GCEA Director’s Meeting April 2024
The regular meeting of the Board of Directors was held on April 17, 2024, in person. Meeting was called
to order by Ronnie Lira, Vice-President, at 12:05 pm. Roll was called. Guests in attendance: James Fagen
(CEA) and Sean Toro ( Public Works).
FINANCE REPORT:
The March Profit and Loss report was reviewed by the Finance committee and approved via email. The
report will be distributed with approved April Minutes.
MINUTE APPROVAL:
• March Meeting Minutes were approved via voting buttons. Should be posted in departments.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT:
• Nothing to report currently. Jaime still out on leave.
VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT:
• Not much going on other than he continues to attend meetings and represent employees in various
actions.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Political Action -
• Ronnie spoke about the current process for electing a mayor. Ellen Asatryan is the new mayor
instead of Ara Najarian. He is currently fighting the decision through legal channels.
• Ronnie reminded the Board of their representation obligations.
• Kerri reminded the Board that this applies to all “off work time” and in the capacity of a “private
citizen of the community”.
• Ronnie introduced two new directors to the committee: Cindy Ritter and Jessica Balcarcel.
Community Alliance –
• The committee will be serving at Ascencia the last week of April; any help would be greatly
appreciated. They are typically done by 7:30 p.m. Please let Barbara know if you would like to
volunteer to assist.
Benefits –
• Joe Palos just reminded everyone that open enrollment is now.
• Joe discussed the dental plan available for those with Kaiser. If you enroll in Kaiser, you have
an option of the Guardian MDC-G90 or the Buy-up. The Kaiser plan that the city
negotiated does not include any dental through Kaiser, so even if they offer it, our plan
does not include it.
Social Media –
• No updates currently.
Employee Assistance –
• No loans out as of this time.Scholarship –
• They met recently to go over the guidelines.
• They are tabling certification distribution until next year.
• They are meeting in May to start the application process.
Disciplinary –
• Ronnie reminded all Board members that if they are approached by a member for a disciplinary
action, the Director should reach out to the Discipline Committee for assistance if needed. The
committee consists of five Board members that have all been trained by James Fagen (CEA) to
help in these situations.
Bylaws –
• Bylaw changes and updates are on hold until negotiations are complete.
Negotiations –
• Ronnie stated that the committee continues to meet with the city. There is a meeting tomorrow,
April 18th; it is the GCEA’s counteroffer. Things continue to move ahead but are not where we
want them to be yet.
• The committee has decided to keep all information pertaining to negotiations confidential to avoid
any issues of the wrong information going out.
• Ronnie was able to solidify things we are asking for like COLA and medical.
DISCUSSION/COMMENTS:
• Sean Toro (PW) addressed the committee about Public Works Week and the staff appreciation
breakfast/event they are having for their employees on May 22nd
. He stated that they approached all
the associations in hopes of getting any kind of donations to help them celebrate these employees.
IHOP will be providing the breakfast, and all supporters names/associations will be put on the
banner and flyers. It was suggested that he contact Stephanie Kinnison directly to discuss this.
The GCEA should have an account set up specifically for things like this.
• Ronnie reiterated the need for Directors to meet with their department heads on a quarterly basis.
Both he and Jaime are happy to attend if anyone wants them to attend.
• Ronnie also stated that Directors should continue meeting with their groups as well.
• Kerri reminded the Board to make sure they follow up with their members and/or HR whenever a
member files something with the benefits section due to timelines and several cases falling
through the cracks recently.
Motion to adjourn made by: Joe Palos
Bertha Albright seconded the motion.
.
Minutes recorded by: Kerri Zelenak on behalf of Stephanie Kinnison.
