No competition, again

City Treasurer Lauri Parisi is running unopposed for the second time.

Parisi was appointed to succeed Treasurer Susan Morris in 1999 and

ran unopposed in 2000.

“This is supposed to be a 25-hour-a-week job, and really, it’s

more than that, but I am the luckiest girl in the world,” Parisi

said.

Her job is to invest the city’s funds, oversee the investments and

make recommendations to the council on financial issues. She reports

to the City Council, but as an elected official she is responsible to

the residents.

“The city is in very good financial shape,” Parisi said. “Of

course, we have to make choices, but we are in a position to make

choices. Other communities are not.”

Her goal for the next four years is to improve the public’s

understanding of what the treasurer does, and to encourage public

participation in the city budget process.

“I am not responsible for the city budget, but the lack of

community participation is discouraging to officials,” Parisi said.

“There is an emphasis on having people understand public finances.”

Parisi is a big supporter of, and instrumental in creating, a new

finance system at City Hall, which will improve public reporting.

Before going into public office, Parisi worked at what is now

Pricewaterhouse-Coopers in Chicago, dealing with large corporations

and private entities and auditing the city of Chicago.

“My specialty was auditing insurance clients,” Parisi said.

She was born in Chicago in 1958. She earned a bachelor’s degrees

in accounting and business administration, with a minor in economics

from Illinois State University.

Parisi is a certified public accountant and an officer in the

Certified California Municipal Treasurers Assn.

“I use it all in this job,” Parisi said.

She has lived in Laguna Beach since 1994 with her two children,

David, 14, and Alexandra, 12.