Comments on: Ensen Mason: Larry Walker’s Qualifications

By: Ensen Mason

Ensen Mason — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:29:05 +0000

That’s a good point and you may be correct. I would think that his work in the auditor / controller would qualify as general accounting experience and that some CPA somewhere would sign off on that. Don’t they have any that work for the county?

And I do agree with you, they should be a full CPA in order to oversee those duties. Again, being the “auditor” I would think he should be able to get some “auditing” experience…

Does this strike anybody else as odd?

By: Lost all hope

Lost all hope — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 05:09:25 +0000

Mr. Mason, I don’t believe that you are correct. According to the Board of Accountancy, in order to get your ‘G’ certificate, you must still have General Accounting experience of either one year or two years (depending on the pathway they choose) which must be performed under the supervision of an individual holding a valid active license to practice accountancy in the US. Regardless of whether or not Mr. Walker might qualify for the ‘G’ license, the “Auditor” of the County should have and ‘A’ license with the ability to sign reports on attest engagements, particularly since he oversees the Internal Audits Department.

By: Ensen Mason

Ensen Mason — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:35:37 +0000

That was exactly the point I made in the last sentence.

I think what we have here is that the laws attempt to give the voter the power to decide who is qualified. They just establish a very low minimum level of requirements and leave the rest evaluating the candidate’s requirements up to us. Remember we voted this guy in election after election.

By: where is the coverage

where is the coverage — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:31:28 +0000

I understand that people are questioning Larry Walker’s credentials to be Treasurer Tax Collecter due to the fact that he is NOT a licensed CPA. But what I’d like to know is how he ever became the head auditor of the county and not be a CPA??? Which is worse?? This is sooooo typical of this county!!

By: Ensen Mason

Ensen Mason — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 18:02:48 +0000

That’s not really possible. There are 2 kinds of CPAs, one’s with attest privileges and ones without. People that have passed the CPA exam and the subsequent background check become CPAs without attest privileges. Once you get the hours, then you have the ability to sign of on audit reports. If he had indeed done everything except the audit hours, then he would be listed on the CPA site as a CPA without attest privileges, which he is not. Take a look at the CA accountancy board website. You can see the two types are code ‘A’ and ‘G’.

Perhaps he did pass the test, but there’s more to the story than this…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 10:18:37 +0000

When is the DA going to investigate Larry Walker? Better yet, the FBI?

By: Lost all hope

Lost all hope — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:24:04 +0000

Larry Walker has passed the CPA test, but has not completed the requisite auditing hours required to become a CPA. He previously had an arrangement with Vavernick, Trine & Day (which by the way is the audit firm that performs the County’s Single Audit every year – can you say conflict of interest?) to work as an intern there to get his auditing hours. He never quite finished them, but the hours he did put in, was done at the expense of the taxpayers as he very rarely put in a full work week. Last I heard, he has given up getting the hours.

By the way, this is the same candidate that lambasted the previous Auditor-Controller for serving so many terms and stated no candidate should ever serve more than 2 terms.

By: How do we help

How do we help — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:42:24 +0000

We need to do whatever possible to help Ensen Mason! Please keep us posted.

By: We can hope

We can hope — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 21:29:14 +0000

He is not a people person either.

By: A Friend

A Friend — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 17:55:10 +0000

Larry Walker is NOT animal friendly and on my shit list.