Speakers - Archive

Our Speaker for November 20, 2024 was Eric Ardell
Former Commander of American Legion Mt. Diablo Post 246

Eric graduated from Oregon State University in 1966. He served on active duty in the US Navy for nine years, including a tour in-country Vietnam and one during the fall of Saigon in 1975 and 15 years in the Reserves, primarily at SIMA San Francisco. His civilian career from 1975 to 2011 focused on Project Management in the Defense and Construction industries. He joined the American Legion in 2002 and Post 246 in 2010. He was the Post 246 Commander for seven years and chairs the Boys State program.

Our Speaker for October 16, 2024 was David Schwartz
Earthquake Geologists, USGS, Moffett Field, CA

Dr. Schwartz received his BA and MA in geology from Queens College of the City University of NY (1966, 1973). He received his PhD (1976) in geology from the State University of NY at Binghamton (now Binghamton University).

Dr. Schwartz has spent over 40 years working on earthquake prediction on projects around the world, including the Denali fault along the trans-Alaska pipeline, and projects in Sierran Foothills, Peru, Egypt and Central America. He served as the Northern California coordinator for the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (1997-2003, 2009-2010), co-chaired the Working Group on California Earthquake Probabilities that issued the first comprehensive Bay Area 30-year earthquake forecast in 2003, and completed a ten -year term (1997-2007) as Chief of the San Francisco Bay Area Earthquake Hazards Project (SFBAEHP).

Dr. Schwartz spoke to us about Living on the Faultline in Contra Costa County.

To see this Guest Speaker's presentation slides, click here. [NOTE: Only the slides used by the speaker will be shown as a video; there is no narration included. Video runs approx. 10 seconds per slide. To spend more time on each slide, hit Pause to freeze video, then Play to restart.]

Our speaker for September 18, 2024 was Cassandra Miranda
Executive Director of Meals on Wheels, Contra Costa

Cassandra is the Executive Director at Meals on Wheels of Contra Costa, Inc. As Executive Director she works with many community partners in providing meals to the homes of seniors living in Contra Costa County who are homebound and unable to prepare nutritious meals for themselves. Cassandra has a blended background working with both non-profits and local government for over 15 years.

Cassandra holds a Bachelor of Art in Sociology, Organizational Studies from University of California, Davis, and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Maryland. Over the last five years Cassandra has dedicated her time to perfecting her skills in generating community support for non-profit missions in both revenue development and advocacy.

To see this Guest Speaker's presentation slides, click here. [NOTE: Only the slides used by the speaker will be shown as a video; there is no narration included. Video runs approx. 10 seconds per slide. To spend more time on each slide, hit Pause to freeze video, then Play to restart.]

Our speaker for August 21, 2024 was Dan Poulin - SIR128 Technology Guru

Dan graciously stepped up and gave a well received presentation on "Cutting the Cord" after our scheduled speaker had to back out at the last minute.

Dan spoke on the benefits and drawbacks of switching from traditional cable/satellite TV providers to streaming services. He also gave us tips on how to do it, how much it might cost and how much we might save on our entertainment expenses.

Our speaker for July 17, 2024 was Bob Maddox

Not a politician, civil servant, or published author like many of our Luncheon speakers. Bob sopke about one of his many passions, Electric Vehicles. Actually, for the last 63 years he has been in love with cars of all types starting with a 1964 ½ Ford Mustang. He’s also a fan of technology of all types. EVs combine cars with cutting edge technology. In 2009, while attending the annual Concourse d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, he had an opportunity to drive the then new Tesla Roadster and was hooked!

Suddenly, EVs are everywhere. Some of you may be considering buying one, many others are just interested in what this big automotive change is all about. Bob will cover a little bit of the history of electric vehicles, then get into what the ownership experience is all about. He will discuss home charging issues and talk about what it’s like to go on a road trip and deal with Super Chargers, not so super chargers and the dreaded “Range Anxiety”.

Finally, he addressed the major concerns that make people hesitant to commit to an electric car.

Our speaker for June 19, 2024 was Candace Andersen - Contra Costa County Supervisor

Candace was first elected to the Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors in June 2012. In 2016 and 2020 she ran unopposed and was re-elected to four-year terms. She is once again running unopposed in 2024. In her role as County Supervisor, Candace currently sits on 29 local and regional boards and commissions addressing planning and land use, transportation, pensions, mental health, healthcare, reuse and recycling, economic development, and public safety.

Previously, Candace was on the Danville Town Council from 2003 through June 2012, serving two terms as Mayor. Candace also served on the Morgan Hill City Council in the early 1990's. She is an attorney licensed to practice law in California and Hawaii and began her legal career as a Prosecuting Attorney in her hometown of Honolulu. She put her legal career on hold to serve the community and raise her family. Candace received both her B.A. in Public Policy (1982) and Juris Doctorate (1985) from Brigham Young University. She attended Punahou School in Honolulu, Hawaii from K-12.

Our speaker for May 15, 2024 was Isidra Mencos

Isidra the author of two books and numerous articles on Spanish contemporary literature, focusing on the transition from fascism under Franco to a liberal democracy. She grew up in Spain during the Franco era, but in Barcelona with its strong tradition of Catalan language and culture. What followed was one of the most notable political and cultural transitions of the 20th century. Unusual among Spanish-speaking countries, there have been relatively few peaceful transitions from dictatorship to democracy. In this case, Franco died in 1975, and King Juan Carlos surprised everyone by supporting the transition to democracy. From there, it took a few years to write a constitution and establish the new government.

The cultural change, however, came rapidly. Franco’s Spain had been very repressive. Regional languages were forbidden: Catalan especially was banned in public. There was censorship of the press and of films. As she describes it, the culture was very Catholic and very sexually repressive. As soon as Franco died there was el destape, which literally means “taking the lid off”, as though they lived the hippie era 10 years later. By the 1990’s though, Spain was finally seen as a modern democracy and economy like the rest of Europe, instead of a backwards country of sun and flamenco.

Isidra described her work since coming to the US, and one or more of her books was available for sale. Also, she described the recent course she teaches at UC Berkeley on “Goya: Birth of a Modern Artist” and the turbulent time of that artist, with instability, chaos, and human follies in ways that still resonate with our times.

April 2024 Impulse A Cappella

Impulse A Cappella from the Blackhawk Chorous was our Featured Entertainment for the 2024 Ladies Day Luncheon on April 10th at the Blackhawk Country Club.

Impulse A Cappella was founded in 2022 with the intention of offering spectacular a cappella & acoustic options for your entertainment. Composed of experienced musicians, Impulse aims to astound audiences with incredible a cappella renditions of your favorite songs, past and present.

March 2024 Kim Moir

Principal Advisor and Presenter for "youngsi"

Kim is is the principal Advisor and Presenter for "youngsi" a product design and development company for the Hospitality Industry. Kim is also the wife of our Sir 128 Branch Secretary Alex Moir. She has over 20 years of experience in the High Tech industry and has been an Instructor/Professor for Media, Fine Arts, Game Design and Game Development. Her Professional Bio can be viewed here.

Kim spoke on the importance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) what it is, and it’s uses in the world today.

February 2024 Dr. Michael Baker
Retired Rear Admiral and Surgery Dept Chairmen for John Muir

Dr. Michael Baker, general and trauma surgeon, is a retired Rear Admiral from the Navy Reserves. He is currently Chairman of the Department of Surgery at John Muir Hospital in the East Bay. He described his current involvement in training front line Ukrainian doctors and other medical staff in advanced trauma life support, a system for quick response to traumatic injuries such as those caused by Russian missile strikes on apartment buildings. Dr. Baker gave us an up to date assessment of the current situation on the ground in Ukraine.

January 2024 Beverly Lane
Local San Ramon Valley historian, author, & former Danville mayor

Beverly Lane is a local historian, open space advocate and co-chair of the Friends of San Ramon Creek. She has lived in Danville for fifty years and been deeply involved in the Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House, and the Museum of the San Ramon Valley (Board of Trustees, chair of exhibits and currently history curator). Lane has written four history books about the San Ramon Valley, Alamo, Danville and San Ramon and curated many exhibits on these communities.

A former Danville Mayor and East Bay Regional Park Director, she is passionate about the virtues of local government and the democratic process. She spoke to our group in late 2021. She will talk with SIRS is titled “The San Ramon Valley, Water and Change”.

November 2023 Veterans Day Speaker
Museum Director of the National POW/MIA Memorial & Museum

Our November speaker was Rick Thom Museum Director of the National POW/MIA Memorial & Museum. Rick served in the U.S. Navy from 1973-1981 and was based at NAS Cecil Field in Jacksonville, Florida. Upon his Honorable Discharge, Rick worked for several airlines in Ramp Operations and Passenger Sales.

Today he volunteers today as the Museum Director of the National POW/MIA Memorial & Museum in Jacksonville, FL which is in development, ( Bill 3670 HR ). Rick embraces the National POW/MIA Memorial and Museum vision which will pay tribute to more than 140,000 service members. Approximately 95,000 of these heroes were classified as missing in action with only 12,000 of those having come home. The National POW/MIA Memorial is designed to connect with all who visit on an emotional, intellectual and physical level. It is designed on the hope that visitors will leave enriched, reverent and called to tell the story of the nation’s Prisoners of War and Missing in Action heroes.....Rick currently live in Reno, NV. when not in Jacksonville or Alameda.

October 2023 Rick Jackson (Ret. LAPD)

Rick talked about his three decade career as a homicide detective at the Los Angeles Police Department as well as his work as a consultant for best-selling crime fiction writer Michael Connelly, best known for his numerous books on fictional LAPD Detective Harry Bosch. He also explained how he helped the Danville PD solve and several decades-old cold case as an unpaid volunteer and how he currently is working cold cases in San Mateo. Rick was assigned to the specialized homicide section known as Robbery-Homicide Division for 23 years. As a member of RHD, Rick worked in three very unique, homicide-oriented units: the Major Crime Investigation Section (MCIS), the Homicide Special Section (HSS), and the Cold Case Homicide Unit (CCHU). The Cold Case Homicide Unit’s work also included the identification of suspects and the solving of several serial murders cases.

During the last decade of Rick’s career, and since his retirement, he has been a consultant for Michael Connelly, who has a long list of novels that reached No. 1 nationally. Immediately following his retirement Rick worked as one of the technical advisors on the Amazon-produced television series, “Bosch,” based on the Michael Connelly novels. He worked in that capacity for Seasons 1 and 2. For the past two years (2017 to present), Rick has returned to his “cold case passion,” currently working part-time in the Cold Case Homicide Unit for the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.

Photo is Rick (3rd from left) with the cast from Bosch.

September 2023 Victoria Snyder
Supervising Attorney, Contra Costa Senior Legal Services

Victoria Snyder is a passionate, experienced advocate for tenants. She also provides services relating to prevention of elder abuse and accommodations for persons with disabilities. Contra Costa Senior Legal Services (CCSLS) is a private, nonprofit agency that has been providing free legal services to older residents aged 60 or older in the County since 1976. Thousands of seniors have benefited from these services which have enabled them to stay in their homes, to become eligible for and to retain public benefits, to recover real and personal property wrongly taken from them, and to obtain relief from physical, financial, and emotional abuse.

CCSLS seeks to provide the broadest possible access to its services. It prioritizes those areas of law relevant to the needs of older residents of the County, especially those not otherwise addressed by other legal services programs. CCSLS regularly provides individual assistance to over 1,000 clients per year and provides outreach and training to hundreds more.

August 2023 Congressman Mark DeSaulnier

At our August 16th luncheon, we were eventually joined by Congressman Mark DeSaulnier representing our 10th Congressional District, including much of Contra Costa County and a part of Alameda County. Since coming to Congress, he has passed more than 60 legislative efforts, proving to be an effective legislator who knows how to get things done.

In his eight years in the House, Congressman DeSaulnier has earned a reputation as one of its most engaged Representatives. Serving on numerous and key House committees and caucuses. He spoke on his recent accomplishments and ongoing efforts.

July 2023 Kathy Gailey and Julie McKinney
Rotary Club of San Ramon

Kathy Gailey and Julie McKinney are members of the Rotary Club of San Ramon, one of six clubs in the San Ramon Valley who are part of Rotary International an organization with over 46,000 clubs worldwide, comprised of 1.3 million members dedicated to making our world a better place. The organization supports projects in developing countries, with Rotarians in that country, by providing needed assistance to ensure the local needs are met.

Kathy Gailey and Julie McKinney both recently participated in international projects in Uganda and Guatemala. Kathy helped to organize the distribution of wheelchairs to Uganda in September 2022. This was possible because of help and contributions from many partners: Ugandan Rotarians, The Wheelchair Foundation, several Rotary Clubs in California and individual Rotarian contributions. Kathy will share the process, how the wheelchairs impacted lives, what the distributions looked like and the surprises that were also delivered to a school, a health clinic and an orphanage.

In January 2023, Julie traveled to Zacualpa, Guatemala for 10 days with the non-profit organization Amigos de Guatemala, which started as a Rotary project 20 years ago. The organization focuses on education and medical support for the town. Amigos de Guatemala provides financial sponsorships to middle and high school students so they can continue their education, because education is not free in Guatemala after sixth grade. Julie will share her experiences working with the students, visiting the schools and medical clinic, and the Rotary projects that support them.

June 2023 Stephen Smith
President, Mount Diablo Interpretive Association

Ever wondered why the top of Mount Diablo is inside a building? Have you seen the goldfish on one of our steepest trails? Ever visited the rock dam in Perkins Canyon? Steve Smith, President of the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association, will present The Hidden Gems of Mount Diablo, directing you to the stories and locations of some of the treasures on the mountain that might be a little less known but no less fascinating for that.

Steve is a wonderful storyteller, with wit and bottomless enthusiasm about and devotion to our mountain. For instance, he's hiked every trail on Diablo, and has worked on many of them to install summit markers and all those beautiful standard trail signs. He leads many hikes, delivers educational talks around the Tri-Valley Area, works closely with MDSP staff, and as President, keeps the Mount Diablo Interpretive Association Board of Directors in focus, a critical role as MDIA girds itself to raise funds for a much-needed new visitor center in Mitchell Canyon.

May 2023 David Seaborg
President and Founder of the World Rainforest Fund

David is President and Founder of the World Rainforest Fund, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to saving the earth’s tropical rainforests and biodiversity. He also founded and headed the Seaborg Open Space Fund, named in honor of his father, Glenn T. Seaborg, to raise money and awareness to save open space from development in central Contra Costa County. This fund raised $20,000 in less than a year to successfully help save Acalanes Ridge in Lafayette, California.

He wrote an article that is a summary of the scientific research on the effects of high atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide other than global warming. Unlike the climatic effects, these effects are not well known to the general public. They are very serious, and have the potential to cause high levels of extinction of species and greatly disrupt ecosystems and our food supply.
He was on the city of Lafayette’s General Plan Advisory Committee, which he guided to producing a ten-year General Plan for that city that emphasized environmental sustainability, preserving open space, combating global warming, and energy conservation.

In the 1990’s and part of the first decade of this century, he served on the Board of Directors and as Vice President of the Club of Rome of the USA, the environmental think tank that published the Limits to Growth in the 1970’s. This is a computer simulation study that showed that continued growth and consumption of resources will lead society to disaster.

He was on the Board of Directors of the East Bay Chapter of the United Nations Association of the U. S. A. from 2006 to 2009, where he was the lead environmental person. He gave the keynote address at their 2006 annual meeting, and helped secure the passage of key resolutions on biodiversity and global warming and the Kyoto Protocol, at the local, state, and national levels of the UNA/USA. These resolutions call for action on these issues by the U. N. and U. S. government.

He conceived, and helped secured passage by the Berkeley City Council, an ordinance banning the use of old growth rainforest and redwood in all products used by the city of Berkeley. This ordinance also required all businesses contracting with Berkeley to stop using old growth rainforest and redwood in any products or services Berkeley hires them to use or perform, or in any product they sell this city.

David conceived the idea for and was the head organizer for a press conference of Nobel Prize winners on global environmental issues that was held at the time of the 100th Nobel Prize ceremonies in Stockholm, Sweden, in December, 2001.

David has been to over 30 countries, observing various natural ecosystems and wildlife. He is an award-winning nature and wildlife photographer and an award-winning poet. He wrote the popular and acclaimed poetry book, Honor Thy Sow Bug, which sold over 1,500 copies. An excellent public speaker, he lectures to various scientific, environmental, civic, business, and other organizations on evolutionary biology, the philosophical implications of science, and environmental issues.

March 2023 Ben Machol
Assistant Director, Air and Radiation Division
Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9

Mr. Machol oversees offices in the Partnerships, Technology and Analysis Branch and has been with the agency for over 30 years. In prior years Ben has served as the Senior Energy Advisor, Guam Program Manager, and had spent many years in EPA's water programs, working with U.S. and Mexican officials to develop water and wastewater infrastructure along our border region. Ben is a licensed Professional Engineer, with a master's degree in environmental engineering, and a bachelor's in mechanical engineering, both from University of California, Berkeley.

