GCEA Board of Directors Meeting, May
GCEA BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING
The regular meeting of the Board of Directors was held on May 27, 2026, in person in the GCEA office and on TEAMS. Lunch was provided. Meeting was called to order by Sean Toro, GCEA President at 12:15 p.m. and roll was called. The board was short of a quorum. Meeting notes were taken but official minutes were not recorded.
MEETING AGENDA APPROVAL:
No quorum, no approval required.
FINANCE REPORT:
The April Profit and Loss report was reviewed by the Finance committee and approved via email. The report will be posted online at gceaca.org
MINUTES APPROVAL:
April meeting minutes were approved via email.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT AND DISCUSSION:
· Introduction of an interim director, Apoorv Verma. Apoorv will be replacing Joe Palos, who was promoted to a GMA position. Congratulations Joe and welcome Apoorv.
· Sean requested all directors to invite he and Matt to departmental GCEA meetings. They would like to participate in as many meetings as possible.
· The proposed 9/80 remote work policy appears to be moving in a positive direction. Under the proposal, three city buildings on this campus would be closed on Fridays, with employees scheduled to work remotely that day to keep the campus closed. This Friday would be determined by Track A or B. There are still a few items that require clarification including language indicating that remote work would be at the discretion of department directors. It is also important to note that this proposed policy would replace the current remote work arrangement and establish a new standard moving forward. At this time, the proposal only applies to the three buildings located on this campus and would not have an impact on other city facilities. Elisabeth Bergman requested that, once a final decision has been made, an email be sent to all GCEA employees outlining the details of the policy and any changes that will take effect.
VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT AND DISCUSSION:
· No report, Matt Mancini is absent.
Committee Reports:
As per our new process, Committee Reports were submitted online. Summary below.
· Community Alliance – June 13th, Isabella Alvarez and Leslie Fox will be volunteering at the Foster All Spring Event to be held in Santa Clarita. If you would like to volunteer at this event let Bertha Albright, Committee Chair, know of your interest.
· Scholarship Committee – As of May 19th two people applied for the $1500 scholarship. As of today, May 27th, there were four applicants for the scholarship. The committee will meet to discuss the applicants and determine a winner.
· New Employee Orientation – Elisabeth Bergman reported the next orientation is June 4. Elisabeth presented the previous on April 23rd. We need a video for NEO for our presentation on June 4th or earlier. We will do the slideshow with a voice over for now until we decide to change it.
· Digital Communications – We have updated the website to include the endorsements from the GCEA for the upcoming elections. We provided the form for the Benefits Survey to Sean and Stephanie. As of May 20, there are 98 responses. The survey is scheduled to close on June 1. The final sign off is needed for the general survey.
· Political Action – The committee has made their endorsements to the following candidates: Dan Brotman, Alek Bartrosouf and Ronnie Gharibian. A mass email was sent out to the membership regarding the candidates. Due to unforeseen circumstances the GCEA may not proceed with endorsements of candidates going forward.
NO OTHER COMMITTEE REPORTS WERE SUBMITTED.
OLD BUSINESS:
· Negotiation status update – we will push this discussion to our next meeting when both President and Vice President are in attendance.
· A meeting was conducted with all association representatives hosted by the GCEA in the GCEA office with 100% attendance. This meeting was to discuss working together on our next MOU contract. It is the consensus that we should hand in one master list of demands that include all departments.
o It was requested that we consider a minimum COLA for all.
o COLA correlates to CPI.
o Me Too Clause be brought back.
o Close the city for two weeks for the holiday break.
o Hire within for recruitment and employee retention.
o Longevity Pay.
o Include certifications not just degrees in Education Pay.
NEW BUSINESS:
· GCEA lacks 168 members, being 100% vested. We are considering an open house and membership drive. Our goal is to present the city with 100% membership. We are stronger together.
o Stephanie will send out the list of non-members to all directors with an email from Sean.
o Stephanie will send “Why be a GCEA Member?” to directors.
Notes submitted by Stephanie Kinnison
