Consultants & Staff

Richard Brandis

Consultant

Rick Brandis

Rick Brandis began his career in the securities industry in 1985 with a small regional broker-dealer, concentrating on municipal bond trading and underwriting. Since 1995, Rick has brought his expertise to directly serve public agencies as an investment banker. From his 35 years of experience, Rick understands the balance between issuer needs and what the investing public will buy. In 2002, he co-founded Brandis Tallman LLC, a full-service investment banking firm providing municipal bond underwriting and placement agent services to California communities. Recently, Brandis Tallman became the California public finance division of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Rick is a Managing Director at Oppenheimer and a FINRA registered principal and a MSRB municipal securities principal.

Jeff Land

Consultant

Jeff Land

Jeff has over 17 years of experience in municipal finance and has played a pivotal part in Oppenheimer’s expanding role as underwriter and placement agent for California municipalities. He has been the lead banker on transactions including pension obligation bonds, special tax bonds, lease purchase financing, enterprise revenue pledges, and general obligation bonds. Jeff received a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California and has FINRA Series 52 and 63 licenses.

Bill Morton
Consultant

Bill Morton

Bill Morton is the President and founder of Municipal Finance Corporation (MFC). Prior to forming MFC in 1999, Bill served as vice president of a California public finance firm for 12 years. In addition, Bill formed and operated a municipal securities broker/dealer firm from 1988 to 1994. During his career in public finance, Bill has arranged project financings for all types of public agencies including, cities, counties, school districts, special districts, higher education and health care agencies. Bill received his B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California and an MBA from the University of Texas.

Stefan Morton

Consultant

Stefan Morton

Stefan Morton has worked as a public finance professional for over seven years. After spending two years at the investment banking firm Stifel, Stefan moved to Municipal Finance Corporation and began his work as a CSDA financing consultant. Stefan specializes in arranging privately placed equipment and project financings and has completed dozens of these transactions for CSDA members. Stefan received his BA in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

ALBERT REYES
Consultant

Albert Reyes

Albert Reyes is partner in the Irvine and Los Angeles offices of Kutak Rock LLP. He has been involved in public finance for over 16 years and serves as bond counsel, disclosure counsel, and underwriter’s counsel in connection with various public finance matters. He assists special districts, cities, counties, school districts, transportation authorities, and a variety of other public agencies in the issuance of bonds and other indebtedness.

Nicki Tallman

Consultant

Nicki Tallman

Nicki has been working in municipal finance since 1993. She co-founded Brandis Tallman LLC in 2002, and in August of 2020 she became a Managing Director at Oppenheimer & Co., Inc., when Brandis Tallman was acquired as their California public finance division. Nicki brings her experience as a senior banker, serving municipal issuers in California with her in-depth knowledge of financial structures broad range of financial expertise. Nicki is experienced working with advanced cash-flow models which allows her to optimize the use of debt and cash to fund capital improvements and execute fiscally prudent financings. Nicki has been a resource for continuing disclosure and GASB, SEC and CDIAC reporting requirements, and an educational presenter for CSDA.


Neil_McCormick.png
Administrator

Neil McCormick

Rick Wood
Finance & Administration Director

Rick Wood

Amber Phelen
Executive Assistant

Amber Phelen

Cathrine_LeMaire.png

CSDA Finance Corporation Coordinator

Cathrine Lemaire