Ben spoke about the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the historic legislation that will make investments in climate action and clean energy, and are expected to reduce U.S. emissions approximately 40% by 2030 while supporting disadvantaged communities. The belief is that IRA investments will drive significant emissions reductions over the next decade while also laying the groundwork for long-term decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors. EPA will play a major role in delivering these programs; utilizing $41.5 billion in appropriated funds.

February 2023 Lynn Waespi
Bay Area Philanthropist and former PricewaterhouseCoopers Executive

Lynn Waespi shared her experiences in working directly with Ukrainian war refugees in Scheibbs, Austria. Waespi will tell the remarkable story of how this small Austrian town, with a population of only 4,000, stepped up to the responsibility of caring for 70 Ukrainian refugees. Moreover, Waespi will explain that as the war has dragged on, the challenges facing the refugees and their benefactors have transitioned from short-term housing and services to the needs arising from residencies of unpredictable duration. Russia's unprovoked war of aggression, which began with the annexation of Crimea in 2014, has now stretched into nearly a decade, with no end in sight. With the onset of winter and Russia's relentless bombing of civilian infrastructure such as power plants, the refugee crisis Waespi has witnessed firsthand will only grow.

Lynn Waespi's philanthropy extends to the western hemisphere, as well. She is founder and president of Maya Crew, a nonprofit that has provided 4,800 scholarships to educate primary and secondary students among the rural youth of the highlands of Guatemala. Before retiring in 2017, Waespi had national leadership responsibilities, focusing on the development of the next generation of partners, in the tax practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers (formerly Coopers & Lybrand).

January 2023 Spencer Christian
News reporter, Sportscaster, Talk Show Host, Weather Forecaster, and Author

After 50 years in TV news, I still wouldn't trade jobs with anyone in the world. I've been a news reporter, sportscaster, talk show host, and weather forecaster. My assignments and travels have taken me to all 50 states and 5 continents. I've had the privilege of interviewing 6 presidents; the most prominent figures in sports, world affairs, and the arts; and, most memorably, ordinary people who have done extraordinary things. Of course, there have also been unsettling moments--reporting from hurricanes, floods, blizzards, earthquakes, virtually every natural calamity known to mankind--but I can't imagine any career path that would have been more enriching or rewarding.

As a news junkie in my early childhood, I read the newspaper every day to get my politics fix and to satisfy my burning curiosity about the world. But I also liked a dash of humor in my news recipe, so I enjoyed watching legendary TV journalists like David Brinkley and Walter Cronkite, who often added a wink and a smile to an otherwise "hard news" broadcast.

In college during the late 1960s, my love of language and literature led me to major in English, while choosing to minor in journalism. I also played varsity baseball and had a Major League tryout in my junior year. It was clear, though, that my journalistic skills far exceeded my baseball talent; so I wisely followed my nose for news.

I began my career as a news reporter in 1971, at the NBC TV affiliate in Richmond, VA, just 25 miles from my childhood home. Aside from general assignment reporting and lighthearted features, my regular "beat" included state and local politics, the federal courts, and education. I could not have forecast then that weather would be my ticket to the big time. But, following a two-week stint "filling in" on weather, I became the station's main weatherperson; and by the mid-1970s, after a brief stop at the NBC station in Baltimore, I was on my way to WABC-TV in New York. Skies were looking sunny!

I spent 9 years at WABC, serving first as weatherman, then morning show host, and finally main sportscaster. During all of those years, I made frequent appearances on ABC's Good Morning America, filling in on weather and doing feature reports and interviews. In 1986, I joined GMA full time as weather forecaster, feature reporter, and co-host. Over the next 13 years, I not only travelled the world, but I also served as spokesperson for ABC's literacy campaign, wrote and published a series of children's books, and had the opportunity to indulge my passion for wine as the host of "Spencer Christian's Wine Cellar", which aired on HGTV and later on the Food Network from 1995 to 2000. More recently, in 2018, I released my memoir entitled "You Bet Your Life: How I Survived Jim Crow Racism, Hurricane Chasing, and Gambling."

After 22 years in New York, I heard the Bay Area and the wine country calling my name. ABC 7 has been my home since 1999, and I now get to test my forecasting skills for the Bay Area's micro-climates. In my time away from work, I enjoy visiting wineries, watching baseball (or just about any sport), working out at the gym, and doing community service. But my greatest joy is spending time with my son and daughter, Jason and Jessica--and more recently my grandsons, Noah and Zach.

Having been blessed with so many memorable career experiences, I find it difficult to name just a few, but here's a short list:

- Interviewing then-Senator Barack Obama just before he announced his candidacy for President
- Emceeing former President Jimmy Carter's 75th birthday celebration (1999) and his 95th (2019) in Americus, GA.
- Surviving and reporting from the Loma Prieta earthquake, while on World Series assignment for GMA in 1989
- Suiting up and playing baseball with the NY Yankees and NY Mets in their spring training camps
- Playing basketball against the Harlem Globetrotters at Madison Square Garden

November 2022 Leon Watkins
Veteran, Actor, Historian Lecturer
Founder of The Walking Ghosts of Black History

The Walking Ghosts of Black History is a historical and educational organization, exploring the history of African American men and women’s engagement in the history of the United States Military. They promote educational programs and community outreach focused on the preservation of African-American Military History and Culture.

They are dedicated to the telling and the preservation of this story in a living way. This is not a dry recitation of history - rather they educate through an accurate display of the past through inter-action and community events. Their events allow participation by anyone and everyone wanting to learn how, when and where African Americans were involved in the US Military both in the United States and aboard. It is the aim of the founders and our sponsors to foster awareness and understanding through knowledge thereby creating constructive exchanges within the community.

The Walking Ghosts of Black History was first established in Hercules, California 1989. The conception of this organization began when Leon Watkins was cast as the flag bearer for the national colors with the Massachusetts 54th Regiment in the motion picture "GLORY". Recognizing Watkins’ true commitment to his ideas and vision, the film producer, Freddie Fields, contributed 20 Civil War uniforms used in the movie to help start THE WALKING GHOSTS OF BLACK HISTORY organization (TWGOBH).

Since then both founders, Leon Watkins and Larry Thompson have participated in numerous community events and school lectures. Participation has included; winning First place in the City of Oakland’s Veteran’s Day parade in 1991 for authenticity, presentation of a commemorative wreath at the ceremony for the 9th and 10th Cavalry / 24th and 25th Infantry in Honor of National Buffalo Soldiers Day in the City of San Francisco, July 1992, the Home Front Festival / Rosie The Riveter Historic Society - Richmond, CA., Oct 2012 and the 1st annual commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Burning of Darien Festival-Darien,Ga. June 2013 – just to name a few.

Their objectives are to work with historians and community leaders to present to the public documentaries and film showcases about African American involvement in the US military. This will create a visual and multimedia platform for educational programs along with a living history archive and reenactments held yearly. They strive to have Veterans play an active role in TWGOBH.

October 2022 Carol Patterson, Shepard's Gate CEO

Carol Patterson began serving as the CEO in January of 2018. Previously, Carol served as Vice President at Cityteam for over 17 years where she focused on homelessness and addiction across the United States. Her expertise in nonprofit ministry, finance, and operations have positioned her to be a visionary leader to advance the organization. She is a hand’s on leader that serves alongside an amazing team at Shepherd’s Gate.

Carol shared her tremendous passion for homeless and abused women and children in the Bay Area that is her most important asset. Carol continues Shepherd’s Gate’s mission and advancement to expand their programs to meet the ever growing needs in our community. She presented how the program works and some of the many success stories getting mothers and families back up on their feet.

September 2022 Danielle Bell

San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District Emergency Coordinator

Danielle Bell is presently with the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District as an Emergency Coordinator. She has been with the District 20 years in various positions. Currently she works on training, emergency preparedness and planning, access & functional needs and manages the HeartSafe program and Community Emergency Response Team program known as CERT. She, along with several colleagues, Cliff Buxton, Diana Kern, and Larry Fong, provided our group with an excellent review of Compression CPR methods and how to use an AED device. An AED, or automated external defibrillator, is used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. It's a sophisticated, yet easy-to-use, medical device that can analyze the heart's rhythm and, if necessary, deliver an electrical shock, or defibrillation, to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm. The group also brought along practice manikins for our entire group to learn the technique. It was a highly informative and interesting experience.

August 2022 Michele McKay-McCoy

Retired Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge

Michele McKay-McCoy is a retired judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose, and longtime resident of Danville.

With a degree in history from UC Santa Barbara, a master's in library science from UC Berkeley, and a law degree from Hastings, she became a prosecutor for the Contra Costa County District Attorneys' Office, then the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. There she specialized in crimes against children (as she says, just as grim as it sounds). In 2006 she was elected judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara, with all cases in criminal law. Retiring in 2020, her current agenda is to give talks about the Constitution, which is a topic increasingly fraught with controversy.

Her talk explained the content and history of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, often called the Civil War Amendments. She brought along a number of copies of the Constitution to hand out to all attendees.

July 2022 Nate Branch, Former Harlem Globetrotter

Nate spent fifteen years with the Globetrotters during their peak ‘Golden Era’ of biggest fame, playing alongside basketball legends including Curly Neal, Geese Ausby, Sweet Lou Dunbar, and his best friend and tour roommate, the late “Crown Prince of Basketball” Meadowlark Lemon.

Nate shared stories about his close friendship with basketball great Wilt Chamberlain, his playing basketball at Ravenswood High School and making the winning shot in the longest high school game ever played, his legendary college playing career in Nebraska, and his long and storied heyday with the Globetrotters. During Nate’s time with the team, they appeared in movies, as guests on dozens of television shows and ABC “Wide World Of Sports” episodes, and toured the world several times over bringing their unique brand of sports entertainment to millions of fans worldwide.

Nate delighted us with first-person accounts about his time on and off the court with many basketball greats; we learned about the famous Grammy-winning music group that tried to recruit Nate to join them as their lead singer, the time Nate found himself playing basketball with the castaways of Gilligan’s Island, the ripped-from-the-headlines scandal that led to Nate’s abrupt and unceremonious departure from the team, his healing after the Globetrotters, his deep faith, love of music and much more.

June 2022 Tory Starling and Eric Stearns

National Park Service/Port Chicago

Victoria Starling (Tory) is an Interpretive and Exhibition design professional, with extensive experience providing engaging, creative programs, exhibits, and presentations for parks, museums and educational institutions; inspiring interest and appreciation for our local history and nature. Her specialties include : exhibition design, graphic design, environmental graphics, photography, illustration, interpretive writing, California ecosystems and natural history interpretation. She has been with the National Park Service for 8 years.

Eric Stearns has been fortunate to work for the National Park Service for the past 20 years, starting in the summer of 2001 as an intern at Muir Woods National Monument. He enjoys educating the public at 15 park locations, mostly in the Bay Area, but also time in Denali National Park, Cape Lookout National Seashore, The Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island, and Rocky Mountain National Park. These parks have provided many amazing opportunities to share our nation's history.

They provided an excellent talk and video segment covering the June 17th, 1944 disaster in Port Chicago, CA. The Port Chicago disaster was a deadly munitions explosion that occurred at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California, United States. Munitions detonated while being loaded onto a cargo vessel bound for the Pacific Theater of Operations, killing 320 sailors and civilians and injuring 390 others. Approximately two-thirds of the dead and injured were enlisted African American sailors. Find more about this tragic event and it's aftermath on Wikipedia. Members were encouraged to visit the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Monument.

May 2022 Dr. John Malloy
Superintendent, San Ramon Valley Unified School District

Dr. John Malloy came to the SRVUSD after having served as the Director of Education (Superintendent) at the Toronto District School Board in Toronto, Canada, which is the largest School Board in Canada and the eighth largest School Board in North America. Dr. Malloy has an extensive background in education at all levels and is a fierce advocate for an equitable, accessible, quality public education.

John has a vision for learning that every student deserves a great education and that we have a responsibility to ensure that students feel connected and engaged. We must have high expectations and create spaces for teaching and learning that support students and staff in meeting those expectations. He believes that we must know our students by understanding their strengths, interests and lived experiences. To fully support their learning, as adults, we must recognize in ourselves what biases we might have that may affect student learning and counter those biases to ensure that the ways we are leading and teaching are relevant and engaging. When warranted, we must shift our attitudes and practice to meet their needs. Additionally, we must allocate our human and financial resources strategically to support student needs and ensure that all schools offer a wide range of programming that reflects the voices, choices, abilities, identities and experiences of all students.

By strengthening relationships and continuing to build partnerships among students, staff, families and communities, student needs are supported, and learning and well-being will improve. John believes that together we can build positive school and workplace cultures that support mental health and well-being, are free of bias and full of potential.

Prior to his work at the Toronto District School board, Dr. Malloy was the Assistant Deputy Minister of Education/Chief Student Achievement Officer at the Ontario Ministry of Education and was the Director of Education (Superintendent) at the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board in Ontario, Canada. During his career, he has been a principal, vice principal, English teacher and guidance counselor. He is the author of an extensive array of education related articles and papers, as well as a frequent presenter at educational conferences and symposiums.

April 2022 Sonia Lo
Entrepreneur, Investor, Farmer, Chef

Sonia Lo, former Chief Executive Officer of Crop One Holdings, has been recently appointed to the board of directors for urban- gro, Inc. urban-gro, Inc.® (Nasdaq: UGRO) is a fully integrated architectural, engineering and cultivation systems integration for commercial cannabis and food-focused Controlled Environment Agriculture (“CEA”) facilities. She provided an excellent overview and status of this evolving industry trend.

She is also the Founder and Managing Director of Chalsys LLP, an advisory and direct investment firm which has invested over $120 million in 15 global growth stage companies. Prior to Chalsys, Ms. Lo was co-founder and CEO of eZoka Group, a UK-based internet startup that was sold in 2002. Ms. Lo is a former Director of Global Content for Google.

She was appointed one of the Global 100 Technology Pioneers at the World Economic Forum in 2000 and 2001 and named one of Management Today’s leading 35 businesswomen in the UK under the age of 35.

Ms. Lo earned her BA in Political Science from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard University. She holds Professional Chef and Pastry Qualifications from London and City College and completed certifications in Green Supply Chain Management and Zero Energy Architecture.

March 2022 Chad Nightingale

Salesian College Preparatory (Richmond) Head Football Coach
Athletic Director & Science Department Head

Under Chad’s tutelage, Salesian has won the Division VI CIF State football championship the last two years. Salesian football team typically has a roster of 30 or so players. To say that Chad is just a football coach greatly understates his role at Salesian over his 28 years there. You start with Science: Department Chair, Director of Athletics, AP Biology Teacher, Coach of Varsity Football and Track and Field, but that doesn’t tell the whole story of Chad’s impact. In short, Chad changes the trajectory of students’ lives.

Salesian College Preparatory, a coed Catholic secondary school with an enrollment ~ 400 students in Richmond, has more than 90% of their students are persons of color. More than 44% qualify for free or reduced lunch and 70% qualify for need-based financial assistance. Our families struggle with the financial challenges associated with living in the urban areas of the East Bay. These families face multiple daily barriers from the high cost of housing in the San Francisco Bay Area, food scarcity, low wages, high crime, and violence.

Salesian enables its students to access an equitable education, graduate from high school, go on to higher learning and become successful in life. Year over year, 99% of our students are eligible for the University of California or California State University system.

February 2022 Scott Horton, Financial Advisor

Scott Horton is President and CEO at J.P. King Advisors, Inc. in Walnut Creek, CA. J.P. King Advisors is a Registered Investment Advisory firm serving as fiduciaries for approximately 400 client households. Scott will provide his outlook on the 2022 economy and the stock market. Scott gave us his outlook last year so will provide an update on how it actually turned out.

Scott holds a BS degree in Managerial Economics from the University of California, Davis. He holds both a MS degree in Finance and a graduate certificate in Financial Planning from Golden Gate University. He is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner. He has over 25 years of experience as a personal financial advisor.

To view a YouTube video of our February 2022 meeting, click HERE.

January 2022 Coach Frank Allocco Sr.
Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of San Francisco

Coach Frank Allocco provided a fascinating talk on his perseverance as a young athlete to achieve his personal goals and the experiences and choices he was faced with along the way. He was born and raised in New Providence, New Jersey. He attended New Providence H.S. where he was an All State Athlete in three sports, football, basketball and baseball. He was also the Scholar Athlete for the class of 1971. Upon graduation from high school, he earned a football scholarship to the University of Notre Dame where he participated on the Varsity football and basketball teams. He was a three year letterman in football as a quarterback and was set to be the starting quarterback in his redshirt senior year (1975) until a separated shoulder curtailed his playing time.

