MCE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Monday, July 6, 2026
12:00 P.M.
Present: Stephanie Andre, City of Larkspur
Max Perrey, City of Mill Valley
Barbara Coler, Town of Fairfax, Chair
Cindy Darling, City of Walnut Creek, Vice Chair
Devin Murphy, City of Pinole
Laura Nakamura, City of Concord
Beth Painter, City of Napa
Shanelle Scales-Preston, County of Contra Costa
Sally Wilkinson, City of Belvedere
Absent: Kari Birdseye, City of Benicia
Maika Llorens Gulati, City of San Rafael
Staff
& Others: Jesica Brooks, Lead Board Clerk & Executive Assistant Vicken Kasarjian, Acting CEO and Chief Operating Officer Shaheen Khan, VP of Human Resources, Equity & Inclusion Tanya Lomas, Board Clerk
Catalina Murphy, General Counsel
Ashley Muth, Internal Operations Associate
Efren Oxlaj, Manager of Finance
Justine Parmelee, VP of Internal Operations
Mike Rodriguez-Vargas, Internal Operations Assistant
Enyonam Senyo-Mensah, Manager of Internal Operations
Maíra Strauss, Chief Financial Officer
Jamie Tuckey, Chief Customer Officer
1. Roll Call
(Video 0:00:00)
Chair Coler called the regular Executive Committee meeting to order at 12:02 p.m. with quorum established by roll call.
2. Board Announcements (Discussion)
(Video 0:01:10)
There were no comments.
3. Public Open Time (Discussion)
(Video 0:02:12)
Docusign Envelope ID: C6A13A5E-7886-81C4-82E5-0CF12509A624 Chair Coler opened the public comment period and there was a comment from a member of the public, Jody Timms.
4. Report from Chief Executive Officer (Discussion)
(Video 0:09:09)
Vicken Kasarjian, Acting CEO and COO, introduced this item.
Chair Coler opened the public comment period and there was a comment from member of the public, Dan Segedin.
5. Consent Calendar (Discussion/Action)
(Video 0:20:15)
C.1 Approval of 6.1.26 Meeting Minutes
C.2 Review Draft 7.16.26 Board Agenda
Director Andre requested that Item C.2 be pulled from the consent calendar for discussion. The Chair accepted and opened the floor for questions and comments from committee members.
Chair Coler opened the public comment period and there were comments from members of the public, Jody Timms and Alicia Minyen.
Action 1: It was M/S/C (Perrey/Scales-Preston) to approve Consent Calendar Item C.1. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Birdseye and Llorens Gulati).
Action 2: It was M/S/C (Andre/Scales-Preston) to approve Consent Calendar Item C.2. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Birdseye and Llorens Gulati).
6. Proposed Creation of Ad Hoc CEO Search Committee (Discussion/Action) (Video 0:30:54)
Chair Coler, Directors Darling and Scales-Preston, presented this item and addressed questions from Committee members.
Chair Coler opened the public comment period and there were comments from members of the public, Kingston Cole, Dan Segedin, Jody Timms, and Alicia Minyen.
Action 1: It was M/S/C (Coler/Nakamura) to recommend to the Board of Directors to create an Ad Hoc CEO Search Committee, consisting of Directors Scales-Preston, Darling, Coler, Painter, Birdseye, Sackett, and McCormick to lead the search for the new MCE CEO, provided that the Committee bring key touch points (including the selection of a recruitment firm) to the Executive Committee or the Board (based on Docusign Envelope ID: C6A13A5E-7886-81C4-82E5-0CF12509A624 timing of meetings), and that the final CEO candidates be brought to the full Board for interviews and for the selection of the new CEO. Motion carried by roll call vote. 7-Yays 2-Nos (Nos: Andre and Wilkinson. Absent:
Birdseye and Llorens Gulati).
Action 2: It was M/S (Andre/Wilkinson) to recommend to the Board of Directors to create an Ad Hoc CEO Search Committee, consisting of Directors Sackett, Birdseye, McCormick, Painter, and Chair Scales-Preston to lead the search for the new MCE CEO, provided that the Committee bring key touch points (including the selection of a recruitment firm) to the Executive Committee or the Board (based on timing of meetings), and that the final CEO candidates be brought to the full Board for interviews and for the selection of the new CEO. Motion did not carry. 3-Yays 6-Nos. (Nos: Coler, Darling, Murphy, Nakamura, Painter and Scales-Preston. Absent: Birdseye and Llorens Gulati).
7. Proposed Creation of Ad Hoc Civil Grand Jury Response Committee (Discussion/Action)
(Video 1:58:29)
Chair Coler, Directors Darling and Scales-Preston, presented this item and addressed questions from Committee members.
Chair Coler opened the public comment period and there were no comments Action: It was M/S/C (Coler/Perrey) recommend to the Board of Directors the creation of an Ad Hoc Grand Jury Response Committee, consisting of Directors Andre, Perrey, Szakats, and Walker, to lead and oversee preparation of a draft response to the June 16, 2026, Civil Grand Jury report. Other members (TBD at the July Board meeting) may include Belotz (or others). The timeframe for the response is for the Board to review and approve in advance of the September 14, 2026 due date.
Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Birdseye and Llorens Gulati).
8. Proposed Exception to Operating Reserve Fund Policy Cap and Transfer (Discussion/Action)
(Video 2:22:40)
Maira Strauss, Chief Financial Officer, and Efren Oxlaj, Manager of Finance, introduced this item.
Chair Coler opened the public comment period and there were no comments Docusign Envelope ID: C6A13A5E-7886-81C4-82E5-0CF12509A624 Action: It was M/S/C (Murphy/Nakamura) to recommend to the Board of Directors approval of both a temporary waiver of the ORF policy cap and an $80 million deferral of FYE 2026 revenues to the ORF. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Birdseye and Llorens Gulati).
9. Proposed General Counsel Reporting Structure (Discussion/Action) (Video 2:28:41)
Catalina Murphy, general Counsel, presented this item and addressed questions from Committee members.
Chair Coler opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Action: It was M/S/C (Perrey/Darling) to recommend to the Board of Directors to approve the proposed resolution 2026-06 with requested edits to clarify that the hiring authority of the CEO and General Counsel remains with the Board of Directors. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Birdseye and Llorens Gulati).
10. Committee & Staff Matters (Discussion)
(Video 2:46:57)
Director Wilkinson, Chair Coler and Catalina Murphy made comments.
11. Adjournment
Chair Coler adjourned the meeting at 2:52 p.m. to the next scheduled Executive Committee Meeting on August 3, 2026.
___________________________________________
Barbara Coler, Chair
Attest:
___________________________________________
Justine Parmelee, Secretary
Docusign Envelope ID: C6A13A5E-7886-81C4-82E5-0CF12509A624