BEFORE THE CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EQUALIZATION 5901 Green Valley Circle, Room 207 Culver City, California REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT JUNE 24, 2011 PRESENTATION OF RESOLUTION MATTHEW FONG Reported by: Beverly D. Toms No. CSR 1662 1 1 2 P R E S E N T 3 4 For the Board Jerome E. Horton of Equalization: Chairman 5 Michelle Steel 6 Vice-Chairwoman 7 Betty T. Yee Member 8 George Runner 9 Member 10 Marcy Jo Mandel Appearing for John Chiang 11 State Controller (per Government Code 12 Section 7.9) 13 Diane Olson, Chief Board Proceedings Division 14 15 16 --oOo--- 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 2 1 Culver City, California 2 June 24, 2011 3 ---oOO--- 4 MR. HORTON: Members, we have a special 5 presentation to an outstanding American, an individual 6 who has done so much for the State of California; served 7 on this Board and a -- for a number of years and did a 8 fabulous job. I had the -- the benefit and the honor to 9 serve directly with him and to actually work under his 10 tutelage, and I can definitely say that he made a 11 significant positive impact on my life as a Member of 12 the Board of Equalization, as a citizen of the State of 13 California and just as a human being. 14 The gentleman's name is -- we have -- Matt 15 Fong, who passed away and we want to adjourn the meeting 16 in his memory and we have a resolution to acknowledge 17 that. 18 Ms. Olson, would you please present the 19 resolution. 20 MS. OLSON: Whereas Matthew Kipling Fong, 21 California's 29th State Treasurer and former Member of 22 the State Board of Equalization passed away Wednesday, 23 June 1, 2011, at the age of 57; and 24 WHEREAS Matthew was born in Alameda County on 25 November 20, 1953 and raised by loving parents, former 26 Secretary of State March Fong Eu and Chester Fong; and 27 WHEREAS Matthew was a graduate of the United 28 States Air Force Academy, attained the rank of 3 1 Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force Reserves serving 2 five years active duty and was awarded the U. S. Air 3 Force Meritorious Service Medal for exceptional 4 management performances; and 5 WHEREAS Matthew earned an MBA at Pepperdine 6 University and a law degree from the Western -- 7 Southwestern Law School and was presented with a 8 distinguished alumnus award by the Pepperdine University 9 in 1992; and 10 WHEREAS in 1990 Matthew was selected as the 11 Republican nominee for the State Controller and 12 considered to be a rising star in California politics; 13 and 14 WHEREAS in 1991 Matthew was appointed by 15 Governor Pete Wilson to represent California's Fourth 16 Equalization District as a Member of the Board of 17 Equalization, and during his term worked tirelessly to 18 efficiency and transparency in the tax administration; 19 and 20 WHEREAS Matthew was selected State Treasurer in 21 1994, becoming the first Asian-American Republican 22 elected to statewide office; and 23 WHEREAS Matthew was a leader in the national 24 effort to persuade Swiss banks to provide restitution to 25 holocaust victims whose assets were held by the banks, 26 and was presented an award for his efforts by the Simon 27 Wiesenthal Center; and 28 WHEREAS Matthew is survived by his wife Paula, 4 1 son Matthew and dollar Jade -- excuse me, daughter Jade 2 and leaves behind countless friends, colleagues and 3 co-workers who would dearly miss him. 4 THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the People of the 5 Great State of California and the Members of the State 6 Board of Equalization hereby recognize Matthew for his 7 many years of dedicated service and outstanding 8 contributions to the State of California and extend to 9 his family our sincerest condolences. 10 MR. HORTON: Thank you, Ms. Olson. 11 MS. STEEL: Can I just add one thing? 12 MR. HORTON: Yes, please. 13 MS. STEEL: Not just he is a leader, he was a 14 leader in California politics but he was a leader in 15 Asian-American community and he was holding hands with 16 all the Asian-Americans and we're going to miss him so 17 much. 18 MR. HORTON: Yeah, I believe Matt Fong proved, 19 you know, the saying that there are angels among us. 20 Thank you. God bless you all. 21 Okay, the meeting of the Board of Equalization 22 is hereby adjourned. 23 Thank you, Members. 24 ---oOo--- 25 26 27 28 5 1 REPORTER'SCERTIFICATE 2 3 State of California ) 4 ) ss 5 County of Sacramento ) 6 7 I, BEVERLY D. TOMS, Hearing Reporter for the 8 California State Board of Equalization certify that on 9 June 24, 2011 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 5 pages 13 constitute a complete and accurate transcription of the 14 shorthand writing. 15 16 Dated: July 5, 2011. 17 18 19 ____________________________ 20 BEVERLY D. TOMS 21 Hearing Reporter 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 6