GCEA Board of Directors Meeting, June 2026
GCEA BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING
The regular meeting of the Board of Directors was held on June 17, 2026, in person in the GCEA office and on TEAMS. Meeting was called to order by Matt Mancini, GCEA Vice President at 12:05 p.m. and roll was called.
New Director in attendance: Grewal Gurjot (GG)
MEETING AGENDA APPROVAL:
Motion was made by Elisabeth Bergman to accept the printed agenda for the June meeting. The motion was seconded by Bertha Albright. All in favor, motion carried.
FINANCE REPORT:
The May Profit and Loss report was reviewed by the Finance committee and approved via email. The report will be distributed with approved June Minutes.
MINUTES APPROVAL:
The May meeting did not meet quorum. No approval needed.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT AND DISCUSSION:
President, Sean Toro was absent.
· No report was given.
VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT AND DISCUSSION:
Matt Mancini, Vice President reported.
· As a board member it is important to remember that our opinions matter. When speaking on a subject or giving an opinion regarding the GCEA we need to be positive and encouraging. Members are listening.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Political Action – Gerald Mendoza reported. City election has concluded. The winners for City Council were Dan Brotman, Ellen Asaturian and Alex Bartrosouf. Suzie Abajian was re-elected as City Clerk; Rafi Manoukian was re-elected as City Treasurer.
· Matt addressed an incident involving a city employee who expressed dissatisfaction with GCEA’s decision not to endorse a particular candidate.
· Board members are not obligated to engage in discussions regarding Board decisions or endorsements. If approached with concerns or complaints about Board actions, Directors may respectfully decline the conversation and direct the individual to contact Sean or Matt to share feedback and concerns.
Community Alliance – Bertha Albright, Chair informed the board that Leslie Fox and Isabella Alverez attended a FosterAll event on 6/13. The event was positive and interactive with the foster parents in the city. Parents engaged and were curious regarding the GCEA. There will be more FosterAll volunteer opportunities in the future.
Benefits Committee – Matt Mancini reported in the absence of Joe Palos a chair is needed for this committee. If anyone would like to volunteer to serve as chair of this committee contact Sean, Matt or Stephanie.
· There will be a Health Benefits Committee Meeting in July which Sean and Matt will be attending with the chair of the committee.
· Bertha asked about CalPers conference. Prior to scheduling the conference, she will get Stephanie the cost information for a budget discussion.
Digital Communications – Elisabeth Bergman, Chair reported.
· Candidate endorsement page has been removed from the website.
· The results are complete for the GCEA Health Benefit Survey that was sent out to membership. Survey closed on June 1.
· A general survey is prepared and ready to be sent to our membership. Elisabeth would like to send the survey out July 1 and allow responses through the end of July.
Scholarship – Leslie Fox, Chair introduced the winner of the $1500 scholarship, Damary Machuca.
Employee Relations (formally Disciplinary) – Matt Mancini, Chair reported.
· One case is in HR and awaiting the outcome.
· Matt requested a name change for the committee to Employee Representation Committee; this committee deals with more than just discipline issues. Board approved of this change. Committee name will be changed in bylaws.
· Process for seeking representation assistance.
o If a member needs representation, the member must fill out the Representation Request Form located on the home page of our website gceaca.org. This will allow the director, President or Vice President to know if CEA needs to be involved immediately. If the member is the subject of an investigation it needs to be noted on the form.
o Bylaws state: The responsibility for filing a grievance shall be first with the employee. The grievance should be brought to the immediate attention of a GCEA Director, and if necessary, to the attention of the President or Vice President for the purpose of assisting the employee in resolving the grievance. A Representation Request Form must be filled out with the GCEA office prior to representation. The Associations outside representative may also be utilized in the grievance process, so long as a member is in good standing. A meeting shall take place within fourteen (14) days as set forth in the City’s Administrative Policy and the M.O.U. should the grievant wish to proceed with the grievance, the City’s grievance procedure should then be followed. The representative shall be responsible for assisting or representing the employee in and with the preparation, presentation, and if necessary, the hearing of the grievance.
New Employee Orientation – Elisabeth Bergman, Chair reported.
o Elisbeth presented on June 11th.
o Kerri Zelenak created a script to record on the video presentation. The voice over has not been applied to the video at this time.
Negotiations – Matt Mancini reported.
· Matt spoke about the negotiation process. The President chooses one member to serve, the Vice President a member, the Board of Directors chooses one member to make up the Negotiation Committee for a total of seven (7) members.
· An ADHOC committee will be formed for a fair negotiation committee selection process. This committee will select one candidate and two alternates to be presented to the board for voting approval.
· Selection Committee will consist of Leslie Fox, Chair, Bertha Albright and Gigi Gurjot.
OLD BUSINESS:
NEW BUSINESS:
There will be a change in the committee reporting process. Reports will be given in person with a time limit. Committee reports will now only be submitted if the Director is absent to report.
Bertha Albright made a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Ani Azoyan seconded the motion.
All in favor, meeting adjourned at 12:49 p.m.
Minutes submitted by Stephanie Kinnison
