1 BEFORE THE CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION 2 450 N STREET 3 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 4 5 6 7 REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT 8 MAY 27, 2009 9 10 SPECIAL PRESENTATION 11 RETIREMENT 12 ROBERT STIPE 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Reported by: Juli Price Jackson 22 No. CSR 5214 23 24 25 26 27 28 1 1 2 P R E S E N T 3 4 For the Board Betty T. Yee of Equalization: Chair 5 6 Judy Chu Vice-Chair 7 Bill Leonard 8 Member 9 Michelle Steel Member 10 Marcy Jo Mandel 11 Appearing for John Chiang, State Controller 12 (per Government Code Section 7.9) 13 Diane G. Olson 14 Chief, Board Proceedings Division 15 16 17 ---oOo--- 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 1 450 N STREET 2 SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 3 MAY 27, 2009 4 ---oOo--- 5 MS. YEE: Next item? 6 MS. OLSON: The next item we can reconvene back 7 into the Board meeting. And we do have a special 8 presentation for Mr. Robert Stipe. 9 MS. YEE: Thank you very much. 10 Thank you. It is my pleasure today to honor 11 Robert J. Stipe on the occasion of his retirement from 12 State service. And we're all going to miss him. 13 I mean, he has just been such a -- to me, for 14 the short time I'm been here, he's just always the 15 friendly face around the BOE. And he's more than 16 friendly, just so helpful in assisting others with 17 whatever should come up. 18 But I just wanted to have this opportunity to 19 say to Bob that we recognize you as one of our 20 outstanding attorneys here at the Board of Equalization. 21 And he has served the Board faithfully for 24 years and 22 has just retired on April 30th, 2009 and already we miss 23 his leadership, his ability and his sound advice. 24 I've never seen this person get wrangled about 25 anything. It's pretty remarkable, given the challenges 26 that we face here at this agency. 27 Bob actually began his State career at the 28 Department of General Services in June 1974, as a Staff 3 1 Services Analyst, after completing his military 2 obligation with the United States Air Force. 3 And while working and supporting his wife and 4 three children, Bob attended night school at Lincoln Law 5 School, earning his juris doctorate in 1983. 6 In August 1985 Bob transferred to the Board as 7 Tax Counsel. And in the following years he earned 8 successive promotions to Tax Counsel III, Supervisor and 9 Tax Counsel IV. 10 And, equally important, Bob is a man with great 11 patience and a warm heart that has touched many of us. 12 And he has many, many friends among his co-workers here 13 at the Board, who I know already miss you. 14 In his service to the Board, Bob has been 15 instrumental as an attorney skilled in a variety of 16 specializations -- as extremely skilled and wise 17 Personnel Attorney; as a Supervising Tax Counsel for 18 over ten years; as the Acting Assistant Chief Counsel of 19 the Litigation Division for six months; and as Tax 20 Counsel for -- in Sales and Use tax matters. 21 Bob, I think all of us here collectively join 22 in extending our heartfelt thanks to you for a -- just a 23 remarkable, stellar career in State service. Your 24 dedication, your professionalism. 25 And even though he's been with the Board for 26 24 years, his a State service actually spans over 27 34 years. So, he has had a remarkable career, made many 28 contributions to the State of California. 4 1 We appreciate your hard work and we extend our 2 heartfelt congratulations to you on your retirement and 3 wish you all the best of success and happiness in the 4 years to come. 5 Thank you. 6 MR. STIPE: Thank you very much. 7 Thank you. A few quick words -- in all those 8 years I've worked with many close staff members and many 9 Board Members. And the dedication and professionalism 10 that Ms. Yee spoke of is just truly amazing. 11 And I think the State of California is very, 12 very lucky to have the people that they have working 13 here at the State and the elected Board Members. 14 I think we're very lucky in the State of 15 California. And I know it's hard times right now, but 16 I'm sure -- after 34 years, I've seen these things 17 before and this might be a tough one, but I know that 18 California will get through it. And I am very proud to 19 have worked here for all these years. 20 And thank you very much. 21 MS. YEE: Members, any comments? 22 MR. LEONARD: Madam Chair? 23 MS. YEE: Mr. Leonard? 24 MR. LEONARD: I too want to join you in your 25 compliments to Bob. 26 Bob, great job, thanks for all your help. I 27 just found out about your General Services career. Are 28 you available to be on Liz Houser's task force to -- 5 1 MR. STIPE: Unfortunately, it was Department of 2 Social Services -- 3 MR. LEONARD: Okay. 4 MR. STIPE: -- not General Services. There's 5 "Services" there, but it was the wrong services. 6 MR. LEONARD: Okay, I thought I had you there. 7 Thank you, sir, thank you much. 8 MS. STEEL: Bob, we're going to miss you. 9 MR. STIPE: I'll miss -- I'll miss the work. 10 It sounds strange to say that, but I will miss this 11 working activity. It's really motivating. 12 DR. CHU: I want to thank you for your great 13 service. You've always given us dependable advice and I 14 think you were a really steady hand in the Department. 15 MR. STIPE: Thank you very much. 16 MS. YEE: Thank you very much. 17 ---o0o--- 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 6 1 REPORTER'SCERTIFICATE. 2 3 State of California ) 4 ) ss 5 County of Sacramento ) 6 7 I, JULI PRICE JACKSON Hearing Reporter for the 8 California State Board of Equalization certify that on 9 MAY 27, 2009 I recorded verbatim, in shorthand, to the 10 best of my ability, the proceedings in the 11 above-entitled hearing; that I transcribed the shorthand 12 writing into typewriting; and that the preceding pages 1 13 through 6 constitute a complete and accurate 14 transcription of the shorthand writing. 15 16 Dated: June 8, 2009 17 18 19 20 ____________________________ 21 JULI PRICE JACKSON 22 Hearing Reporter 23 24 25 26 27 28 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 8