Frank moved to California in 1976, and traveled 15 Western States as the Regional Manager for Barnell Loft Publications. He eventually purchased Incentives for Learning, an educational publishing firm that produced and distributed educational materials serving school districts throughout the country. He became involved in youth athletics as a coach in the Saint Agnes CYO program and also served as the Athletic Director for over ten years. He is currently the Vice President of the East Diablo CYO program. In 1981, he founded the popular Excel in Basketball summer camp which serves as a teaching camp for basketball skills and provides a motivational base for the thousands of youngsters in California and in New Jersey that attend the camp each year.

He has been a featured motivational speaker at corporate sales meetings, business groups and organizations, basketball clinics and camps. His message “The Winning Edge” has been embraced by the thousands of people who have heard his inspirational lectures. In 2002, he was a lead clinician at the Nike All Asia Basketball Clinic in Beijing, China and in 2010 was the featured speaker to the Belgium Basketball Federation.

Mr. Allocco became the Head Basketball Coach at Northgate High School in 1991. Prior to his arrival, Northgate had just 1 winning season in their previous 10 years. In his six year tenure, the Broncos compiled a 167-28 won-lost record. They were the California State Champions in 1995 and were the State Runner-up in 1996. He was named East Bay Coach of the Year in 1995 and 1996.

In May of 1997 he was named the Head Basketball Coach at De La Salle High School in Concord. In eighteen years his teams won 17 league championships, 9 Section Championships, 4 Regional Championships, and 2 State Championships.

Coach Allocco was the 27th Coach in State History to win 600 games and reached that milestone faster than any coach in the history of California interscholastic athletics. He ended his 24 year high school career second All-Time in Winning Percentage and is the only coach in California State History to win a State Championship at 2 different schools.

In May of 2015, Coach Allocco was named the Associate Head Coach at the University of San Francisco and after one season was named the Senior Associate Athletic Director at the University of San Francisco.

Coaching Honors
Head Coach-McDonald's All-American Game: 2014
National High School Coach of the Year (Student Sports): 2000
National Catholic Coach of the Year (Sportsfaith International): 2011-12
California State Coach of the Year (Cal Hi Sports): 2000
California State Coach of the Year (California Coaches Association: 2010
California State Coach of the Year (Max Preps): 2010-11
California Interscholastic Federation North Coast Honors Coach: 2003-04
East Bay Coach of the Year: 1994-95, 1995-96, 2005-06, 2010-11
Head Coach-Michael Jordan All American Game, Madison Square Garden: 2006
Head Coach-Academic All American Game in Los Angeles: 2010
Head Coach-Elite Showcase All-American Classic in Washington, D.C.: 2014

December 2021 Beverly Lane

East Bay Regional Park District Board Member

Former Danville mayor and council member, and longtime East Bay Regional Park District Board of Directors member Beverly Lane will serve as the board's secretary this year. She will also chair the natural and cultural resources committee.

Lane — an author, columnist, curator of thye Museum of the San Ramon Valley and former Contra Costa County Historical Society president — played a role in establishing the Iron Horse Regional Trail, Calaveras Ridge Trail and Sycamore Valley Open Park, EBRP said in a press release. She also reviewed land use plans for the Concord Naval Weapons Station as a 2008 and 2009 community advisory committee member. A 2,500-acre park is planned there now. Her term expires in 2022.

To view a YouTube video of our December 2021 meeting, click HERE.

November 2021 Allan Shields, Danville Police Chief

Chief Shields has been in law enforcement for 20 years. He was hired in 1999 by the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff. He worked in the main jail, the Transportation Unit, and then in the county areas as a patrol deputy. He has also worked in the city of San Ramon as an officer and a detective when the city contracted police services with the Office of the Sheriff. He was promoted to sergeant in 2007 and again worked in the main jail and the Transportation Unit as a supervisor. In 2009, he started work as the investigation supervisor for the Town of Danville and worked in that capacity for three years before taking a position as an Internal Affairs Investigator at the Professional Standard’s Unit of the Sheriff’s Office.

In 2013, he was promoted to lieutenant serving as the Administrative Lieutenant for the Town of Danville. He was selected as the Chief for the Town of Danville in July 2017. He concurrently served as a team leader and then as the Assistant Commander for the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team where he oversaw all functions of the SWAT Team.

As the Chief of Police, he is responsible for all major functions of the Police Department to include, Patrol, Traffic Enforcement, Investigations, School Resources, and Administration. He plans strategically to prepare the Police Department and the community for the future of public safety while managing current trends in crime and enforcement. He works collaboratively with citizens, Town staff, and law enforcement officials from around the globe to identify and solve problems relating to public safety. On a day-to-day basis, he ensures the department is maintaining a high level of service delivery and outreach with the Danville community.

Chief Shields earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management and graduated from the FBI National Academy, Session 268.

To view a YouTube video of our November 2021 meeting, click HERE.

October 2021 Paul Ruff

Paul has been a San Francisco bar pilot for over 10 years. These are the people that jump onto the large ships that come into San Francisco Bay every day. They then give instructions to the ship’s captain on the exact route to take to successfully guide the ship past numerous underwater sand bars and other obstacles to their destination. We have deep water ports all the way to Stockton, down to Moffett field and many other ports around the Bay.

All attending members found his presentation to be both interesting and informative. Just think of the ship that was stuck in the Suez Canal. Some Egyptian bar pilot got it wrong.

To view a YouTube video our our October 2021 meeting, click HERE.

September 2021 Jon D. Haveman, Ph.D.
Executive Director, NEED

Dr. Haveman is a returning guest speaker who spoke to us on the topic of coronavirus economics back in November of 2020. In his September presentation, he spoke about US Infrastructure - how it is defined, the US infrastructure report card, and the costs and what are the benefits of infrastructure investments. His use of graphics in his presentation and clear talking points provided our group an excellent overview and you can click on this US INFRASTRUCTURE. link to download a .pdf of his presentation.

Jon Haveman is the Executive Director of the National Economic Education Delegation (NEED). He is a noted California economist, where he has been practicing since 2001. He has a reputation for providing audiences with edible economic information that is readily useful in their work and private lives.

Prior to starting NEED, Jon was a principal at Marin Economic Consulting, a founding principal at Beacon Economics and the Director of the Economy Program at the Public Policy Institute of California. He has been a Senior Economist with the President's Council of Economic Advisers, an Economist with the Federal Trade Commission, and held a faculty position in the Business School at Purdue University.

Dr. Haveman an expert on economic policy issues and speaks regularly at events across California. His more than 400 talks have covered a wide range of policy topics as well as addressing the state of the U.S., California, and Bay Area economies. Dr. Haveman holds a Ph.D and Master of Science in Economics from The University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Wisconsin.

Note: To view a video on YouTube of this meeting please click HERE.

August 2021 Ron Baskett, Certified Consulting Meteorologist
Chair, Science Committee Tri-Valley Air Quality Community Alliance

Much of Ron’s 44-year career has focused on calculating the health effects from pollutants and hazardous substances released into the air. Ron earned bachelor and master’s degrees in atmospheric science at UC Davis in the 1970s completing a thesis on the contributions of local vs. regionally transported particulate matter and ozone on air quality in Yosemite Valley. Ron started his professional career in environmental consulting developing and applying several dispersion models to generate air quality permits for major new industrial developments in the western US.

In 1983, Ron joined a group at Lawrence Livermore National Lab which develops real-time estimates of the consequences of major hazardous atmospheric releases of radiological, biological or chemical material worldwide. Several inter-agency collaborations involved supporting the Bay Area Quality Management District for responses to accidents in the Bay Area as well as collaborations with the state’s Office of Emergency Services and Air Resources Board. Retiring from LLNL in 2017, Ron continues to consult on air quality hazards as a Certified Consulting Meteorologist.

Credentials
M.S. Atmospheric Science, University of California at Davis
B.S. Atmospheric Science, University of California at Davis
Certified Consulting Meteorologist #346, American Meteorological Society

Honors & Awards
2011, 2009, 2008, 2004, & 1991 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Directorate Awards
2002 US DOE Emergency Management Issues award
1997 NASA Award for Cassini Program support
1995 EG&G Energy Measurements General Manager’s Vision Award for Technical Excellence

To view a YouTube video of our August 2021 meeting, click HERE.

July 2021 Geoffrey Woglom, Ph.D./Economist

Geoffrey Woglom is Professor of Economics emeritus at Amherst College where he taught for over 40 years. During his career, he has been a consultant at the Federal Reserve Board and the International Monetary fund and held visiting positions at Harvard, Cambridge, LSE and Nanjing universities. His July SIR128 presentation was focused on a very timely subject: “The Federal Debt and Deficit” You can view his slide show HERE.

Degrees
Ph.D., Yale University (1974)
M.Phil., Yale University (1970)
B.A., Yale College (1968)
A.M. (honorary), Amherst College (1984)

Awards and Honors
Fulbright Scholar, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town South Africa, 1999
Scholarly and Professional Activities
1993-1994, Visiting Professor, Department of Economics, Harvard University
1991-1992, Visiting Lecturer, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge;
Visiting Scholar, Pembroke College, Cambridge
1988-1993, Visiting Scholar, International Monetary Fund (summers)
1984-1985, Academic Visitor, Centre for Labour Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science
1977-1978, Financial Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
1976-1977, Visiting Economist, Banking Section, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

To view a YouTube video of our July 2021 meeting, click HERE.

June 2021 Paul Stich, Technology Executive/Entrepreneur/Educator

Paul's career has been focused on building innovative, high-growth companies within the technology sector. He was the CEO of three successful internet security companies, Counterpane acquired by British Telecom in 2006, Dasient acquired by Twitter in 2012, and Appthority acquired by Symantec in 2018. Paul currently teaches Entrepreneurship at Saint Mary’s College and is an investor and advisor to several early stage companies. One of the companies is Countable, where he serves as COO, which provides a powerful platform for mission-driven organizations, campaigns, movements, and causes.

Prior to founding his first company 1999 Paul was a Vice President for IBM responsible for consulting and services in their Telecommunications, Media, Entertainment and Utilities industries for the Americas. He was also with KPMG for 12 years where he was Partner in charge of their National Telecommunications practice.

Paul has served on multiple public and private boards including Procera Networks (PKT) and Esoterix (acquired by Laboratory Corporation of America.) He is a member of the Saint Mary’s College Board of Regents and serves on the board of directors for All Stars Helping Kids where he mentors several amazing social entrepreneurs as they focus on disrupting the cycle of poverty in the Bay Area.

Paul received his MBA from the University of Notre Dame and his B/S degree from Saint Mary’s College.

To view a YouTube video of our June 2021 meeting, click HERE.

May 2021 Ted Clement, Attorney, Conservationist and Environmentalist
Executive Director, Save Mount Diablo

Ted has been studying and working in the conservation field for over 30 years. He was an Environmental Studies major at the University of Vermont where he received his Bachelor of Science degree. Ted later received his Juris Doctor degree from Vermont Law School where he focused on land conservation law. He is a licensed attorney. After graduating from college, Ted was an instructor and environmental educator for the Outward Bound School in Maine. He then worked and completed his service as a Peace Corps national park volunteer in Thailand. After the Peace Corps, Ted worked in the stewardship and legal departments at Vermont Land Trust while in law school. After receiving his Juris Doctor degree, Ted was hired by the Aquidneck Land Trust in Rhode Island. He served as the Land Protection Director for 5 years and then as the Executive Director for over 7 years until he accepted a position in Hawaii. In January 2013, he began working as the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust’s Executive Director and he served in that role until he was offered a job as Save Mount Diablo’s Executive Director in California near the end of 2015 – a job that would bring the Clement family together again as their oldest son was at college in California.

Ted is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Specialist Group on Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas. Ted has served on the Boards of various environmental non-profit organizations, and he has also received a number of awards and a Center for Whole Communities fellowship for his conservation work. He is passionate about his family, time outdoors, and working with others to create lasting public good by protecting, and connecting people to, the land which sustains us.

To view a YouTube video of our May 2021 meeting, click HERE. A copy of Ted's slide show in .pdf format can be downloaded by clicking HERE.

Discover Diablo Hiking Series – current offerings found here: (registration opens 60 days prior to the event)
https://www.savemountdiablo.org/activities/discover-diablo-guided-hikes/

Nature Heals and Inspires Series – past presentations can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoIEiiu1F7vLZRBnC0bUHu_tFV9_XBiH8

The next Nature Heals and Inspires is on May 27, 2021 ‘Preserving the Past, Inspiring the Future with Sean Burke’ free registration here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/preserving-the-past-inspiring-the-future-with-sean-burke-registration-146830442807?ref=estw

Membership information:
https://www.savemountdiablo.org/how-to-help/membership/

April 2021 David Seaborg, Biologist, Teacher, Author and Environmentalist
President and Founder of the World Rainforest Fund

David Seaborg has taught biology at all levels from kindergarten to the university level, including the basic biology course at the University of California at Berkeley, university extension courses, courses at museums, field courses for all ages, at Burton Academic High School in San Francisco, and biology for elementary school.

He currently teaches various life science courses at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, which is part of the University of California at Berkeley extension program, and at the Fromm Institute for Lifelong Learning, at the University of San Francisco.

David is President and Founder of the World Rainforest Fund, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to saving the earth’s tropical rainforests and biodiversity. He also founded and headed the Seaborg Open Space Fund, named in honor of his father, Glenn T. Seaborg, to raise money and awareness to save open space from development in central Contra Costa County. This fund raised $20,000 in less than a year to successfully help save Acalanes Ridge in Lafayette, California.

March 2021 Jim Eyen, former NBA coach

Jim Eyen’s NBA experiences include the 1990 NBA All-Star game, a trip to the NBA Finals with the Lakers (starring Magic Johnson, Byron Scott & James Worthy) losing to the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan in 1991, and another trip to the Western Conference Finals in 1999 with the Portland Trail Blazers (with Scottie Pippen, Rasheed Wallace and Greg Anthony) which lost to the Lakers with Shaq and Kobe in a dramatic 7th game.

Jim has coached Los Angeles Lakers (Pat Riley, Mike Dunleavy and Byron Scott), Milwaukee Bucks (star player Glen “Big Dog” Robinson), Los Angeles Clippers (Donald Sterling, owner), Portland Trail Blazers and Sacramento Kings (Boogie Cousins and Tyreke Evans were the stars). He coached the Lakers in 2016 including Kobe Bryant’s last NBA season. In 2016, Eyen joined the Minnesota Timberwolves as their West Coast Collegiate personnel scout before transitioning this year into doing basketball broadcasts for (his alma mater) UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball.

Jim was inducted into the “Court of Champions” Hall of Fame in Santa Barbara. Eyen's basketball interests extend internationally. He has served as a consultant to clubs in the Netherlands, Germany, China and Japan and has participated in the NBA's “Basketball Without Borders Europe” program in France.

SIR Joe Reid, longtime friend of Jim's, performed admirably as "our" sports reporter interviewing Jim on his career and other aspects of his NBA experiences.

To view a video of our March 2021 meeting, click HERE.

February 2021 Brandon Tachco, Ph.D.
World Maritime History Research and Development Coordinator
San Francisco Maritime National Park Association
San Francisco Maritime Museum and Research Center

Brandon Tachco has a PhD in World History from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Currently, he is working as the Research and Development Coordinator for the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association, where he leads experiential education programs aboard the historic ships, researches California education content standard trends, assists with education and marketing program development, writes grants, manages communications, helps organize fundraising and cultural events, and is the Managing Editor for their membership maritime history publication, the Sea Letter. His research looks at shipping and shipbuilding at the turn of the 20th century. Through the lens of ships and shipbuilding materials, he analyzes the many transnational connections these topics represent, including a seemingly isolate shipbuilding culture and society in Glasgow to complex geo-political developments and business imperial expansion in South and Southeast Asia. Brandon is also teaching courses at California State University Maritime Academy.

Nineteenth century merchant sailing ships like Balclutha were worlds unto themselves. This maritime world was a uniquely transnational space that was separate from, but still very much connected to, the wider-world of which they were a part. The cargo they carried, the people that lived on them, even the very material from which they were built were all integral to the complex, inter-dependent, ever-globalizing, nineteenth century world of growing state power, multi-national business, inter-regional migrations, and European imperialism. During Balclutha’s careers, it carried cargo all over the world and was an essential part in connecting the lives and stories of people from many different classes, races, nationalities and creeds. While this is true of Balclutha’s life, it is equally true of its birth. Even the smallest piece of material used for its construction represents a complex, inter-connected nineteenth century world, and tells the stories of the countless individuals whose lives were in some way connected to, and dependent on, nineteenth-century ships.

To view a YouTube video of our February 2021 meeting, click HERE.

