Ms. Gonzalez is TTARA’s Office Manager. She has primary responsibility for all facets of office administration, including: accounting, personnel matters, meeting arrangements, and member relations. She comes to us from Corpus Christi, where she most recently was the office manager and executive assistant for Lydia Ann Channel Services. She has worked in office management and administrative services for over 6 years. Rikkie is married and has three children of canine persuasion.

Ms. Dowell leads TTARA’s membership and retention strategies, as well as marketing initiatives.  Previously she was the Meetings and Events Manager for the Hospitality Financial Technology Professionals where she worked for five years in program management, marketing and served as the lead staff liaison for their North American and Middle East education program. She has also worked for the Texas Association of Counties as their judicial project coordinator, where she co-managed their education programs for the Texas County Judges. She also worked for Texas Water Utilities Association for 15 years in a variety of endeavors. She is a member of the Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), and the Texas Society of Association Executives (TSAE). She is a graduate of Huston Tillotson University in Austin.

For over a decade, Mr. Ash has had primary responsibility for facilitating the dissemination of information to our membership, policymakers and the general public. In doing so, he maintains the TTARA website, manages the daily news service, organizes and oversees arrangements and fundraising for special events, manages a complex legislative bill tracking system and readies reports and presentations for release or publication. He graduated from Texas State University with a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration.

Mr. Battle is consulting for TTARA on a contract basis through June of 2023, covering state tax issues and assisting with TTARA’s state tax meetings. He previously served as general counsel for Speaker Joe Straus, and has a long record in state government, having also worked for Comptroller Bob Bullock, Lt. Governor Bill Hobby, Speaker Pete Laney, Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, and the Texas Association of School Boards. He holds BA, MPA, and JD degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and is a licensed attorney.

Mr. Walker leads TTARA’s work on property tax. Previously, he served as the Property Tax Manager for Anadarko Petroleum Corp., where he worked for over 15 years. During his time at Anadarko he served in various roles prior to his manager position. He has experience in property tax appraisal, compliance, and tax policy review, including reviews of local jurisdiction tax rates and budgets. Mr. Walker has prior experience in severance tax and state & local income/franchise tax. He is a certified public accountant and received his BBA in Accounting, Finance, and Real Estate from Baylor University.