Remarks from Betty Williams in November 2023 in Introducing Ciro Immordino, recipient of the V. Judson Klein Award

It is an honor and a joy to be here today to present this award to Ciro!   I met Ciro around 2010, through the Taxation Section of the Sacramento County Bar Association. I think I spent our first three meetings trying to correctly pronounce Ciro’s first name!  It didn’t take long, however, to realize what a smart, dedicated, and enjoyable person Ciro is to be around.

In preparing my remarks today, I wanted some historical information concerning Ciro’s career path and how he got here today. Ciro is locked down.  If you Google him, you can find details about his parents more easily than you get information about Ciro. For a fee, you can get his last 10 addresses, supposedly, but otherwise, I found only three articles I could verify as authentic.

First, is a 2013 publication in Sacramento Lawyer Magazine, when Ciro was announced as the Chair of the Tax Section of the SCAB with a photo that shows Ciro in the center wearing a blue Argyle sweater.

Next, is confirmation that Ciro chaired the California Tax Policy Conference in 2019. This was not a surprise to me because Ciro has a long list of tax related volunteer work not only with the Sacramento County Bar but also with CLA’s Tax Section, having served on its Executive Committee, it’s Tax Policy Practice and Legislation committee as Chair, and the Income and Other Committee, also as Chair, and he continues to serve on CLA’s Budget & Finance Committee since its inception in 2018.

Finally, the third article I found on Ciro was an interview by Eric Coffill in Tax Notes from May 2021. The article is related primarily to the FTB Settlement Bureau processes, since Ciro had been the Settlement Bureau Director for a few years by that time but is in this interview that I learned that Ciro first became interested in taxation. He considered majoring in Philosophy, then electrical engineering, before deciding on accountancy.  Ciro said he felt that tax might be the crossroads of logic and math – subjects he truly enjoyed.

After graduation, Ciro went straight into law school, at Santa Clara University School of Law, which is when he began an activity that I only learned of recently, and boy I wish I had photos – Ciro became a surfer! Surfing three-to-five days per week on a short board!

So, Ciro surfed his way through law school.  He had been warned that as a lawyer, he could expect to work long hours for the next 30+ years, so he decided to take a big vacation after law school.  This was planned of course, Ciro decided he would go to Japan, so he took a year of Japanese at a local junior college before law school ended.      

After taking the bar exam, Ciro left for Japan.  He traveled for a month and then began teaching English.  When he learned he passed the bar, he was offered a job at a law firm in Tokyo where he did contract work and some litigation support. Within two years, Ciro accepted a position at Price Waterhouse Coopers in Japan.

While he lived and worked in Japan, Ciro became a CPA, and also met/married his wife, Eiko. After their first son, Ciro, was born, they decided to move to Sacramento, where Ciro is from, originally.

In 2010, Ciro began his career with the California FTB. During law school, two FTB attorneys visited the school to discuss careers at the FTB. They weren’t hiring at the time, but their discussion on the fulfilling aspects of public service and the positive culture at the FTB made an impact on Ciro, so he remembered his favorable impression of a career with the FTB, which clearly worked out since Ciro has made his career with the FTB, working his way up to his current role as Settlement Bureau Director.

When he isn’t working, Ciro enjoys time with his wife and three boys, Ciro, Michael and William. They enjoy time at the ocean, Ciro still does some surfing, (but on a long board), talking long walks, playing games as a family, and enjoying the hot springs in Japan each summer.

Like V. Judson Klein, Ciro has a true passion for the law, and great personal integrity.  Laura Buckley, former Chair of the Tax Section had this to say about Ciro:

Ciro was instrumental in creating CLA‘s foundational documents when it was first created, and he continues to guide not only the Tax Section but also CLA by serving on the Budget and Finance Committee.  I am so grateful for his expertise, diplomacy, and professionalism. The Tax Section is truly indebted to him.

 I know he is regarded highly by all of his colleagues, who so appropriately honor him with this award. Please join me in congratulating Ciro!