January 2021 Scott N. Horton, CFP®
President and CEO at J.P. King Advisors

Scott Horton is President and CEO at J.P. King Advisors, Inc. in Walnut Creek, CA. J.P. King Advisors is a Registered Investment Advisory firm serving as fiduciaries for approximately 400 client households. Scott will provide a 2021 Outlook on the economy and the stock market. With the Presidential and Senate races still being settled, this will be a timely discussion. Coincidentally, our Zoom meeting will follow the Inauguration.

Scott holds a BS degree in Managerial Economics from the University of California, Davis. He holds both a MS degree in Finance and a graduate certificate in Financial Planning from Golden Gate University. He is also a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ practitioner. He has over 25 years of experience as a personal financial advisor.

Click HERE to view Scott's Slides. To view a YouTube video of our Jan 2021 meeting, click HERE.

December 2020 Alice Benjamin
Board-certified & Award-winning Clinical Nurse/Media Speaker

Nurse Alice will be speaking about The Six Pillars of Brain Health. This program is designed to empower participants to take charge of their brain health and learn more about the six pillars of a healthy-brain lifestyle. Learning objectives include: (1) Helping people understand that it’s never too late to take charge of your brain health, and (2) Educating people about he six pillars of brain health and discuss practical, brain-boosting behaviors.

“Nurse Alice” Benjamin is a nationally board certified and award winning Clinical Nurse Specialist and emergency room nurse specializing in cardiovascular health. She is a seasoned clinician with vast experience in a multitude of health settings both inside and outside the hospital. She has also lead the charge against medical errors and epidemics as a former Patient Safety Manager at a large academic tertiary medical center.

She is a community health activist and involved member of several professional organizations. Most notably she was the first African American nurse elected to the American Nurses Association/California Board of Directors, served on the National Health Policy Committee for NBNA, is a former California AARP Affordable Care Act Advisor and past chairwoman for the American Heart Association’s Western States Multicultural Health Equity Task Force overseeing 10 states with programs that impact nearly 65 million people.

Nurse Alice is a top-tier media-trained health expert. Some of her television appearances include Fox and Friends, Dr. Oz, The Doctors, Dr. Drew, HLN News Now, KTLA 5 Morning News, and NewsOne Now. She’s also appeared on a variety of radio shows across the nation as a health expert for Fox News affiliate radio stations, the Tom Joyner Morning Show, WENO 760 AM, and Los Angeles stations KJLH 102.3 FM, KDAY 93.5 FM and KFI-AM 640.

To view a YouTube video of our December 2020 meeting, click HERE.

November 2020 Jon D. Haveman, Ph.D.
Executive Director, NEED

Dr. Haveman spoke to us on the topic of coronavirus economics. His use of graphics in his presentation and clear talking points provided our group an excellent overview of of the facts and expectations regarding how the pandemic will impact us in the short-term and for years to come.

Jon Haveman is the Executive Director of the National Economic Education Delegation (NEED). He is a noted California economist, where he has been practicing since 2001. He has a reputation for providing audiences with edible economic information that is readily useful in their work and private lives. Prior to starting NEED, Jon was a principal at Marin Economic Consulting, a founding principal at Beacon Economics and the Director of the Economy Program at the Public Policy Institute of California. He has been a Senior Economist with the President's Council of Economic Advisers, an Economist with the Federal Trade Commission, and held a faculty position in the Business School at Purdue University.

To view a YouTube video of our November 2020 meeting, click HERE.

October 2020 Dave Carey
Former Navy Pilot/POW, Author & Motivational Speaker

Our October ZOOM meeting on Wednesday October 21st included an enthralling presentation/talk by Mr. Dave Carey. Dave spent 5 ½ years as a POW in Vietnam, spending much of that time at the infamous Hanoi Hilton. Dave was a navy pilot who was shot down and captured. He shared a number of stories about his experiences in jail including how he was treated during that time. Most importantly he talked about how he survived torture and isolation and how that applies to our lives. If you happen to be traveling in Hanoi and go to the jail, you will see stories of how wonderfully the prisoners were treated, getting the best medical attention, food and clothing, etc. Dave had a different take on those claims. All in attendance were captivated by his talk.

DAVE CAREY is an acclaimed motivational speaker, consultant, coach, and author aiming to bring joy, hope, wisdom, and encouragement to all with whom he has contact. Drawing from his experiences as a POW for five and a half years he reminds his audiences of the power of the human spirit to triumph over adversity; - and that we always have choices. His programs are customized to address the challenges your organization faces; and to reinforce the values and goals of your organization. Dave's message is real, entertaining, immediate, and challenging. He offers inspiration for a more rewarding professional and personal life.

For the last 30 years, as a highly sought after motivational speaker, consultant, coach and author, his clients have included IBM, Merck, 3M, Apple, Starbucks, and many, many others. (See the partial list of testimonials.)

A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Dave became a carrier-based pilot during the Vietnam War. After his plane was shot down, he was interred as a POW in Hanoi for five and a half years.

Among his military honors are the Legion of Merit, five Bronze Stars, two Meritorious Service Medals, the Purple Heart, eight Air Medals, and the Navy Commendation Medal. After returning from Vietnam, he held three positions as a commanding officer, including service as Director of the Navy's Leadership and Management Training program. He retired from the Navy with the rank of Captain.

Dave is the author of "The Way We Choose: Lessons for Life from a POW's Experience". You can contact Dave at dave@davecarey.com for details or to book Dave. His web site is https://www.davecarey.com/.

To view a YouTube video of this October 2020 meeting, click HERE.

September 2020 Paige Meyer & Frank Drayton
Chief & Deputy Chief, San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District

Chief Meyer joined the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District (SRVFPD) on March 18, 2013. He currently serves as a Board Member for the East Bay Regional Communications System Authority, an honorary board member of the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce, a board member and secretary for Leadership San Ramon Valley, on the Police and Fire Fallen Heroes scholarship committee, a Honorary Airforce Commander with Travis Airforce Base and is an active member of the Contra Costa County Executive Fire Chiefs, serving as current President of both the Executive Chiefs and County chiefs.

Prior to being hired by the SRVFPD, Chief Meyer began his career over 25 years ago, as a volunteer Firefighter and later as a Public Safety Officer, with the city of Sunnyvale, he then served at the City of Vallejo Fire Department, holding the positions of Firefighter, Engineer, Captain, Battalion Chief and Fire Chief. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Public Administration from California State University at Chico as well as a Fire Science degree. He lives in Danville with his wife, Molly, and 3 children Ellie, Kailey and Lincoln.

To view a YouTube video of our September 2020 meeting, click HERE.

August 2020 Bill Clarkson, San Ramon Mayor

Bill Clarkson was elected as the Mayor of San Ramon in 2011. He was re-elected as Mayor in 2013, 2016 and 2018. He was raised in Oakland and received a Masters’ Degree in Business Administration at San Jose State University in 1978. He is married and has a married daughter and grandchildren. He served in the US Air Force from 1970 to 1976.

Bill is a small business owner, and began his company in San Ramon in 1978. His real estate firm, Clarkson Santoro, is the longest continuous owned real estate brokerage firm in San Ramon (43 years). He was awarded the “Business Person of the Year” by the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce in 1997 and by the Contra Costa Business Council in 2002. He was elected to the San Ramon Valley Unified School District Board in 1998 and served three terms, including three times as the Board President. He was one of the co-chairs of the successful 1998 school bond that allowed the school district to begin rebuilding San Ramon schools. Bill also has a long history of service with the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce, serving on its Board of Directors for 11 years, including one as its Chairman of the Board in 2008.

He served in a number of positions with the City of San Ramon. He was a member of the Housing Advisory Committee, serving as its Chair in 1994. In 1998 he was a member of the City Charter Commission, and was a Parks and Community Services Commissioner from 2009 to 2011. Bill is also a long-term San Ramon Rotarian and enjoys its opportunity for community and international service. In 2000 Bill traveled to Africa with a Rotary International team to administer Polio vaccinations. In 2010 he helped to found the Dougherty Valley/San Ramon Rotary Club, and served as their Charter President.

To view a YouTube video of our August 2020 meeting, click HERE.

July 2020 Coach Justin Alumbaugh
Coach, De La Salle Football Team

Coach “Baugh as he is referred to replaced the legendary Bob Ladouceur the winningest high school football coach in California. He took over one of the most storied prep programs in American sports. The Spartans of De La Salle have won every North Coast Section Division I title since 1992. They are the only program to play in a state bowl game every year. A former inside linebacker and tight end for De La Salle in his high school years Alumbaugh never lost a game as a three year starter for the Spartans. While barely out of UCLA Ladouceur already wanted the former Spartan standout to be his eventual replacement. According to Ladouceur in referring to Alumbaugh “He’s his own guy.” But I think the area of what we want for the kids—our concept of team, our philosophy of coaching, even our knowledge of coaching—is pretty close.”

Expectations for the players are always high at De La Salle as stated by Coach Alumbaugh “ I think great coaches are great educators and there’s a lot of commonality in what they all do---getting kids to reassess what their limits and abilities are, and getting them to work and achieve what they can as best they can. No matter where you are, science class or out on the field, it’s pretty much the same thing.” ( Taken from: New De La Salle football coach Justin Alumbaugh takes reins from Bob Ladouceur, by Stepanie Hammon, Mercury News ,Bay Area News,8/12/2013)

To view a YouTube video of our July 2020 meeting, click HERE.

June 2020 Newell Arnerich
Danville Councilman/Former Mayor

Danville Councilmember/six term Mayor, elected 1995. His community involvement started 30 years ago on Danville’s Design Review Board / Planning Commission. Newell serves on a variety of local and statewide committees keeping Danville at the forefront of engagement. An advocate for public education serving on Measure D School Facilities Bond Committee and Co-Chair, Valley Wide Committee on Youth Safety. Danville’s financial health has been guided by Newell’s “pay as you go” fiscal policies keeping Danville fiscally strong. As Mayor, Newell presided over “hometown hero” celebrations of Captain “Sully” Sullenberger and Olympic Gold Medalists Jessica and Maggie Steffens.

Graduate of Leadership San Ramon Valley, League of California Cities Mayors & Council Members Academy for Leadership and Advanced Leadership. Newell has published over 50 articles on governance, leadership and economic trends. He has guest lectured at Stanford University MBA International Classes, UC Berkeley and other institutions. Newell earned Bachelors/Masters degrees in Architecture/Urban Design, UC Berkeley and is President/CEO of awarding winning architectural firm for past 40 years.

To view a YouTube video our our June 2020 meeting, click HERE.

February 2020 Ben Lavender

Central Contra Costa Sanitary District Community Affairs

Ben Lavender is a Community Affairs Representative for the Central Contra Costa Sanitary District. Ben manages Central San's education programs, which provide wastewater curricula to kindergarten through 12th grade classrooms across Central San's service area. Ben also runs the public tours of Central San’s regional wastewater treatment plant and speaks to groups throughout central Contra Costa County. Ben's presentation on CENTRAL SAN was very interesting (click HERE to see his slides) and entertaining. Who knew the 3 P's were Paper (toilet), Poop and Pee! Our luncheon attendees are now all more knowledgeable about what happens when we flush or release waste into our drains.

Prior to arriving at Central San, Ben was the head of teacher professional development for the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and did curriculum development for the Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland. Ben is a former classroom science teacher. He has taught in San Francisco, Oakland, and Orinda. Ben will educate us on the Central Sanitary District, its infrastructure, its day to day functions and planned future projects.

January 2020 Duffy Jennings, Journalist

Duffy Jennings has compiled a distinguished and nationally-recognized career in communications over five decades. A prize-winning writer for the San Francisco Chronicle in the tumultuous 1970s, Duffy’s coverage included the Patty Hearst kidnapping, the Zodiac and Zebra serial murders, and the City Hall assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk.

The newspaper submitted his reporting on the subsequent murder trial of their killer, former Supervisor Dan White, for Pulitzer Prize consideration. Jennings won the prestigious International Association of Fire Fighters national newswriting award for his series as an embedded firefighter in San Francisco’s busiest firehouse, “Riding with Engine Co. 21.” Jennings subsequently served as vice president of public relations for the San Francisco Giants, where he supervised 1000 media from around the globe during the 1989 World Series at Candlestick Park that was postponed by the 6.9-magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake. Duffy has appeared extensively on the national media including all major networks, the Travel Channel, the Discovery Channel and the History Channel. Veteran actor Adam Goldberg portrays Duffy in the 2007 film, “Zodiac.”

Jennings won the San Francisco Peninsula Press Club award in 2009 for his blog on SFGate.com, and his writing has appeared in Rolling Stone, San Francisco Magazine, San Jose Magazine, Los Gatos Magazine, Great Crimes of San Francisco and other publications. Duffy earned his BA in journalism from San Francisco State University. He lives in Danville, California with his wife, Bonnie Becker, and has two grown children, Adam and Danielle, and two grandsons.

November 2019 Dan McGovern
President, Eugene O'Neill Foundation

In retirement, Dan McGovern’s avocation is theater. He is the president of the board of the Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House, in Danville and co-chair of the Eugene O’Neill International Festival of Theatre in New Ross, Ireland. Dan is also a Visiting Research Scholar in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dan regaled our group back in August, 2018 with some insights into his career in government, at both the federal and state levels. During President Reagan’s first term Dan was the second-ranking attorney in the U.S. State Department. While at the State Department Dan testified before Congress 13 times and headed U.S. delegations for bilateral treaty negotiations with a dozen countries. He also defended the United States before the World Court in The Hague.

In the second Reagan administration Dan was the general counsel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency of 10,000 employees. Dan served in the administration of President George H.W. Bush as the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the western United States. There he managed a staff of 800, ranging from lawyers to toxicologists. Dan was also the general counsel of the California Department of Transportation. At CalTrans Dan managed a staff of 125 attorneys. Dan began his career as a Deputy Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the California Department Justice. He also served on the staff of the California Supreme Court for 20 years.

October 2019 Steven Campbell, Author & Radio Host

Steven Campbell is an author, speaker, and mentor to individuals and organizations worldwide. With a Bachelor's of Science Degree in Zoology from San Diego State University and a Master's of Science Degree in Information, Steven Campbell has been a college professor and educational dean in northern California for over 20 years. In addition to Making Your Mind Magnificent Steven is the author of two college textbooks. He is also radio host for his world-wide program titled "Making Your Mind Magnificent" which can be heard every Wednesday morning on KOWS (kows107-3.org/). Steven also conducts workshops throughout the United States on how to make our minds our greatest mentors.

Steven provided a highly creative and thought-providing presentation on our Mind and Feelings. You can view his slides in PDF form HERE.

September 2019 Bip Roberts, former MLB 2nd Baseman

Leon Joseph "Bip" Roberts, born in 1963 in Berkeley, California, is a former Major League Baseball second baseman and outfielder who played from 1986 to 1998 for several Major League teams including the Oakland Athletics. He is best known for his hitting and base-stealing skills and now as the color co-host for Comcast SportsNet A’s game coverage. Bip entertained our group with his story of growing up in Oakland and what led to his decision to pursue a career in Major League Baseball. Our membership really enjoyed his presentation.

In Bip’s 13 years of professional ball as a switch hitter, he finished with a .294 lifetime batting average with 30 home runs and 352 RBIs. Noteworthy are his 264 stolen bases, averaging over 20 per season, on top of his 27 RBIs average. His most productive season as a base stealer came in 1990 with San Diego where he stole 46 bases, ranking him in the top ten in the majors that year.

Noteworthy in Bip’s career is his 1992 NL All-Star game appearance, going 2-for-2 with two RBIs. He was also Cincinnati Reds team MVP that year and finished 8th in the NL MVP voting, stealing 44 bases and hitting .323. That year he also tied an NL record with ten consecutive hits. Later with the Padres in 1994 he hit in an MLB best 24-game hitting streak.

Bip continues to give back to his community, serving as an Asst. Coach for the Academy of Arts Urban Knights DII-Pac West Baseball program in 2010-2012, and donating time to the Students Rising Above Foundation, helping low-income, at-risk Bay Area kids.

Lastly, how can you fault a guy that uses “Bipster” as his email handle!

August 2019 Vivienne Wong

Vivienne Wong, Coordinator of the Indian Life program at the Museum of the San Ramon Valley, provided our members with a detailed history and description of the native peoples (in Alamo/Danville, the Tatcan tribe and in San Ramon, the Seunen tribe) living in our local area prior to the arrival of New Spain settlers in the 17th century. Her presentation was extremely interesting and well-received by all members in attendance.

Ms. Wong was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in New York City. "My first Indians," she recalls, "were the Iroquois, Mohawk and Pocahontas. Thanksgiving was a holiday celebrating the Pilgrims, who settled just a state away." After graduating from Wellesley College, she worked in publication: Look Magazine, Cleveland Plain Dealer and Vogue Magazine. Then she and her husband became international expatriates living in Tokyo, Lagos, and Hong Kong.

