MCE BOARD MEETING MINUTES1
Thursday, May 21, 2026
6:30 P.M.
Present: Liz Alessio, County of Napa and Four Napa Cities/Town (American Canyon, Calistoga, St. Helena, and Yountville) Stephanie Andre, City of Larkspur
Dion Bailey, City of Hercules, left at 10:44 p.m.
Eli Beckman, Town of Corte Madera, left at 10:48 p.m.
Mark Belotz, Town of Danville
Kari Birdseye, City of Benicia
Monica Brown, County of Solano
Steve Burdo, Alternate, Town of San Anselmo
Kevin Burke, Alternate, City of Belvedere
Barbara Coler, Town of Fairfax
Cindy Darling, City of Walnut Creek, Vice Chair
Jill Hoffman, City of Sausalito
C. William Kircher, Jr., Town of Ross
Arlene Kobata, City of Pittsburg
Kevin Jacobs, City of Novato
Robert Jweinat, Alternate, City of San Ramon, left at 10:44 p.m.
Maika Llorens Gulati, City of San Rafael
Eduardo Martinez, City of Richmond
John McCormick, City of Lafayette
Aaron Meadows, City of Oakley
Devin Murphy, City of Pinole
Laura Nakamura, City of Concord
Beth Painter, City of Napa
Charles Palmares, City of Vallejo, joined at 6:40 p.m.
Max Perrey, City of Mill Valley
Mary Sackett, County of Marin
Shanelle Scales-Preston, County of Contra Costa, Chair
Amanda Szakats, City of Pleasant Hill, left at 10:45 p.m.
Brianne Zorn, City of Martinez
Absent: Patricia Ponce, City of San Pablo
Manveer Sandhu, City of Fairfield
Graham Thiel, Town of Moraga
Holli Thier, Town of Tiburon
Carolyn Wysinger, City of El Cerrito
Staff
Docusign Envelope ID: 880E9D00-941F-86C4-806F-AD7651E6C5AE & Others: Jared Blanton, VP of Public Affairs
Jesica Brooks, Lead Board Clerk and Executive Assistant Vicken Kasarjian, Chief Operating Officer
Shaheen Khan, VP of Human Resources, Diversity, and Inclusion Tanya Lomas, Board Clerk
Linda Lye, Senior Legal Counsel
Nathaniel Malcolm, Senior Commercial Counsel
Alexandra McGee, VP of Strategic Initiatives
Lindsay Meehan, Director of Human Resources
Ashley Muth, Internal Operations Associate
Justine Parmelee, VP of Internal Operations
Mike Rodriguez-Vargas, Internal Operations Assistant
Enyonam Senyo-Mensah, Manager of Internal Operations
Jamie Tuckey, Chief Customer Officer
1. Roll Call
(Video 0:00:00)
Chair Scales-Preston called the regular meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. with quorum established by roll call.
2. Board Announcements (Discussion)
(Video 0:02:34)
There were comments from Directors Coler, Sackett, Perrey, Llorens Gulati, Alessio, Birdseye, Bailey, McCormick, Murphy, and Chair Scales-Preston.
Chair Scales-Preston moved item 9 to follow item 6.
3. Public Open Time (Discussion)
(Video 0:11:45)
Chair Scales-Preston opened the public comment period and there were comments from members of the public, Alicia Minyen, Michael Kamerick, and Jody Timms.
4. Report from Chief Executive Officer (Discussion)
(Video 0:20:00)
Vicken Kasarjian, Chief Operating Officer and acting CEO, introduced this item.
Chair Scales-Preston opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
5. Consent Calendar (Discussion/Action)
(Video 0:29:30)
C.1 Approval of 3.19.26 Meeting Minutes
C.2 Approval of 4.16.26 Meeting Minutes
Docusign Envelope ID: 880E9D00-941F-86C4-806F-AD7651E6C5AE C.3 Addition of Board Members to Committees
C.4 Board of Directors Voting Shares Update
C.5 Proposed Resolution No. 2026-02 Appointing Vice President of Internal Operations as Secretary
Chair Scales-Preston opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Action: It was M/S/C (Alessio/Darling) to approve Consent Calendar items C.1-C.5 with the amendment to the 3.19.26 Meeting Minutes. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Ponce, Sandhu, Thiel, Thier and Wysinger).
6. Proposed Resolution 2026-03 Approving Credit Facility Extension (Discussion/Action)
(Video 0:33:09)
Maíra Strauss, Chief Financial Officer, introduced this item and addressed questions from Board members.
Chair Scales-Preston opened the public comment period and there was a comment by member of the public, Alicia Minyen.
Action: It was M/S/C (Coler/Llorens Gulati) to Approve Option 1 – Approve Resolution 2026-03 as updated which does the following:
• Approves the First Amendment to extend the current credit facility to July 8, 2026.
• Authorizes staff to finalize the Draft Second Amendment, which would further extend the credit facility to July 8, 2027 and increase the Commitment amount to $80 million.
• Authorizes the Board Chair to execute both amendments and authorizes certain staff to deliver both amendments and all applicable closing documents to Royal Bank of Canada.
Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Ponce, Sandhu, Thiel, Thier and Wysinger).
9. Update on Request for Proposals for Governance Assessment Services (Discussion/Action)
(Video 0:44:05)
Chair Scales-Preston, Directors Sackett, Alessio, and Birdseye, introduced this item.
Docusign Envelope ID: 880E9D00-941F-86C4-806F-AD7651E6C5AE Chair Scales-Preston opened the public comment period and there was a comment from member of the public, Jody Timms.
Action: No action required.
7. Public Open Time on Closed Session Matter
(Video 0:51:07)
Chair Scales-Preston opened the public comment period and there was a comment from member of the public, Jody Timms.
Begin Closed Session Chair Scales-Preston opened the closed session at 7:25 p.m.
8. Roll Call/Quorum
(Video 0:55:07)
Chair Scales-Preston returned the meeting to open session at 10:56 p.m. and quorum was established by roll call.
Chair Scales-Preston stated that there were no reportable actions taken in closed. Legal supplemented the Chair’s report out indicating that staff were also given direction in closed session and agreed there was no reportable action.
10. Board & Staff Matters (Discussion)
This item was not discussed.
11. Adjournment
Chair Scales-Preston adjourned the meeting at 10:57 p.m. to the next scheduled Board Meeting on June 18, 2026.
___________________________________________
Shanelle Scales-Preston, Chair
Attest:
___________________________________________
Justine Parmelee, Secretary
Docusign Envelope ID: 880E9D00-941F-86C4-806F-AD7651E6C5AE