MCE BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Thursday, August 20, 2026
6:30 P.M.
Present: Liz Alessio, County of Napa and Four Napa Cities/Town (American Canyon, Calistoga, St. Helena, and Yountville), joined at 6:37 p.m.
Stephanie Andre, City of Larkspur
Dion Bailey, City of Hercules
Eli Beckman, Town of Corte Madera, joined at 6:39 p.m.
Mark Belotz, Town of Danville
Kari Birdseye, City of Benicia
Monica Brown, County of Solano, joined at 6:53 p.m.
Kevin Burke, Alternate, City of Belvedere
Barbara Coler, Town of Fairfax
Cindy Darling, City of Walnut Creek
Jill Hoffman, City of Sausalito
C. William Kircher, Jr., Town of Ross
Arlene Kobata, City of Pittsburg
Kevin Jacobs, City of Novato
Maika Llorens Gulati, City of San Rafael
John McCormick, City of Lafayette
Aaron Meadows, City of Oakley, joined at 6:39 p.m.
Laura Nakamura, City of Concord
Beth Painter, City of Napa
Max Perrey, City of Mill Valley
Jack Ryan, Alternate, Town of Tiburon
Mary Sackett, County of Marin
Manveer Sandhu, City of Fairfield, joined at 7:56 p.m.
Shanelle Scales-Preston, County of Contra Costa, Chair
Amanda Szakats, City of Pleasant Hill
Graham Thiel, Town of Moraga, joined at 7:10 p.m.
Sridhar Verose, City of San Ramon
Chantel Walker, Town of San Anselmo
Brianne Zorn, City of Martinez, joined at 6:41 p.m.
Absent: Eduardo Martinez, City of Richmond
Devin Murphy, City of Pinole
Charles Palmares, City of Vallejo
Patricia Ponce, City of San Pablo
Carolyn Wysinger, City of El Cerrito
Staff
& Others: Floy Andrews, Aleshire & Wynder
Docusign Envelope ID: 9BC59772-3209-8893-80A8-F158EBE1A461 Jesica Brooks, Lead Board Clerk and Executive Assistant Bethany Burgess, Aleshire & Wynder
Eric Douglas, Leading Resources Inc.
Vicken Kasarjian, Acting CEO and Chief Operating Officer Shaheen Khan, VP of Human Resources, Diversity, and Inclusion Tanya Lomas, Board Clerk
Linda Lye, Senior Legal Counsel
Ashley Muth, Internal Operations Associate
Catalina Murphy, General Counsel
Mike Rodriguez-Vargas, Internal Operations Assistant
Enyonam Senyo-Mensah, Manager of Internal Operations
Son Tran, Internal Operations Assistant
Jamie Tuckey, Chief Customer Officer
1. Roll Call
(Video 0:00:00)
Chair Scales-Preston called the regular meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. with quorum established by roll call.
2. Board Announcements (Discussion)
(Video 0:02:12)
There were comments from Directors Szakats, McCormick, Bailey, Sackett and Coler.
3. Public Open Time (Discussion)
(Video 0:09:40)
Chair Scales-Preston opened the public comment period and there were comments from members of the public, Dan Segedin, Dani Lanis, Warren Wells, Carrie Schulman and Brett Thurber.
4. Report from Chief Executive Officer (Discussion)
(Video 0:23:53)
Vicken Kasarjian, Acting CEO and Chief Operating Officer, introduced this item and addressed questions from Board members.
Chair Scales-Preston opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
5. Consent Calendar (Discussion/Action)
(Video 0:31:43)
C.1 Approval of 7.16.26 Meeting Minutes
Docusign Envelope ID: 9BC59772-3209-8893-80A8-F158EBE1A461 C.2 MCE Co-Application in Partnership with Contra Costa County to Strategic Growth Council’s (SGC) Project Development Grant Opportunity
Chair Scales-Preston opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Chair Scales-Preston moved item 7 to be presented before item 6.