Returning to the U.S. in 1994, she and her family settled in Danville. "After living in the densest cities of the world," she says,"being in a house with a lawn was a new experience. I brought two cats who had never walked on green grass." When Vivienne joined the Museum, she was re-exposed, after a 40 year hiatus, to Indians; this time, on the opposite side of the continent. "It has been both familiar and shocking," says Vivienne. "Yes, I was back to a favorite historical subject, but I was unprepared for the differences between the First Indigenous People of California and the East Coast Indians. For instance, the First Contact between Indians and Europeans. No Pilgrims, lots of Franciscan monks. I have also been fascinated by new findings from academia, from archeologists, anthropologists, biologists. Forty years of research is unfolding a much more complex picture of the First People's practices, traditions, languages and culture.

July 2019 Scott Denison
General Manager Lesher Center for the Arts at City of Walnut Creek

Scott Denison is clearly the East Bay's most accomplished Impresario! He has been a leader in the Arts for 46 years for Walnut Creek and the surrounding communities. Under Denison’s guidance for the last 30 years as General Manager for the Lesher Center for the Arts, he oversees over 850 public events each year. He coordinates performing arts activities with over 85 producers and producing organizations. He is also the Managing Director of the Center REPertory Company producing 6 professional productions each season; and is the director and co-founder of Fantasy Forum Actors Ensemble, an adult family performing arts company which presents programs for the young and Young at Heart. Scott directed Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella , Hairspray, Le Miserables, and for the past 18 seasons Center REP’s A Christmas Carol. Denison has directed over 150 productions. In 1979 he created the Shellie Awards, which annually honors outstanding performing arts achievement in Contra Costa County. In 2007 he created the Chevron Family Theatre Festival bringing adult nationally acclaimed performances together for one day performing to over 7,000 guests of all ages.

Scott spoke to our SIR branch about the building of the arts community and how that community was brought together commencing 30 years ago with the opening of the Lesher Center for the Arts. He brought out how the arts are important to the economy of the surrounding area. He also described how the Americans for Arts Survey has contributed to the quality of life of our local citizens. He shared some interesting stories of noted people (celebrities) that he has worked with over the years and he briefly described some of forthcoming events in the near future. His report is available by clicking HERE.

June 2019 Frank Jordan, WW1 & WW2 Historian

Frank is a recognized historian of both the First and Second World Wars and has traveled the battlefields of Western Europe extensively since he was a young boy. For the past 30 years he has organized and led battlefield tours of Normandy and the World War I Western Front in France and Flanders. Frank has lectured for years on the battlefields and is a member of many military history organizations that examine the cause and effect of these great conflicts, as well as perpetuate the memory of those who served. He brings a special passion for the Second World War in Europe as his father parachuted into Normandy on D-Day (with the British 6th Airborne Division), fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and jumped again across the Rhine into Germany. Frank spoke to our group on the Allied landing at Normandy which was a fitting topic given the recent 75 Anniversary of D-Day this past June 6th.

Frank Jordan grew up in San Francisco, attending St. Gabriel Grammar School and Archbishop Riordan High before receiving a degree in Finance from the University of Southern California. While at USC Frank was a valuable member of the Trojan’s 1978 National Championship football team. He is known for his last second, game-winning field goals against UCLA in 1977 and Notre Dame (and Joe Montana) in 1978. Frank has been working with New York Life Insurance Company for 38 years. He recently completed his second screenplay, based on the true story of the first African-American from either World War I or World War II to receive the Medal of Honor (posthumously), 73 years after he was recommended. Frank resides in Orinda with his wife Barbara and has two sons in college.

May 2019 Gisela Zebroski, Novelist/Speaker

When WWII broke out in 1939 Gisela Zebroski’s privileged childhood came to an abrupt end. The Soviet Union took over Latvia, the country of her birth. Her parents, destined for deportation, fled to Germany and settled in Poland. In 1945 the family fled again from the approaching Red Army. Her father had been drafted and was missing in action. Her mother and four siblings survived air raids and found safety in Austria. In 1954 she immigrated to California where she married an American scientist who inspired her to go to college. She graduated with a degree in psychology and minors in creative writing, history and philosophy. Her two novels, THE BARONESS and MEPHISTO WALTZ, recount the world of her past. Her own story is a work in progress under the title of SELFIE SIDEWAYS.

Topic: "The Berlin Airlift, the Candy Bomber and I "

In 1948 Stalin challenged the West to a showdown between communism and democracy. Berlin set the stage. By blocking all land access routes to the Western Zones of Berlin, Stalin took 2.3 million Berliners hostage - doomed to starve to death unless the West surrendered their territory to the Soviets. A massive blackmail. Over the following 11 months the Allies airlifted 4.6 billion pounds of supplies to Berlin, thus sparing West Berlin from Soviet occupation. By treating the hungry children of West Berlin to candy, Lt. Hal Halverson, turned former enemies to friends and the airlift to a joint venture. He is known as the CANDY BOMBER.

March 2019 Olympic Champion Eddie Hart

WOW, what a great speaker Eddie turned out to be! His presentation style, relating his experiences at the 1972 Olympic games in Germany, captivated the entire group. Many members took advantage of the opportunity to purchase his book "Disqualified: Eddie Hart, Munich 1972, and the Voices of the Most Tragic Olympics" which he graciously autographed.

Eddie Hart is one of the most prolific track athletes who ever sprinted. He was born in Martinez, Ca, grew up just a few miles away in Pittsburg, where he competed and graduated from high school. Eddie set his goal at the tender age of 13 to become; “The World’s Fastest Human,” a mythical title given to the individual that wins the 100m at the Olympic Games. He was the NCAA 100 meter champion while attending Cal Berkeley. He won national & international competitions, including the 1972 Olympic Trails in world record time of 9.70 in the 100m finals which was rounded to 9.9. He competed at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games and won an Olympic Gold Medal in the 4x100m relay, while anchoring the US team and breaking the world record.

Many years later, as a master’s track and field athlete (Over 40) Eddie continued to break records and gain titles as a World Master’s Champion. Upon returning from the Olympics Eddie was hired as the sprint coach at Cal, and four years later he was employed as the head track Coach at the Alameda Community College. After 30+ years of coaching and teaching in the community college system Eddie retired.

Since Eddie has reached his goals and dreams, he believed it was time for him to help the youth develop and attain their goals and dreams. That’s why in 2003 he felt compelled to start the Eddie Hart All In One Foundation so he could use his name, influence, relationships and resources to make a positive difference in the lives of youngsters. Eddie is now dedicated to educating and motivating youngsters to becoming viable members of society.

NOTE: Eddie’s attempt to win the 100 Meters sprint Gold medal in Munich is most captivating and will be a major component of his March 2019 luncheon presentation.

February 2019 Jerald Marrs & Cindy Stafford
Attorney at Law

Jerry and Cindy provided a high-level overview of senior-relevant legal topics such as Estate Planning, Trusts, Advanced Health Directives and Long-term Healthcare plans. They also provided some insight on Medi-Cal qualification and the option of seeking Veterans benefits. Click HERE of a PDF version of the slides they presented.

Jerald N. Marrs, Attorney at Law, is a longtime resident of San Ramon. Jerry practices elder law and estate planning. He is committed to helping seniors, individuals, couples and families through the trying times associated with the aging process and the preparation and administration of estate plans. He drafts estate planning documents, including Wills, Trusts, Advance Healthcare Directives and Durable Powers of Attorney, and assists with probate and trust administration. He also helps seniors with asset protection, government long-term care benefits, conservatorships, probate and veteran’s benefits.

Jerry is also a mediator and is devoted to helping people resolve disputes in a logical and appropriate manner. Jerry has a very calm demeanor, is easy to interact with and is an excellent communicator. He mediates disputes regarding elder law, care decisions, asset distribution, probate matters and trust administration. He has a background dealing with emotionally charged issues and has resolved a variety of matters. He has completed significant mediation training, including Dispute Resolution at the University of Colorado School of Law, negotiation training with the EEOC, and 50 hours of Mediation Training with the Center for Community Dispute Settlement. Jerry is a disabled veteran from the U.S. Air Force and strives to help others who have served our country.

January 2019 Thomas Lindemuth, Desalination Expert

After nearly fifty years working as an engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, and educator, Mr. Lindemuth is now retired and living in Walnut Creek, California. Although his overall experience includes other topics, this profile highlights his experience with desalination technology, project management, and planning consultation. After completing his degree at UW Madison in 1968, he was employed by Aqua-Chem in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. At that time, Aqua-Chem was the foremost desalination manufacturer in the world and holder of landmark patents for the multi-stage process. His responsibilities included water chemistry, material performance, product purity, and adaptation of evaporative technologies to various wastewater streams. In this area, he developed highly efficient separation processes to handle wastes from food processing, pulp and paper manufacture, and nuclear installations. He continued these responsibilities with AMF Beard in Shreveport, Louisiana.

In 1974, Mr. Lindemuth joined Bechtel Research and Development in San Francisco. His initial assignment was to develop the master plan segment for water supply at the Jubail Industrial City in Saudi Arabia. This is one of the free world’s largest completely planned cities, and is located at a spot where there is essentially no natural fresh water. The plan laid out the projected growth rates in water consumption, the recommended technologies as the city grew, and the size and timing of plant installations. As the need for desalted water grew, the size of individual production modules did not keep pace. Until recently, individual modules have been limited to less than ten mgd, as it was in the 70’s. The largest plants required as many as forty parallel modules, with a maze of interconnected piping, controls and utilities. Recognizing this need, Mr. Lindemuth led a team of experts to conceptualize a single module of 25 mgd, along with a development plan to bridge the unknowns for scaling up by a factor of more than three.

Mr. Lindemuth continues his interest in desalination technology and implementation is convinced that the time is coming when desalination can start to fill the needs for more pure water in North America. With adequate ingenuity and financial support, new facilities should be possible without the enormous carbon footprint typical of today’s technology.

November 2018 Martin Silverman
Attorney, actor, writer and presentations coach

Mr. Silverman, a past speaker to our group on the topic of the US constitution, presented an interesting synopsis on the state of space travel and exploration programs currently in play by both commercial (Space-X, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic) and governmental entities such as NASA. It was a very interesting presentation and answered the age-old question of how far a golfer could hit a 7 iron on the Moon. Turns out that would be approximately 2.5 miles.

Mr. Silverman attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, acted in several plays, and wrote TV scripts. He then became an attorney and practiced antitrust and communications law in a 30 year career. Now retired, Martin chairs the Marketing Committee for The Role Players Ensemble Theater in Danville. He directs the Member Speaker Series at Crow Canyon Country Club. He coaches local business people to improve their speaking presentation skills. He is a frequent contributor to an online public policy issues forum. Since 2010, Martin and his wife Ellie, a watercolor artist and Ikebana Japanese floral designer, have been living happily ever after in Danville.

October 2018 Glenn King
NFL Officiating Professional

Glenn King was born and raised in the Bay Area, attended Mission San Jose High School in Fremont prior to attending San Diego State University where he graduated with a Business Administration degree. It was at SDSU where he met his wife Karin also from the Bay Area and they ultimately relocated to San Ramon where they raised their two children, Alex (34) and Andrew (31). In 1989 Glenn started in the Real Estate Business as a residential Real Estate Broker and has run his own real estate office here in the San Ramon Valley since then. He expanded in 2006 to Scottsdale, Arizona where he owns and operates a second office.

Glenn played football at Mission San Jose High School but ran track during his collegiate years. He has always had a passion for all sports but never considered officiating any sport until a football official who used to work as a referee during his own high school games approached him with the idea. Five days later Glenn worked a Freshman football game at Washington High School in Fremont where he was quickly hooked on this new avocation.

In 2009 Glenn developed a passion for a relatively new segment of football officiating - Instant Replay and was hired as part of a replay crew by the Big 12 Conference where he worked for two seasons. Ultimately, he was asked to join the newly formed PAC12 Conference in the same role as they expanded from 10 teams to 12 in 2011. In 2014 he joined the National Football League in the same role, so his background in this segment of officiating is quite broad, encompassing two Division One NCAA programs and the NFL.

Glenn provided some great insights on the history of instant replay and how it actually works. He shared a brief NFL training film focused on officials calls narrated by Dean Blandino. It was evident that Glenn really enjoys his job!

September 2018 Diane Gilfether
Founder and Director of The Blackhawk Chorus

Diane Gilfether is the recipient of many, many awards both for her professional achievements as one of the Bay Area's leading Lyric Coloratura Sopranos, as well as her continued work with The Blackhawk Chorus. She has received the Arts and Culture Commission's "Arts Recognition Award" given by the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors; the Bay Area News Group and Comcast's "Hometown Hero" award; and has been named a prestigious Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. In her operatic career, Ms. Gilfether was selected as a "California Arts Council Touring Artist" for four consecutive years, an award and designation given to only two classical singers in the State. She has appeared with the San Francisco Opera, Pasadena Opera, City Opera, and was a longtime leading lady with Donald Pippin's Pocket Opera. She has been a featured soloist with the Oakland, Berkeley, Washington-Idaho, Concordia College (Indiana), San Jose, Monterey, Stockton, Santa Cruz, UC Davis, Holy Names University and UC Berkeley symphony orchestras, to name only a few. She has toured nationally and internationally delighting audiences and critics alike with concerts and recitals throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. Often in demand for master classes in voice, Ms. Gilfether holds Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from Holy Names University, and studied voice with the late Donald Stenberg of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. As a well-known and respected voice teacher, many of Diane's students have gone on to successful careers in both the classical and popular genres.

In 2016, Diane received the prestigious award given by the Contra Costa Commission for Women and the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors at their Hall of Fame Gala Awards Night as the Honoree for "Women Contributing to the Arts!" Most recently, Diane has been named Holy Names University's "Alumni of the Year" for her service to the University and the community at large.

August 2018 Dan McGovern

President, Eugene O'Neill Foundation

In retirement, Dan McGovern’s avocation is theater. He is the president of the board of the Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House, in Danville and co-chair of the Eugene O’Neill International Festival of Theatre in New Ross, Ireland. Dan is also a Visiting Research Scholar in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Dan regaled our group with his career in government, federal and state. During President Reagan’s first term Dan was the second-ranking attorney in the U.S. State Department. While at the State Department Dan testified before Congress 13 times and headed U.S. delegations for bilateral treaty negotiations with a dozen countries. He also defended the United States before the World Court in The Hague. In the second Reagan administration Dan was the general counsel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), an agency of 10,000 employees. Dan served in the administration of President George H.W. Bush as the head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the western United States. There he managed a staff of 800, ranging from lawyers to toxicologists. Dan was also the general counsel of the California Department of Transportation. At CalTrans Dan managed a staff of 125 attorneys. Dan began his career as a Deputy Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the California Department Justice. He also served on the staff of the California Supreme Court for 20 years.

July 2018 Steven Burchik, Author, & Photographer

Steven Burchik grew up in New York City and earned his bachelor’s degree from Manhattan College during the turbulent 1960s. He worked his way through school, including a stint at the New York Daily News, and remained active on campus—even starting a second student newspaper to provide an outlet for students to voice different views.

After graduating, he entered the US Army at the peak of the Vietnam War. He trained at various bases in the U.S. then spent a year in the rice paddies northeast of Saigon in the role of a forward observer as a sergeant with the First Infantry Division. He later earned his MBA from Michigan State University and had a successful career as a marketing executive and entrepreneur in the food industry. Married with grown children, Burchik enjoys pursuing photography and sailing on San Francisco Bay. Compass and a Camera, his memoir of his Vietnam War experience, was his first book.

"Compass and a Camera, A Year in Vietnam"

With a compass to direct him in his job as a forward observer and a personal camera to document his experiences—and keep him connected to his creative side—Vietnam veteran Steven Burchik was lucky enough to make it home and years later decided to write about the most challenging year of his life.

Like any experience, his year spent with the First Infantry Division stationed in the rice paddies near Saigon included good times as well as bad. He candidly recalls how, although he believed communism to be a serious threat in the world, he soon learned that a guerilla war is a difficult one to fight, and survival rather than victory quickly became his focus. But he also remembers the exhilaration of helicopter rides over serpentine rivers and the time he introduced village kids to a gumball machine.

A unique memoir of the war, this presentation pulls not only from Burchik’s memories, but also from the daily letters he wrote to his fiancée (she kept every single one) and includes numerous photographs from his collection of over four thousand. The images alone make this lecture a must-see for any history buff or fellow veteran. KIRKUS REVIEW: (Feb 18, 2015) “An evenhanded, tasteful, just-the-facts time capsule of one American soldier’s Vietnam experience.”

June 2018 Cliff Buxton and Debbie Vanek

Cliff is a Bay Area native and has lived in Danville for the past 20 years with wife and two children.

