Farewells ... and welcome.

For people of a certain age, there's a Beatles song for everything. For those who know that Sir Paul celebrated a milestone birthday in mid-June, it's "When I'm Sixty-Four" (which doesn't seem nearly as old any more). For tax people generally, it's "Tax Man," and for those of us who are coping with corporate e-filing or Schedule M-3, it would be "A Long and Winding Road." Think of Sarbanes-Oxley and section 404 in particular, and the strains of "We Can Work It Out" and "All Things Must Pass" enter your head. (The latter song, at least, if you include the Beatles' solo efforts in the mix). And if you shake your head at the suggestion that corporate tax returns should be disclosed, you might find special meaning in "Do You Want to Know a Secret" or "Everybody's Got Something to Hide But Me and My Monkey."

What got me thinking about the Beatles, however, was not a Fab Four song title, but rather one of John Lennon's philosophical musings: "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." This is because my last column--which addressed several recent staff changes--contained the following sentence that Fate took as a dare:

   TEI's legal staff is ... a source of both energy
   and stability. Eli Dicker, Chief Tax Counsel,
   crossed the 1 year mark shortly before the
   Midyear Conference, and he has brought renewed
   focus (as well as a dynamism that is
   infectious) to the Institute's advocacy efforts.
   With oversight and helpful input from TEI's
   committees, Eli works with Mary Lou Fahey
   (General Counsel, 18 years), Jeff Rasmussen
   (Tax Counsel, 15 years), and Greg Matson (Tax
   Counsel, 5 years) to develop and represent the
   Institute's views on the tax issues of the day ...
   throughout the world. In my book, TEI's legal
   staff is second to none.

I stand by that last sentence, but the word stability in the first belies the truth. TEI's legal staff changed in early May when Greg Matson resigned his position as Tax Counsel to become the Deputy Director of the Multistate Tax Commission. Greg will be working with Joe Huddleston (one of the keynote speakers at the Midyear) and the MTC leadership in implementing the MTC's initiatives and will manage the organization's operations on a day-to-day basis.

Greg competed with numerous other qualified tax professionals to get the job, which represents a marvelous opportunity for him to return to the public sector after his five-year stint with TEI. (He previously worked for the IRS and District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue.) Eli Dicker and I am proud of and grateful for the work Greg did for TEI during his tenure here, and we regard his selection by the MTC as validating TEI's expanded presence and effectiveness in the State and Local Tax area. The Institute has undertaken a search for Greg's successor.

Welcome to Two New Employees

With feelings considerably less mixed that I have in bidding farewell to Greg, I am pleased to welcome two new employees to the staff: Christine Hayes, TEI's new Publication Manager, and Mea Clift, our Website/IT Manager. Christine is a graduate of Auburn University with a B.A. degree in Fine Arts, and before joining TEI she worked as Publications Coordinator for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America in Washington and Publications Manager of Proposal Operations at MAXIMUS of Reston VA. Mea comes to TEI from Care Center Inc., an applications service provider for long-term care facilities where she was a Second Level Systems Engineer. When not working diligently at TEI, Mea is a re-enactor of periods ranging from golden age of piracy to 1812 America.

In Memoriam

As this issue of The Tax Executive goes to press, we learned of the death of two long-time members and contributors to TEI's success--one here in the United States and the other in Canada. Charles H. Gebhardt, a long-time member of the Cincinnati Chapter, died on June 8 at the age of 89. Charlie served as TEI's International President nearly decades ago (1967-1968), and therefore was not well-known to most current TEI members. His contributions (both in the tax field and otherwise), however, are worth remembering. As Vice President of Tax and Government Affairs of Mead Corporation, Charlie was mentor and friend to countless tax professionals. A World War II veteran, he was active in his church and was a trustee of Suomi College in Hancock, Michigan, where he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate. We offer TEI's condolences to his wife of 50 years, Lucille, and to the rest of his family. A more detailed report on Charlie's contributions to TEI and the tax profession will appear in the next issue of the magazine.

TEI lost another friend on June 12 with the death of John J. Marezynski, a former member of the Toronto Chapter. A former president of the Toronto Chapter and former chair of the Canadian Income Tax Committee, John brought good humor, verve, and a commitment to excellence to everything he did. He left the membership several years ago to join Revenue Canada and he was working at KPMG at the time of his death at the young age of 57. John's lack of a formal affiliation with TEI, however, did not keep him for being one of TEI's best salesmen. He was constantly talking up the organization, and he was a walking advertisement for the value of volunteering, the benefits of government-business collaboration, and the power of positive thinking. (More than a decade after serving the Toronto Chapter as president John still wore his TEI pin on his lapel.) We offer our condolences to his wife Susan, daughters Helen and Carolyn, and his many friends and family.

Kudos for Paul Cherewich

I am pleased to report that Paul Cherecwich, Jr., who served as the Institute's 1997-1998 International President, has been nominated by President Bush to serve on the IRS Oversight Board. Mr. Cherecwich was a founding member and former president of the Salt Lake City Chapter, and serve as a regional vice president and a member of several Institute committees. Upon his retirement from industry (at which time he was elected to Honorary Membership in TEI), Paul joined the Washington law firm of Miller & Chevalier Chartered, where he served for several years.

The IRS Oversight Board, which was created by the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, operates and has many characteristics of a corporate board of directors, but is tailored to fit a public sector organization. The Board provides the IRS with long-term guidance and direction, and applies its private-sector experience and expertise in evaluating the IRS's progress in improving its service. It reviews and approves IRS strategic plans and its budget requests, and evaluates IRS efforts to monitor its own performance. The Board reviews the hiring and compensation of senior IRS officials. It also recommends candidates to the President to serve as IRS Commissioner, and can recommend a commissioner's removal. Paul will be a great addition to the Board and, if confirmed by the Senate, will serve until 2009.

We Have Two Winners

To encourage members to pay their dues early, TEI entered the names of everyone who paid by April 1 into a drawing for complimentary registration at the 2006 Annual Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. I'm pleased to report that more than 2,000 members renewed their membership before April I and that the winners of the contest are Fred Bourne of the Westchester-Fairfield Chapter and Steve Anderson of the San Francisco Chapter. Congratulations!

TEI and the Security of Your Confidential Information

You cannot turn around these days without reading a story or hearing a news report about the compromise of personal information by government agencies, credit card companies, or other enterprises. Perhaps the most high profile failures occurred at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the publicity has engendered many questions about the security of confidential member information maintained by TEI.

It would be foolhardy to boast that a breach of TEI's system is impossible (I don't want to tempt Fate again), but the Institute does have security procedures to ensure against unauthorized disclosures. First, the Social Security numbers of TEI members are not stored in our database, and all credit card information is encrypted. Second, all TEI members--as well as TEI staff--must have the appropriate access codes to view, download, or change membership information or financial data. Third, TEI's IT department (augmented by Mea's addition to the staff) continually monitors our website and database to detect information system vulnerabilities and unauthorized access attempts. We also maintain appropriate physical security for our facilities and limit access to confidential information.

Questions concerning TEI security measures and the protection of your personal information should be addressed to [e-mail].

Have a good summer.

Timothy J. McCormally

TEI Executive Director