Commissioner Names New Advisory
Council Members

WASHINGTON - Several small business owners, a representative of a citizen advocacy group, a university professor, a state tax administrator and representatives from the large corporate taxpayer and practitioner communities have been selected by the Internal Revenue Commissioner Charles O. Rossotti to serve on the IRS Advisory Council.

The diverse backgrounds and experience of the Council members will ensure that the IRS hears many points of view in matters of tax administration," said Rossotti. "That will benefit all taxpayers and help us achieve our goal of becoming a first-class customer service organization.”

The Council provides a public forum for raising, studying and making recommendations on tax administration issues, as well as on IRS restructuring and modernization. The Council has previously studied and offered recommendations for improvements to the offers-in-compromise program, the federal tax deposit process and the appeals process.

The new members, who replace outgoing ones, join five current members and will serve through 2001. The five current members represent the American Association of Retired Persons as well as the payroll and practitioner communities. They will complete their service on the Council in late 1999.

The new members are:

• Stanley R. Arnold, CPA
  Commissioner, New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration
  
• Eric R. Blackledge
  President, Blackledge Furniture Company
  Corvallis, OH
  
• John P. Carey, Esquire
  Senior Executive Vice President, MBNA
  Wilmington, DE
  
• Jerold N. Cohen, Esquire
  Partner, Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan
  Atlanta, GA
  
• Margaret W. Ferguson, EA
  Vista, CA
  
• Sally M. Jones, CPA
  KPMG Peat Marwick Professor of Accounting
  McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia
  Charlottesville, VA
  
• Michael E. Mares, CPA
  Member, Witt, Mares & Company, Inc.
  Newport News, VA
  
• Alan Butler Morrison, Esquire
  Co-founder, Public Citizen Litigation Group
  Washington, DC
  
• James R. Murray, CPA
  Tax Director, PacifiCorp
  Portland, OR

They join current members:

• James H. Flagg, IRS Advisory Council Chair
  AARP Tax-Aide Coordinator
  San Antonio, TX
  
• Gardiner Hempel, Jr., CPA
  Partner, Arthur Andersen, LLP
  New York, NY
  
• Emily L. Lindsay, CPA
  Senior Director, Corporate Accounting Services
  Marriott International, Inc.
  Washington, DC
  
• Mary Eileen McGuire, EA
  Director, Tax Department
  DeForest & Duer
  New York, NY
  
• Rick E. Oelerich, CPA
  President, Oelerich and Associates, PC
  Davenport, IA

An orientation and working session is scheduled for late February 1999. Additional working sessions will be held later. Public meetings are scheduled for June and November 1999; details, including agenda topics, dates and locations, will be published in the Federal Register.

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