Cliff began working with the San Ramon Valley HeartSafe Committee in 2010 helping to provide free education to the community about Compressions Only CPR & AED use. Cliff is a Basic Life Support Instructor for the American Heart Association. He’s also an active member of the San Ramon Valley Fire District Communications Reserves and he enjoys spending time assisting with the San Ramon Valley Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) serving as a the Trainer (T3) Instructor and Division Leader. He also serves on the San Ramon Valley Residential Care Facility Working Group, helping to improve overall safety and preparedness in local Residential Care Facilities. In his spare time Cliff volunteers for the American Red Cross as a Government Liaison and Disaster Response representative.

Debbie Vanek has been employed as a Fire Inspector for the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District for 13 years. She performs fire code compliance inspections at commercial and residential properties. Debbie also coordinates numerous community projects to include being the Program Manager for The San Ramon Valley HeartSafe Committee and the San Ramon Valley RCFE Working Group, Mauzy School Emergency Preparedness Project and supports the San Ramon Valley Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and is requested nationally to speak and train groups regarding Residential Care Facility evacuation.

Formerly, Debbie worked for the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff as a Senior Emergency Planning Coordinator, Community Warning System Assistant Project Manager and Regional Disaster Medical Health Coordinator for the State Office of Emergency Services, Region II.

Debbie has over 31 years of emergency and disaster related experience ranging from Emergency Medical First Response, Emergency and Disaster Public Education and Planning, Public Alert and Warning Systems Planning and Implementation, Fire and Life Safety Compliance and American Red Cross Disaster Response Mass Care and Sheltering.

May 2018 Dan Ashley, ABC7 News Anchor

Dan Ashley came to ABC7 in 1995 as the weekday 5:00 p.m. news anchor and investigative reporter. He has received a number of awards, including two awards from the Radio Television News Directors Association of Northern California (RTNDA) for Best Newscast, 60 Minutes and Best Newscast, 30 Minutes. In 1996, ABC7 News at 6:00 p.m. won an Emmy for the most outstanding single news broadcast in a large market. Most recently, Ashley reported from Poland on the "March of the Living" with Bay Area holocaust survivors, and before that, reported from Marine Corp basic training at Camp Pendleton in San Diego. Other notable assignments include reporting live from New Hampshire and South Carolina for the state primaries and from Iowa for the state's caucus. Ashley is a graduate of the University of North Carolina with degrees in English and Speech Communication.

Ashley began his television career at WTVD, the ABC owned television station in Durham, North Carolina. He then worked for WCBD-TV, the ABC affiliate in Charleston, where he was weekend anchor and later the 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. anchor. During his news tenure in Charleston, Ashley also won the prestigious DuPont Columbia Award and the Edward R. Murrow Award. Ashley's distinguished work is recognized by many industry organizations, including Associated Press, United Press International, and the Press Club of Atlantic City. He has also received awards from the New Jersey and Atlanta chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Dan shared a number of interesting stories with our group. He also provided a comparison of the news industry as it was in the Walter Cronkite era to present day with the complications now provided by social media.

March 2018 Marvin Remmich & Dominique Yancy

Marvin and Dominique provided an overview of the organization while, survivor Jessica Lucia, shared her poignant story of the murder of her father, Pittsburg homicide inspector Ray Giacomelli, in 2003 and how the One Hundred Club of Contra Costa County helped her and her family over the years. One Hundred Club profile

The One Hundred Club of Contra Costa County was formed in 1984 by a group of concerned citizens who care about the welfare of families of peace officers and firefighters who lost their lives as a result of and while in the line of duty in Contra Costa County. They followed the example of the original One Hundred Club which was started in Detroit, Michigan in the early 50's. Since then, many other communities across the country have formed their own One Hundred Clubs. They are a 501 (C) (3) Exempt Organization and since formation, the Contra Costa County group has helped 11 families of fallen officers and firefighters.

$20,000 will be presented to the surviving spouse of a peace officer or fire fighter working in Contra Costa County within forty-eight hours after his/her death. It is the policy of the Club to assist the surviving children with college until they attain the age of 18. Scholarships will be offered when appropriate.

The group raises money by organizing special events and dinners. Membership is open to anyone who wants to join.

February 2018 Daniel Dunn
Director, The Museum of the San Ramon Valley

Over twenty five years of museum experience at both the staff and director levels. Broad experience developing staff, supervising university interns and volunteer support groups. Developed, designed and presented over 100 exhibitions on diverse subjects in art, science, culture and history. Developed and managed collections in art, technology, natural science and history. Developed and presented educational programs including a summer program at the Blackhawk Ranch Fossil Quarry which was recognized nationally. Created community partnerships with educational institutions, community organizations, other not for profit institutions and the for profit community. Has supervised affiliations with The University of California and the Smithsonian Institution.

Diverse teaching experience, both in and out of the classroom. Taught adults and young people at the elementary, high school and community college levels also serve as a private tutor. Served on several not for profit boards both locally and nationally. Served as judge for the National History Day program at the local level, for the State of California and at the National Finals in Washington.

Trained oral historian.

January 2018 Robert Silverman, Attorney at Law

In his 25th year of law practice, Rob Silverman focuses primarily on trusts and estates, including probate and trust administration. His emphasis is on estate planning directed toward wealth preservation and enhancement. He has helped more than a thousand individuals and families establish meaningful estate plans for the benefit of their families, loved ones, and charities. He presented an insightful summary of matters to consider when establishing a trust and how the tax reforms passed in congress recently impact this specific area. His SLIDES are available by clicking HERE.

Mr. Silverman also represents clients in connection with real estate matters, including residential and commercial purchase/sale transactions, commercial leasing, real estate entity formations (e.g. Limited Liability Companies), and joint ownership (aka T.I.C.) agreements. In addition, he serves his clients’ business needs, handling transactions involving the purchase, sale, formation, operation, and management of their business ventures.

Mr. Silverman brings to his practice invaluable practical experience in the fields of real estate and business. He was President and Chief Operating Officer for a franchisor; directed a computerized loan origination operation for a mortgage banking/brokerage company; and conducted real estate brokerage and property management for various companies, including his own.

Both in and out of the office, Mr. Silverman prioritizes family, health, and happiness. He has been happily married to his wife, Karen, for 28 years with whom he shares three children, each thriving in their own, unique way. Rob is also a regular practitioner of pilates and other sporting endeavors, and he supports his family in their frequent long distance running and martial arts hobbies. He also has a passion for travel, enjoying seeing and learning about the world’s varying cultures and countries. Having worked for a major luxury cruise line in his twenties, he has been fortunate to be able to visit more than 50 countries around the globe. He is also a life-long supporter of the Bay Area sports franchises, from local high school sports to the California Golden Bears and World Champion Golden State Warriors, Giants, and even the A’s – albeit champions from many years ago (there’s that Oakland optimism).

Mr. Silverman’s expertise in estate planning and related fields enable him to help clients optimally protect, manage and transfer their estates to their loved ones. He understands the importance of family and is skilled in using law as a tool to help clients avoid unnecessary costs and prevent potentially lengthy and emotionally damaging disputes among family and/or trust/estate beneficiaries. Starting with careful and compassionate discussions with his clients about their objectives and desires, Mr. Silverman takes seriously his role in facilitating the design of a plan that will meaningfully and efficiently achieve those objectives and desires. Mr. Silverman takes pride in his work, enjoying the great satisfaction that comes from building a personalized, customized plan for his clients.

November 2017 Bill Yenne, Author & Historian

Bill Yenne is the author of more than three dozen non-fiction books, as well as ten novels. His work has been selected for Chief of Staff of the Air Force Reading List. He is the recipient of the Air Force Association’s Gill Robb Wilson Award for the “most outstanding contribution in the field of arts and letters [as an] author whose works have shaped how thousands of Americans understand and appreciate airpower.”

Mr. Yenne has contributed to encyclopedias of both world wars, and has appeared in documentaries airing on the History Channel, the National Geographic Channel, C-SPAN and ARD German Television. His on-air credits also include his appearance on Mystery Files: Sitting Bull on the Smithsonian Channel. Among his memorable appearances on C-SPAN was a recent discussion of his book Operation Long Jump: Stalin, Roosevelt, Churchill and the Greatest Assassination Plot in History. You can see more information about Mr. Yenne by going to his web site.

Bill will be presented the fascinating story of the Flying Tigers, a group of American pilot volunteers flying for the Chinese against the Japanese in the early days of World War II. Many members commented how they enjoyed his talk.

October 2017 Mike Stapleton, Special Agent FBI

FBI Special Agent Mike Stapleton, M.A., retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation during 2004 after a career spanning 34 years. He walked us through many of the FBI’s highest profile cases he was involved with including the “D.B. Cooper” skyjacking case, the Polly Klaas kidnapping & murder investigation, the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, and the UNABOMBER – Ted Kaczynski investigation. Mike also provided an overview of his work with the FBI’s Disaster Squad of forensic identification specialists who assisted state and local authorities in the identification of the remains of individuals killed during the volcanic eruption of Mt. St. Helens, Skamania County, State of Washington, on May 18, 1980. The presentation will provide an overview the FBI Disaster Squad, before and after eruption photographs, eye witness accounts, procedures that were used to identify the victims, and interesting facts about the eruption and its aftermath.

During his career with the FBI he lectured and taught at the FBI Academy and law enforcement departments and academies throughout the U.S. and abroad.

September 2017 Gene Metz, President John Marsh Historic Trust

Gene Metz received a BS, Architectural Engineering from Clemson University in 1956 and Masters, Architecture, from Cal, Berkeley in 1968. Gene has held positions as an Instructor, Professor, and Associate Dean at LA State University (1961-1975), a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Standards (Housing Standards & Solar Energy) from 1975 to 1981, as Director, Design and Construction Services for Cal, Berkeley from 1981 to 1990, and, since 1991, as Principal/Owner of F. Eugene Metz AIA Architect based in Alameda, CA.

Mr. Metz has been a member and/or officer in a number of planning, advisory and professional organizations since the late 70’s. Since 1994, he has been a board member of JOHN MARSH HISTORIC TRUST, serving as its president since 2000.

Gene told the story of John Marsh, the first American settler in Contra Costa County, and his extraordinary life prior to, and after, his,arrival. Gene also provided an update on the Trust's latest successes on behalf of the Stone House and Marsh Creek State Park. Retired architect Gene Metz has worked to save the Marsh house since prior to becoming a founding member of the Trust in 1994.

August 2017 Bill Farber, Financial Advisor
Ameriprise Financial Services

BILL FARBER is a Financial Advisor at Ameriprise Financial Services. For the past nine years he has conducted regular (9-12 a year) seminars for a major outplacement firm, Lee Hecht Harrison including advice on: financial planning; retirement planning; investing rollovers and 401k rollovers. He has also spoken at the University of California at Santa Clara at the request of one of their professors who teaches business classes. He is an excellent speaker on a topic he loves. He covered some key financial areas for our group and answered a lot of questions.

July 2017 Mark Roseman, Executive Director
Steve Frankel Group, LLC

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Mark graduated from the Ohio State University with a B.S. degree in agriculture. After completing his undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Ohio State, he graduated from the Western State University College of Law in Fullerton, California. He was admitted to the California bar in 1978.

Mark became a tenacious advocate for survivors of childhood sexual abuse in 1990—a time when the national conversation on the topic was hushed and subdued. Mark was a member of the task force that drafted the first delayed-discovery statute in California to extend the statute of limitations for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to sue for damages in civil court. He lobbied in Sacramento for the passage of the law he helped draft, Code of Civil Procedure Section 340.1, extending the statute of limitations for locating childhood predators and enabling survivors access to the courts from age nineteen until age twenty-six.

Mark is also the coauthor of You the Jury: Allegations of Sexual Abuse, which followed a fictionalized case of childhood sexual abuse and asked readers to decide the guilt or innocence of the defendant. Mark’s most recent book: Derailed, is a memoir about how being trained as an attorney taught him to survive in prison.

His talk covered some of the conditions encountered in the California corrections system which he personally experienced for 2 years. Learning how to cope with the extreme overcrowding and competition for prison resourses - 280 men in a facility designed to hold 150! He enlightened us on how separated service members (of which he is not one) have special status on a prison yard and why. He also answered questions regarding how the recidivism rate could be improved.

June 2017 Malcolm Sher, Board Member
CASA of Contra Costa County

Malcolm Sher has served on the Board of Directors of CASA for approximately fifteen years and was its president for four years. He is passionate about the need for competent representation of foster children and youth in the juvenile justice system, and particularly those who have become “dependents” of the court because they have been abused, neglected and abandoned by their families. Before joining the Board of Directors, Malcolm completed the entire CASA Volunteer training program so he could fully appreciate the wonderful fork done by the CASA Volunteers extent to which the CASA Volunteer, “independent” and separate from the lawyers and social workers, advocates only for that child or youth and is their “Voice in Court.”

Mr. Sher, a board member for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) will explain how CASA of Contra Costa County provides volunteer advocacy services to children who are dependents of the Juvenile Court as foster children. CASA volunteers are appointed by the Juvenile Court and work one-on-one with these children, fostering a unique atmosphere of trust and mutual respect leading to a meaningful relationship. The CASA volunteer is often the only adult in the child's life who is not paid to care for them, and for many children this is the most valuable part of having a CASA volunteer working on their behalf.

Research shows that if a child has even one consistent, caring adult in their lives it can provide the support they need to complete their education and learn to trust and build healthy adult relationships. A CASA volunteer provides this stability and also has the trust of the court so that they can provide meaningful input about appropriate educational, mental health and housing for the child or youth. Each CASA volunteer must complete 45 hours of initial training. In addition, they are required to obtain 12 hours of continuing education each year. CASA volunteers spend an average of 15 hours a month working with their foster child. Last year our volunteers donated over 23,000 hours in advocacy services valued at more than $530,000.

In 1998, the Contra Costa County Juvenile Justice-Delinquency Prevention Commission honored Malcolm with its Annual Juvenile Justice Award as “Outstanding Community Volunteer.”

Born in Zimbabwe, (formerly Rhodesia) Malcolm obtained his law degree from London University in 1969 and practiced law in the U.K. before immigrating to California in 1975, where he litigated for thirty five years before becoming a full-time mediator. He has been married to his wife, Kathy for forty years, has two adult children and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

May 2017 Bryan Walley
Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Dept. Search & Rescue Team

Bryan Walley is the Executive Officer – Administration and Board of Directors member for the all-volunteer Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Dept. Search & Rescue Team (CoCoSAR). He has been a team member for over 11 years and typically serves in the Command Post during missing person searches, or as a search team member. His specialties include being a member of the Mountain Rescue Group, a man tracker, an Urban Search & Rescue resource member (disaster response), and the Sergeant of the Metal Detector resource.

In addition to his work on the Search & Rescue team he is a sworn County Reserve Deputy and a sworn City of Orinda Reserve Police Officer. Prior to becoming a volunteer with the Sheriff’s Department, Bryan retired from Chevron Corporation where he worked 33 years in finance, planning and logistics. Prior to that he worked as an engineer in the auto industry and spent 4 years in the Army as a paratrooper and Ranger. He is a Viet Nam veteran. Bryan has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and a MBA from the University of Chicago.

March 2017 Ronald Wetter, MPA

Ron is the Community & Government Relations Manager for Kaiser Permanente’s Diablo Area. He joined the Kaiser Permanente team in 2004. Ron oversees all community and government relations activities for Central and East Contra Costa County and the Tri-Valley Area of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. His overall areas of focus encompass health care policy, reform and industry trends, economic and workforce development, and day-to-day relationship management with the district offices of the region’s Congressional, State Senate, State Assembly, Contra Costa and Alameda County Boards of Supervisors and various city councils. He is an adjunct member of California State University East Bay’s graduate program faculty, teaching courses in health care policy and U.S. health care systems in the University’s Masters of Science in Health Care Administration program.

Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Ron served as the Executive Director of the Workforce Development Board of Contra Costa County, a 37-member public board that develops and coordinates workforce and economic development activities on behalf of Contra Costa County. He also worked for PG&E for 21 years as a regulatory policy analyst in its Regulatory Relations Department, legislative and policy analyst in the company’s Government Relations Department, and as the company’s Government Relations Director for Contra Costa County.

He currently services on the Boards of the East Bay Leadership Council (formally the Contra Costa Council), Livermore Valley and San Ramon Chambers of Commerce, and Innovation Tri-Valley.

Ron earned a B.A. in Political Science from San Jose State University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from California State University, Hayward. He lives in Walnut Creek with his wife, Terri, and 21-year old son, Alex.

