies, Web 2.0 collaboration and data-sharing
technologies, crowd-sourcing (Public Participation GIS and Volunteered Geographic
Information) to develop local current datasets that can be used in the planning, design and
decision making process. His award-winning methods include documenting and mapping
local infrastructure to better support healthy and sustainable communities. Past Projects
have included safe routes to schools, connected trail systems, and environments/programs
that promote healthy lifestyles. Seeger currently serves on the Iowa Landscape
Architecture Licensure Board and Iowa Geographic Information Council.
Cynthia Stimson
Cynthia Stimson served as the Springville city clerk/treasurer for 13 years and has been at
Fairfax since 2009. She has received her CMC and MMC designations. Cynthia keeps busy
keeping up with her 7 (soon to be 8) grandchildren and three daughters. Travel and
reading fill in any open minutes.
Lee Ann Waltzing
Lee Ann Waltzing is the City Manager/Clerk in Belmond where she has held the position for
13 years. Prior to taking the position she was the Assistant City Manager in West Des
Moines for ten years and spent seven years before that with the City of Des Moines as a
Budget/Research Analyst.
Ginger Williams
Suzy Wilson
Suzy Wilson is the I-WALK Project Coordinator for the Iowa Department of Public Health
(IDPH). Since arriving to the health department in 2012, Suzy has helped more than 12
communities assess walking and biking transportation to and from school among
elementary students. Suzy received a Bachelor of Science degree in Dietetics from Iowa
State University. Prior to her work with IDPH, Suzy spent almost 10 years in local public
health as a Registered Dietitian for the WIC and Head Start programs. She also spent many
years at home raising her 3 boys who are now ages 5 yrs, 8 yrs, and 11yrs. Currently, Suzy
lives with her family in Altoona.