7. Ad Hoc CEO Search Committee Status Report (Discussion) (Video 0:34:40)
Director McCormick introduced this item and addressed questions from Board members.
Chair Scales-Preston opened the public comment period and there were no comments.
Action: No action required.
6. Review and Approve Recommended Response to Marin Civil Grand Jury Report (Discussion/Action)
(Video 0:47:40)
Director Belotz, Bethany Burgess and Floy Andrews of Aleshire & Wynder, LLP, and Eric Douglas of Leading Resources Inc., introduced this item and addressed questions from Board members.
Chair Scales-Preston opened the public comment period and there were comments from members of the public, Alicia Minyen, Robert Miller, and Dan Segedin.
Through deliberation, the Board reached a consensus to approve the cover letter and responses that were proposed by the Ad Hoc Grand Jury Response Committee and that were attached to the staff report, but to modify the cover letter and responses as follows:
Revised Response to Finding No. 1: Partially agree; partially disagree. The MCE Board agrees that the Board has not always played a sufficiently active role in certain key agency decisions. As will be noted throughout this response, the Board has retained a management consultant to conduct a governance Action: It was M/S/C (Darling/Alessio) to Approve the Consent Calendar.
Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote. (Absent: Martinez, Murphy, Palmares, Ponce, Sandhu, Thiel, Wysinger).
Docusign Envelope ID: 9BC59772-3209-8893-80A8-F158EBE1A461 assessment and provide recommendations for improving Board governance policies.
Revised response to Recommendation 7: The recommended evaluation is currently in process.
As noted above, MCE is undertaking a governance assessment. As part of this process, MCE’s retained management consultants will provide recommendations for improvement of the organization’s governance structure.
The initial phase of the governance assessment is expected to be completed by December 31, 2026.
Revised response to Recommendation 8: The recommendation has not yet been fully implemented, but will be fully implemented in the future.
The Board should review and assess the value to ratepayers of MCE’s energy procurement policies, including policies for contracts that may serve primarily to allow MCE to claim a higher renewable Power Content Label. The Board will endeavor to complete the policy review by September 30, 2027, and will periodically audit compliance with and effectiveness of such policies on a continuing basis.
Revised responses to Recommendations 9: The recommendation requires further analysis.
MCE has reviewed various energy contracts executed over the past several years and has identified lessons learned. It has introduced process improvements to its energy purchasing procedures and continues to explore additional improvements. In addition, as part of this year’s audit, MCE’s independent auditor sampled specific transactions including pricing approval chains relative to energy procurement. The MCE Board will consider whether to conduct a more robust review of past energy contracts by March 31, 2027.
The MCE Board will also consider and evaluate revisions to its existing policies and governance to ensure there is an appropriate level of Board oversight and engagement with respect to energy contracts.
Revision to second paragraph of cover letter:
MCE’s 34-member Board represents 38 communities across four counties.
Although our communities differ, we are united by a commitment to MCE’s fundamental mission: eliminating fossil fuel greenhouse gas emissions, producing renewable energy, and creating equitable community benefits.
Action: It was M/S/C (Perrey/Alessio) to Approve the cover letter and proposed response to the Marin Civil Grand Jury prepared by the Ad Hoc Grand Docusign Envelope ID: 9BC59772-3209-8893-80A8-F158EBE1A461 Jury Response Committee with the changes discussed by the Board of Directors. Motion carried by unanimous roll call vote.
(Absent: Martinez, Murphy, Palmares, Ponce, and Wysinger).
8. Board & Staff Matters (Discussion)
(Video 3:20:28)
Directors Brown and Zorn made comments.
9. Adjournment
(Video 3:22:21)
Chair Scales-Preston adjourned the meeting at 9:54 p.m. to the next scheduled Board Meeting on September 17, 2026.
___________________________________________
Shanelle Scales-Preston, Chair
Attest:
___________________________________________
Justine Parmelee, Secretary
Docusign Envelope ID: 9BC59772-3209-8893-80A8-F158EBE1A461