February 2017 Eric Fraisher Hayes

Artistic Director for Role Players Ensemble

Eric Fraisher Hayes is in his seventh season as the Artistic Director for Role Players Ensemble. He also serves as the Artistic Director for the Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Tao House. He recently directed The Emperor Jones for the Eugene O’Neill Festival. Other O’Neill Festival credits include: Desire under the Elms, The Iceman Cometh, The Hairy Ape and Mourning Becomes Electra. Other directing credits include the Livermore Shakespeare Festival, California Conservatory Theatre, ArcLight Rep, New Conservatory Theatre and PlayGround. As an actor, Eric has worked at the Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, the Magic as well as the Colorado and Wisconsin Shakespeare Festivals. He is a leading scholar/practitioner of the plays of Eugene O’Neill and is often invited to give presentations. Last season he was invited to talk about O’Neill’s plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and this upcoming summer he has been invited to present at the 2017 International Eugene O'Neill Conference in Galway, Ireland.

January 2017 Alexander R. Coate, General Manager

East Bay Municipal Utility District

Alexander R. Coate has 30 years of experience with public agencies, engineering consulting firms, research and law. Mr. Coate has worked for more than 23 years with the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) and currently serves as EBMUD’s General Manager. Previously he was Director of Water and Natural Resources with responsibility for water supply planning, water rights, and watershed management including recreation and fisheries. Mr. Coate also managed the District’s implementation of the $900M Freeport Regional Water Project in partnership with the Sacramento County Water Agency. The Freeport Project is the recipient of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Sacramento Section’s 2009 Water Project of The Year Award and the American Council of Engineering Companies’ 2012 Merit Award. Mr. Coate’s education includes a B.A. in Neurobiology and a Masters in Civil Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Coate also holds a Professional Engineer’s license with the State of California.

Mr. Coate is a member of the American Water Works Association and the Association of California Water Agencies. He currently serves on the boards of the California Urban Water Agencies, the California WateReuse Association and the Water Research Foundation.

November 2016 Nan Su

Mr Su grew up in China, and came to the US in 1989. He has been serving as a news commentator for SOH international Chinese Radio network, and NTD international TV network since 2003, commenting on a wide range of national and international news events. In the past decade, Mr. Su has made many speeches to the public events on the topics related to China. Also a writer, Mr. Su has been publishing poems, short stories, and prose in Chinese ever since 2000.

Mr. Su is an activist for China’s human rights. He was one of the main coordinators of Human Rights Torch Relay in 2008 prior to Beijing Olympic. Human Rights Torch Relay, starting from Athens in July 2007, and made stops at more than 140 cities around the world, was a global relay trying to raise international awareness of China’s human rights conditions. Mr. Su was instrumental in making San Jose as the 1st stop of the relay in the North America. Besides his involvement in the public, Mr. Su has a master degree in Engineering, and has been a professional engineer for over 26 years. Mr. Su has been married for 27 years, and currently lives with his wife and two daughters in San Jose, California.

With the strong bi-partisan support, US Congress unanimously passed resolution H.R. 343 in June, 2016: expressing serious concerns about the on-going large scale forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China. European Congress passed a resolution in Dec. 2013, urged Chinese government stop this brutal practice. The governments of Israel, Span, Taiwan, and Australia already made policies to prevent and discourage their citizens from going to China to receive organ transplant.

This presentation reveals the current international focus on: China’s large scale forced organ harvesting, for huge profits, from prisoners of conscience. The investigation, to be covered by this presentation, has been undergoing since late 2003, and its results have shocked the whole world.

October 2016 Gail Murray, Bart Director

Gail Murray represents District 1, which includes Clayton, Concord (partial), Danville, Lafayette (partial), Martinez, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, Walnut Creek and Unincorporated Contra Costa County (partial). Voters first elected her to the BART Board in 2004 and re-elected her in 2008 and 2012. She made a detailed presentation on the challenges that the BART system is currently facing.

Murray brings to the BART Board a wealth of transportation experience. She is the President of Gail Murray Consulting, specializing in public transit policy and planning. She is also a Research Associate with the Mineta Transportation Institute at San Jose State University. For 10 years, Murray worked at the University of California at Berkeley, where she created the Berkeley TRiP Commute Store, which promoted alternatives to the single-occupant automobile. She also held the position of Acting Director of Transportation for the campus. Other executive positions she has held include Acting Assistant General Manager of AC Transit District in Oakland; and General Manager of a paratransit company in Hayward, serving older adults, persons with disabilities, and Head Start preschoolers. Murray has been Mayor, Council Member, Planning Commissioner, and Transportation Commissioner for the City of Walnut Creek, and Chair of County Connection (the Central Contra Costa Transit Authority bus operator).

Murray is a member of WTS (Women’s Transportation Seminar), AAUW (American Association of University Women) and the League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley. She is a founding member of the Diablo Regional Arts Association and currently serves as a Trustee. She is also a past member of the Harvard Alumni Association Board of Directors and past Chair of the California Departmental Transportation Advisory Committee. Murray has a BA from San Jose State and a MPA from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

September 2016 Martin Silverman, a Constitution Expert!

Martin J Silverman is an attorney, actor, writer and presentations coach. He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, acted in several plays, and wrote TV scripts. He then became an attorney and practiced antitrust and communications law in a 30 year career. Now retired, Martin chairs the Marketing Committee for The Role Players Ensemble Theater in Danville. He directs the Member Speaker Series at Crow Canyon Country Club. He coaches local business people to improve their speaking presentation skills. He is a frequent contributor to an online public policy issues forum. Since 2010, Martin and his wife Ellie, a watercolor artist and Ikebana Japanese floral designer, have been living happily ever after in Danville.

August 2016 Dr. Michael Barrington

Dr. Michael Barrington shared some of his experiences as a missionary in Africa during the Nigerian civil war taken from his book, "The Bishop Wears No Drawers", a memoir of his life in Nigeria where he lived for 10 years, both during and after the civil war. Dr. Barrignton was born in Manchester, UK but has lived in the Bay Area for 30 years. As the president of MJB Consulting, he travels all over the world providing Monitoring and Evaluation Services to major humanitarian organizations such as USAID, UNICEF, Oxfam, Save the Children etc. and has worked in more than forty countries. He is a former Catholic missionary priest and ministered in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Mexico and Brazil. He speaks six languages and academically considers himself to be "over engineered" having three Masters Degrees and a PH.D. He spent a year living as a hermit. He now lives in Concord with his French wife and crazy American Eskimo dog and spends his free time in playing golf and writing. he is also a brother SIR with Branch 116.

June 2016 Bill Hodges
USS Potomac Association

Bill Hodges has been involved with the Potomac Association for eighteen years, as docent, narrator, speaker and crewman. He also has cleaned the heads. In his talk, he provided the history on how F.D.R. ended up using this vessel as his floating white house while in office, as well as, the roundabout way the association actually acquired the ship. It was an interesting presentation in advance of our August 25, 2016 private charter of the ship.

Bill and his wife Sue live in Oakland, and between them have had four children and more grandchildren than they care to count. He served as Chairman for the Alameda County Veterans Affairs Commission, and is past president of Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter 400 (East Bay). He also served as president of the Alameda County NRA Members Council, and is a California Department of Justice Certified Firearms Safety Instructor. While not engaged in these activities, Bill is an independent manufacturer’s representative in the photographic industry.

May 2016 Darlene Kittredge & Becky Chestnut, San Ramon Police Officers
Crime Prevention Specialists

Officers Kittredge and Chestnut provided a fairly complete overview of popular scams of the day that target all of us on a daily basis. Their presentation was very well received and appreciated by our membership. Here is a PDF document of the slides presented by them.

Darlene Kittredge has been in law enforcement for 25 years. She began her career in San Leandro at the San Leandro Police Department, where she worked for 15 years. Starting in the Records Division, she was responsible for the entry of all missing persons, vehicles, property, warrants and rap sheets all while dealing with the public and taking cold police reports. After 7 years in records, she transferred to Code Enforcement where her position took her to the streets. Vehicle abatement, dilapidated homes, weeds, citations and depositions encompassed this position. She worked closely with the San Leandro Fire Department and the City Attorney’s office during her tenure in Code Enforcement.

In 2006 she started a new career path with the San Ramon Police Department in Crime Prevention. San Ramon is where she got certified in Crime Prevention, Crime Free Multi Housing, Crime Free Business and CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design). She coordinates all of these programs in addition to Neighborhood Watch, Coffee with the Cops, National Night Out, and social media. She is the editor of a Crime Prevention Newsletter that is published periodically ( Click HERE to see her latest Newsletter). She is one of the many presenters for the department and the go to person for many of the public events throughout the city.

March 2016 Bill Clarkson, San Ramon Mayor

Bill Clarkson was raised in Oakland CA and received a Masters in Business administration at San Jose State University. He served in the US Air Force and was honorably discharged in 1976. He is married to Nancy and has a married daughter. Bill is a small business owner, and began his business in San Ramon 37 years ago. His real estate company, Golden Hills Brokers, is the longest continuous owned brokerage firm in the San Ramon. He was awarded the “Business Person of the Year” by the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce in 1997 and by the Contra Costa Business Council in 2002. Bill also has a long history of serve with the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce, serving on its board of Directors for 11 years, including one as its Chairman of the Board in 2008. Bill is also a long-term San Ramon Rotarian. In 2010 he helped to found the Dougherty Valley/San Ramon Rotary Club, and served as their Charter President.

Bill has served in a number of positions with the City of San Ramon. He was a member of the Housing Advisory Committee, serving as its Chair in 1994. In 1998 he was a member of the City Charter Commission, and was a Parks and Community Services Commissioner from 2009 to 2011. Bill was elected to the San Ramon Valley Unified School District Board in 1998 and served for three terms, including three times as the Board President. In 2011 Bill was elected as the Mayor of San Ramon and is serving his second term.

February 2016 Randy Frederick and David Ninekirk

Charles Schwab

Randy Frederick is Managing Director of Trading and Derivatives with the Schwab Center for Financial Research. He is one of the early architects of Schwab’s option trading platforms and analytics tools. While he focuses primarily on public relations, client education and market analysis, he is frequently involved on matters of business development, product development and risk management. He has served on various corporate and industry committees including the FISD Executive Committee, the ISE Allocation Committee and the ISE Board of Directors.

David Ninekirk is an investment professional with Charles Schwab helping clients achieve their financial goals. He works with clients to understand their needs, map out cohesive strategies, and provide guidance and advice to help them succeed as investors.

November 2015 Frank Somerville

Frank Somerville co-anchors the weekday editions of "KTVU Channel 2 News at 5," "KTVU Channel 2 News at 6" and "The Ten O'Clock News on KTVU Channel 2." Somerville joined San Francisco's KTVU Channel 2's Mornings on 2 and The Noon News in January 1992. The Berkeley native had been an intern at KTVU many years before.

Previously, he'd worked as an anchor-reporter at WJAR in Providence, R.I and at KFTY in Santa Rosa. While in Rhode Island, WJAR sent him to San Francisco to cover the Loma Prieta earthquake. That was in 1989. Somerville reported live for several days, and later said it was the hardest work he'd ever done in his life. His half-hour special on the quake was nominated for an Emmy Award. He also won an Associated Press Award for Best Spot News for his coverage of a fire in downtown Providence, and an award for a Best Feature story about an 87-year-old hockey player. (Somerville is a devoted hockey player himself.)

Somerville earned his B.A. in Broadcast Communications Arts at San Francisco State. While there, he was named "Outstanding Broadcast Student." Despite that, Somerville has admitted "I never really distinguished myself at school." He proposed to his wife on the Phil Donahue show live, while he was anchoring Mornings on 2 in San Francisco. She was a producer there, and the results of this proposal--where Somerville got down on knee on air--were seen across the country. "Thank God she said yes!" he quipped later. The Somerville home is filled with his abstract bright colored paintings and other artwork. Somerville has several hobbies. He trains twice a week in Gracie Jujitsu, a Brazilian martial art. He also plays ice hockey in an adult league. In addition, he works out at a gym at least three or four times a week.

Frank's presentation to our group focused on several of his most memorable life experiences: witness to a death row execution and a ride in a Blue Angels jet. Both anecdotes kept the members full attention. He was one of our best speakers in 2015.

October 2015 Bill Richardson

Born in San Francisco July 9, 1941, Bill went all through school in The City getting his BA from San Francisco State University, and Masters Degree from University of San Francisco. He taught school for two years in SF, then entered the San Francisco Fire Department and had over 30 years rising to the rank of Division Commander in charge of half the City’s firefighters. Bill was elected president of the San Francisco Fire Chiefs Association from 1988 until he retired in ’96.

Bill began officiating football and basketball in San Francisco in 1966. He was selected to officiate PAC-8/PAC10 basketball in 1976, and football in 1977. He worked 10 seasons of PAC-10 basketball before deciding to concentrate on just football. At one time, Bill was the only official working both sports. He was also elected to the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) board of directors for 4 years serving as board Chair in 1988. He was also elected PAC-10 Football Officials Assoc. president, was the representative for the instant replay staff, served on the PAC-10 compensation/benefits committee, and is a member of the Field of Honor selection committee, and was a T/A for 6 seasons evaluating officials for the PAC-10, and served the same position for the Mountain West from ’99-’01.

The NFL had Bill work as observer for West Coast NFL games, and as an officiating scout where at least two of his candidates are now working on Sundays. Bill worked PAC-8/10 football on the field from 1977 thru 1999 and was appointed referee in 1986. He was selected to referee the first BCS National Championship game Jan. 4, 1999. He worked Instant Replay the second time the PAC-10 had the BCS National Championship game Jan. 8, 2007, and was selected for the first PAC-12 Championship game as the replay official. He was asked to join the NFL in 1999 when they started Instant Replay and has been a replay official since. He worked in the USFL, World League (NFL Europe), and Arena League. He worked many major bowl games: Fiesta, Cotton, Sugar, Capital One, Gator, Mirage (Tokyo) are at the top of the list. Bill enjoyed sharing his football adventures with the family as they journeyed to many of the games, clinics, camps, parties, etc.

September 2015 Bernie Rosner

Mr. Rosner is a very special person. He is an Auschwitz death camp survivor who wants to share his story with us at our September 16th luncheon. His remarkable life includes his immigration to the US following the war where he would go on to get degrees from Cornell and Harvard, eventually settling in Orinda as he worked for Safeway's legal department. It was in Orinda that Rosner established an unlikely friendship with neighbor Frederic "Fritz" Tubach -- the son of a Nazi officer. Together, he and Tubach wrote the book, "An Uncommon Friendship." While the story of the Holocaust had been told many times, the story of Rosner's family had not. In his 80's, Rosner is among the last people left alive who can remember the devastation of Nazi Europe. That's one of the reasons Rosner takes the time to tell his story. Follow this link to read an article written about Bernie following a presentation to a Vallejo High School in 2012.

August 2015 Jon Dwyer

John Dwyer is a 1970 University of Notre Dame graduate and majored in chemical engineering. From 1970 to 1978, he worked as a Construction Engineer building refineries and chemical plants. From 1978 to 2012, he worked for Nalco Chemical Co. in Technical Sales and Sales Mgmt. Nalco is the world’s largest specialty Chemical Company. His working career included 8 years of foreign assignments, 2 in Thailand and 6 in Saudi Arabia. Jon and his wife Bonnie live in San Ramon. They have 2 grown children and five grandchildren.

During our August 19th luncheon, Jon will be discussing “Hydraulic Fracking: Cure or Curse?” This is NOT an "advocacy" program. He describes how oil and gas were formed, where they are found, and the process of getting them out of the ground - both via conventional methods and how the fracking process differs. Jon will also summarize the history of the use of fracking in oil production, and present a "Case For" and a "Case Against.” Although Jon has worked in and around the oil and chemical industry for 45 years, it is his intent to educate people on the process and not to try and "sell" anyone. He presented to our Walnut Creek Branch earlier this year and “they loved him.”

July 2015 Bob Fish

We were very pleased to have Bob Fish return to our group for our July, 2015 luncheon. Bob presented at our September, 2014 luncheon on the role of the USS Hornet in Naval History, and the famous Doolittle Raid over Tokyo. He was there at least 45 minutes after our meeting answering question, which is always a good indicator of member interest. His talk and slide show this time covered the role of the USS Hornet in the Apollo 13 program. Again, he was very well received and kept the attendees enthralled while he spoke and took questions for close to 45 minutes.

Robert Fish graduated from high school in Orlando, FL in 1966 and attended the University of Virginia on a Naval ROTC scholarship. After college, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked in Okinawa as a shift supervisor for the USMC Western Pacific data center, managing the primary computer systems supplying the Vietnam war effort. After being honorably discharged in 1971, he remained in the information technology field, holding increasingly important positions at Blue Cross, Safeway Stores, Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of America. He has been involved in the founding of 12 high-tech companies, as well as being a founding investor of Pete’s Brewing Company, maker of the famous Pete’s Wicked Ale that won national acclaim in 1986.

