Q1 Treasurer/CFO Planning Series 2024-2025

Cajon Keeton is the Treasurer for the Benton-Carroll-Salem School District in Northwest Ohio. Prior to becoming a Treasurer, Cajon spent 5 years in the classroom as a business and technology teacher. He has a passion for school finance, as well as teaching and learning. 

Mr. Keeton holds a B.A. in Education (Bowling Green State University) and a M.A. in Educational Administration (Tiffin University).

Jeff Dornbusch is the Treasurer for the Port Clinton City School District in Northwest Ohio. He also serves on his local school board as well as a member of the board of directors for his local community hospital.

Prior to becoming a Treasurer Jeff spent 15 years in the private sector as a corporate controller.  He also has a business education teacher license and holds a Master’s degree in Educational Administration.

Jeff also runs Golden Gate Financial Services, LLC which provide financial consultations to public schools in Ohio.

John Espy is currently the Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer for Loveland City Schools. Prior, he was at the Milford Exempt Village School District, having also served as Treasurer/CFO and before that in both Miamisburg City School District and in the Clermont Northeastern Local School District.  Prior to his appointments as a Treasurer/CFO, he served as a Financial Software Specialist and Coordinator of Fiscal Applications at the Hamilton Clermont Cooperative (HCC) located in Loveland, OH.  In this role, Mr. Espy developed and led training sessions for over 42 school districts in southwest Ohio.  He also served as the team lead for the implementation and training of the state software redesign accounting and payroll software as well as Powerschool’s eFinancePlus applications at HCC.  Mr. Espy worked closely to configure and utilize third party softwares such as EDGE printing solutions, Bonefish Systems fraud prevention software, Strategic Solutions’ SCView, and OnBase by Hyland.  

Tami has been the EMIS/State Testing Supervisor at Four County Career Center in Archbold, OH for 15 years. Prior to that she worked at an ITC assisting districts with their student software systems. Tami has a master’s degree in Career-Technical Education with a minor in Business/Human Resource Management. She and her husband  enjoy spending time with their blended family of 8 children and 13 grandchildren. 

Becky Princehorn is a partner in Bricker & Graydon's Public Finance group. Her practice emphasizes school and local government law. She served as bond counsel for the first Ohio income tax-backed school district bonds; the first publicly offered Public Library Fund-backed library notes; the first Ohio K-12 state co-funded (OFCC) project on a state university campus; the first sale of Ohio school district bonds to the USDA; the first Ohio general obligation bond issue with a local government fund pledge; the first Ohio municipal general obligation bond issue for housing; and the first Ohio school district minibond issue.

Lisa Dobbins has worked in a fiscal officer/fiduciary role for public entities in Ohio for over two decades, including serving as the Business Manager for the Hancock County Board of Developmental Disabilities, and as the Treasurer for the Liberty-Benton Local School District. During Lisa’s career in the public sector, she has participated in collective bargaining with several different unions, including local unions represented by the OFT, the Teamsters, and OAPSE. Lisa has direct experience working through the employer side of two different union organizing campaigns involving two different unions: Teamsters and OFT. Particularly unique to Lisa’s collective bargaining experience is she was a member of the District negotiating teams when the employer negotiated a merit-based compensation system with all three employee unions and implemented furlough amidst budget constraints.

A public school Treasurer for 15 years, Melcie has established herself as a respected colleague that strives in leadership and collaboration. A 1993 graduate of Waterford High School, a 1996 graduate of Marietta College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Accounting, Melcie started her career in the newspaper industry serving as the accountant for the Gannett owned Marietta Times in Marietta, Ohio.  In 1999, she decided to further her education and in 2000, became a graduate of Ohio University with a Masters of Science in Accounting.

In 2000, Melcie accepted a position with the Local Government Services division of the Ohio State Auditor’s Office. Over the next eight years, Melcie worked with various governmental entities assisting and or completing GAAP conversions, five-year forecasts, PAFR’s, training of governmental finance officials, and creating training manuals. 

In 2008, Melcie accepted her first Treasurer’s position in her home school district, Warren Local in Vincent, Ohio. In 2011, Melcie accepted an additional position with Fort Frye Local Schools as their Treasurer and served both District’s through a shared services agreement for 2 years. Melcie still serves as the Treasurer at Warren Local currently and is a past OASBO Board President.

Rhonda Feasel holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Heidelberg University and Masters of Education – School Business Official from Ashland University. She has experience working with the Crawford County Auditor’s Office, State Auditor’s Office, two public schools (Elgin Local and Mohawk Local), one educational service center (North Central Ohio ESC), and Marion Technical College as a professor of Accounting and Business.   Rhonda has been active in OASBO for over fifteen years.  During that time she has served on the Auditor of State, Education Finance, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committees.