In 1984, he joined his first high tech Silicon Valley startup company, Network Equipment Technologies (NET). In 1985, Bob was the program manager for the modernization of the White House communications system (during the Reagan era). Following the Challenger space shuttle disaster, he became involved with the US DoD and worked on a number of strategic national intelligence programs. He later went on to found several other high-tech network security companies and is on the Board of Directors of two at this time.

In 2000, Bob joined the Board of Trustees of the USS Hornet Museum, a highly decorated WWII aircraft carrier located in Alameda, CA. He researched the Navy’s role the recovery of the 1960’s NASA manned space-flights and is a recognized national authority on the subject. He also created the award winning Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 spacecraft recovery exhibit onboard the museum and published a highly acclaimed book about the recovery of Apollo 11 called Hornet Plus Three. Bob has lived in Danville for over 20 years, is married and has one son.

June 2015 Jane Flower
Guide Dogs for the Blind

Jane Flower worked with older adults in the field of low-vision for over 12 years at her previous job as Program Supervisor for the Aging with Vision Loss Program at the Dayle McIntosh Center in Southern California. This position afforded her the opportunity to share her personal and professional knowledge on such topics as Daily Living Skills, Assistive Technology, Braille Reading and Writing, and Self-Advocacy Training. Jane was born legally blind, and at the age of 8 was diagnosed with a retinal degenerative eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). Because of her personal life experience being a person with a visual impairment, she was also able to provide peer support to the older adults she assisted, which was a vital part of her position at the Dayle McIntosh Center.

Jane began her current position as Outreach manager at Guide Dogs for the Blind in April 2013, and is excited to be a part of this wonderful organization. She received her current and second Guide Dog Anja in June of 2009. As Outreach Manager, she and Anja travel throughout the U.S. and Canada sharing the mission and vision of Guide Dogs to perspective Guide Dog users, and professionals in the field of low-vision. Jane received her MS degree in Gerontology in May 2013 from California State University Fullerton. With the average age being 55 of those receiving Guide Dogs, and the aging population, Jane is hoping to be able to bring her message about Guide Dogs to older adult communities and educate them about this life-changing opportunity!

March 2015 David Livingston
Contra Costa County Sheriff

Sheriff Livingston presented a detailed look at the Contra Costa Sheriff's department which included budgetary and staffing information. The scope of operations and involvement with many other agencies, such as Homeland Security, was a surprise to many of our members. He was very well received by all members in attendance.

Sheriff Livingston was elected the 22nd Sheriff of Contra Costa County on June 8, 2010. He started his career as a Police Officer with the City of Fremont where he later rose to the rank of Captain. He then served as Chief of Police in the City of Pleasant Hill for three years before being selected as Concord's Police Chief in 2005. He served as Concord's Chief of Police for five years. He also served on the California Police Chiefs Association Board of Directors and the State Bar's Judicial Nominee Evaluating Committee. Additionally, Governor Brown recently appointed Sheriff Livingston to serve on the California Boating and Waterways Commission and the California Senate later confirmed this appointment with a unanimous vote.

Sheriff Livingston has a deep commitment to Community Policing, has served as a Cultural Diversity Instructor, and fosters a "participatory management" philosophy in which all employees are given a voice in the operation of the Sheriff's Office. Additionally, he supports continued modernization of all operations including adopting technology advances and acquiring new equipment to better serve the public.

Sheriff Livingston earned a Bachelor's Degree with Honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara and later earned his law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, the FBI National Executive Institute and the California Command College. He is also an attorney admitted to practice in both the state and federal courts.

February 2015 Tom Barnidge, Metro Columnist
Contra Costa Times

Tom Barnidge has been a journalist for more than 35 years, since beginning his career as a sportswriter and columnist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He served as managing editor of The Sporting News, a national weekly magazine, and executive editor of the National Football League's Publishing Division before joining the Contra Costa Times as sports editor in 2004.

He left sports journalism five years ago to fill the newspaper's need for a metro columnist. His commentary on local and regional current events appears three times a week. He has written on topics as diverse as city council races, law enforcement, the Contra Costa Fire District, medical marijuana, BART labor negotiations, Common Core, County Supervisors' salaries, Plan Bay Area and animal control.

Tom lives in Concord with his wife, Faith, who started reading his column when he quit writing about sports.

January 2015 Ronald Wetter, MPA

Ron is the Community & Government Relations Manager for Kaiser Permanente’s Diablo Area. He joined the Kaiser Permanente team in 2004. Ron oversees all community and government relations activities for Central and East Contra Costa County and the Tri-Valley Area of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. His overall areas of focus encompass health care policy, reform and industry trends, economic and workforce development, and day-to-day relationship management with the district offices of the region’s Congressional, State Senate, State Assembly, Contra Costa and Alameda County Boards of Supervisors and various city councils. He is an adjunct member of California State University East Bay’s graduate program faculty, teaching courses in health care policy and U.S. health care systems in the University’s Masters of Science in Health Care Administration program.

Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Ron served as the Executive Director of the Workforce Development Board of Contra Costa County, a 37-member public board that develops and coordinates workforce and economic development activities on behalf of Contra Costa County. He also worked for PG&E for 21 years as a regulatory policy analyst in its Regulatory Relations Department, legislative and policy analyst in the company’s Government Relations Department, and as the company’s Government Relations Director for Contra Costa County.

He currently services on the Boards of the East Bay Leadership Council (formally the Contra Costa Council), Livermore Valley and San Ramon Chambers of Commerce, and Innovation Tri-Valley. Ron earned a B.A. in Political Science from San Jose State University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from California State University, Hayward. He lives in Walnut Creek with his wife, Terri, and 21-year old son, Alex.

November 2014 Dan Ashley

ABC-7 News

Dan Ashley came to ABC7 in 1995 as the weekday 5:00 p.m. news anchor and investigative reporter. He has received a number of awards, including two awards from the Radio Television News Directors Association of Northern California (RTNDA) for Best Newscast, 60 Minutes and Best Newscast, 30 Minutes. In 1996, ABC7 News at 6:00 p.m. won an Emmy for the most outstanding single news broadcast in a large market. Most recently, Ashley reported from Poland on the "March of the Living" with Bay Area holocaust survivors, and before that, reported from Marine Corp basic training at Camp Pendleton in San Diego. Other notable assignments include reporting live from New Hampshire and South Carolina for the state primaries and from Iowa for the state's caucus.

Ashley began his television career at WTVD, the ABC owned television station in Durham, North Carolina. He then worked for WCBD-TV, the ABC affiliate in Charleston, where he was weekend anchor and later the 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. anchor. During his news tenure in Charleston, Ashley also won the prestigious DuPont Columbia Award and the Edward R. Murrow Award.

Ashley's distinguished work is recognized by many industry organizations, including Associated Press, United Press International, and the Press Club of Atlantic City. He has also received awards from the New Jersey and Atlanta chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Ashley is a graduate of the University of North Carolina with degrees in English and Speech Communication.

October 2014 Carol Murota & Aase Schoen

The League of Women Voters

Carol Murota and Aase Schoen from the Diablo Valley League of Women Voters will be on hand at our October 15th Luncheon to debate "pro's and con's" of pertinent Bond Measures, Propositions and initiatives being voted on during our November elections.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages citizens to be informed and to actively participate in government. The League works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and makes efforts to influence public policy through education and advocacy. The League is proud to be nonpartisan, neither supporting nor opposing candidates or political parties at any level of government, but always working on vital issues of concern to members and the public.

When League members make individual Pros and Cons ballot initiative presentations to various organizations, at their request, they do so in the role of education and not advocacy. Every effort is made to present both sides of the ballot issues in a fair and unbiased manner.

Carol is a professor emerita from UC Berkeley's Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies Department. She had a 30-year career on the faculty where she ran the Dance degree program and directed the Touring Dance Company. Carol currently sits on the League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley Executive Committee. Pros and Cons is one of her favorite activities as it brings together voter service and careful research.

Aase (pronounced Oh-see) was born in Denmark and graduated from U.C. Berkeley. She taught math and science at Berkeley public schools and at Acalanes High School in Lafayette. She is married with 3 children. Although she recently retired from full time teaching, she is currently teaching ESL at Acalanes Adult School. She has lived and visited about 75 countries around the world. Aase is new to the League this year.

September 2014 Bob Fish

Author and Expert on the USS HORNET

Robert Fish graduated from high school in Orlando, FL in 1966 and attended the University of Virginia on a Naval ROTC scholarship. After college, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked in Okinawa as a shift supervisor for the USMC Western Pacific data center, managing the primary computer systems supplying the Vietnam war effort. After being honorably discharged in 1971, he remained in the information technology field, holding increasingly important positions at Blue Cross, Safeway Stores, Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of America.

He has been involved in the founding of 12 high-tech companies, as well as being a founding investor of Pete’s Brewing Company, maker of the famous Pete’s Wicked Ale that won national acclaim in 1986. In 1984, he joined his first high tech Silicon Valley startup company, Network Equipment Technologies (NET). In 1985, Bob was the program manager for the modernization of the White House communications system (during the Reagan era). Following the Challenger space shuttle disaster, he became involved with the US DoD and worked on a number of strategic national intelligence programs. He later went on to found several other high-tech network security companies and is on the Board of Directors of two at this time.

In 2000, Bob joined the Board of Trustees of the USS Hornet Museum, a highly decorated WWII aircraft carrier located in Alameda, CA. He researched the Navy’s role the recovery of the 1960’s NASA manned space-flights and is a recognized national authority on the subject. He also created the award winning Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 spacecraft recovery exhibit onboard the museum and published a highly acclaimed book about the recovery of Apollo 11 called Hornet Plus Three. Bob has lived in Danville for 20 years, is married and has one son.

August 2014 Officer Allen Molien & Hector, San Ramon

Officer Allen Molien took German classes in high school because his parents spoke the language – now, it’s helping the San Ramon Police Department’s K9 officer to communicate with his partner. He has been with the San Ramon police dept since 2001 when he was assigned to the dept from the Contra Costa County Sheriffs Dept.

“I grew up with my parents speaking German and I took it high school because I wanted to know what my parents were talking about,” Molien said. Having a little background in German has helped Molien to learn the dozen or so commands needed to work with his canine, Hector. The 3-year-old German Shepherd was born Oct. 28, 2010 in Burbach, Germany. From his home, Hector was later brought to Southern California. Molien selected him from a kennel in Riverside, which is used by the department’s K9 trainer Dan Moore. When they arrived, Molien and Moore started taking the dogs out one-by-one and running them through tests.

“Dan provides the pros and cons of the dog and you decide if you want him,” says Molien. “Hector was underweight and his fur was matted. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it goes to say one should never judge a book by its cover. By the time we were done going through all the tests…he had already started to take to me.” Hector’s name comes from Greek mythology, where his namesake was a Trojan prince and the greatest fighter for Troy in the Trojan War. “Hector was known not only for his courage, but also for his boldness,” Molien said.

So far, Hector has handled his transition well. “He gets excited when I put on his collar and tell him to ‘Load up,’” Molien said. “As far as his new home is concerned he fits right in as a normal lazy dog enjoying his new big yard and time off.” During this time off, Hector enjoys playing fetch with an old lawn mower wheel. The biggest change so far has been for the officer. “It definitely is a new learning curve,” says Molien. “I have had to adapt the way I drive, remember Hector needs breaks too, and on hot days I have had to pay attention to the temperature outside and inside the car.”

"Hector and I started our career as a K-9 team on June 6th 2012. On July 27th 2012 we passed the the POST (police officers standards & training) exam making it official for us to spring into action when called upon." Molien says he has always been intrigued by the abilities of a K9 and the many uses they provide patrol. “I felt it was a finishing touch in assisting me with locating narcotics,” he said. “Every day is different and has a potential to take me wherever Hector is needed.”

July 2014 Shannen Enos

Shannen was born in San Francisco and has lived in the Bay Area her entire life. She has 4 teenage daughters and currently resides in Tracy, CA. Shannen attended Westmoor High School in South San Francisco and received her college degree in nursing at City College of San Francisco. For these past 20 years, Shannen has worked as an Emergency Room nurse for Kaiser Permanente. During that time, she’s provided emergency care to numerous cardiac arrest victims.

In 2007, her work with Cardiac Arrest patients prompted her to establish a company, Enos CPR Services, which provides CPR training in conjunction with the American Heart Association. As an instructor, Shannen is an independent contractor and has a pool of 6 others who assist her as needed. Her company provides both CPR and emergency care customized courses to companies and individual groups throughout the Central Valley and Bay Area

To quote Shannen “I absolutely LOVE what I do, both at the hospital, as well as teaching. Teaching CPR is a passion of mine. I feel so lucky that my business is centered around something untouchable.... yet so valuable. My belief is that everyone can save a life. All of us play a role: we can be good witnesses, keep scenes clear & safe, give aid, give comfort.... CPR isn't only about giving a chance of life. It’s about giving closure to families; it’s about giving someone a better outcome by being the first responder, and taking quick action.”

Shannen's talk about CPR was highly informative and covered many aspects of the proper way to diagnose when to apply CPR and how to actually apply it properly. Those in attendance had many questions which she answered without hesitation. There were so many questions, her talk time went slightly beyond the time scheduled but she graciously stayed on to speak with a number of members who had additional questions. Many thanks to Shannen Enos for sharing her depth of CPR knowledge with us!!

June 2014 Tue Phan-Quang, Immigration Judge (Ret)
SIR Branch 128 Member

Judge Phan Quang Tue retired on December 31, 2012 from the San Francisco Immigration Court where he served since his appointment in March 1995. He was a trial attorney with the Immigration & Naturalization Service in San Francisco from 1988 to 1993. He served two years as an Administrative Law Judge from 1993 to 1995 with the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board in Sacramento, California.

A refugee from Vietnam, he and his family entered the United States in April 1975 and he began a new life working as a dishwasher, then a shoe repairer, machine operator in the Washington, DC metropolitan area. While teaching French at the Georgetown Preparatory High School in Rockville, Maryland, he maintained a part-time job as a dishwasher in the afternoon.

Moving his family to Des Moines, Iowa in 1979 he returned to law school at the Drake University School of Law where he completed a program of American legal system study in 1985, and passed the Iowa State Bar examination in January 1986. He was a Hearing Officer at the Iowa Department of Job Service from 1985 to 1987, and an Assistant Attorney General with the Iowa Department of Justice in 1987-1988. He and his family moved to California in the summer of 1988.

A graduate of Jean- Jacques Rousseau, a French high-school in Saigon, he went on and graduated from the Saigon University School of Law in 1965. After the 1968 Tet offensive, he was drafted and upon commissioned, was assigned to the Military Court. He was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the Supreme Court’s Office of the Chief Justice in Saigon from 1970 to 1975.

The eldest son of Dr. Phan Quang Dan, a former Deputy Prime Minister in the government of South Vietnam before 1975, he was steeped in the tradition of scholarly pursuit and serving his country. His brother, Captain Phan Quang Tuan, was a fighter pilot who was shot down in 1972 over Quang Tri, Vietnam.

He is the father of 4 sons and he and his wife have been married for 35 years. They have 8 grandchildren. They made Danville their home in 1995. Since his retirement he continued to maintain an active role in the Vietnamese community in the San Francisco Bay area, teaching a course of immigration law as an adjunct professor at the Lincoln Law School in San Jose and holding a part time practice of immigration law in the City of Santa Clara.

He is fluent in English, French, and Vietnamese. He and his wife have been active members of the San Ramon 24-hour Fitness Center and they work out regularly. He is an accomplished karaoke singer. On January 14, 2014 at the Breakfast Meeting of the Walnut Creek Sunrise Rotary Club he announced his candidacy for the House of Representatives for the California 11th Congressional 11th District.

May 2014 Doni DeBolt
Executive Director AASK (Adopt A Special Kid)

Doni DeBolt was selected in December 2012 to lead Adopt a Special Kid as Executive Director after a thirty one-year career as an educator and an administrator in different parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. Doni’s parents founded AASK 40 years ago and it was the first agency in California to focus on the adoption of children with special needs. They also set out to change the paradigm of was considered an adoptive parent as they were the first agency to welcome the LGBT community, renters, people of color, single and older people as parents, as well as not focusing on the race of the child and the family as a barrier to adoption.

As Executive Director, Doni plays a vital role in the organization’s mission to pair children with special needs with families in counties throughout California. Her favorite thing to say is, “It isn’t what family looks like that matters. It’s what family feels like!” At AASK, they firmly believe that every child is adoptable and all individuals that would like to be a parent should come to AASK to start their wonderful journey toward being a parent.

A former special education teacher and administrator, Doni brings many years of experience to AASK. She was a Program Supervisor for the San Ramon Valley Unified District where she coordinated and directed the special education programs for students at the preschool level, Early Start Infant Program, CEIA Center (Center for Early Intervention of Autism) and K – 5 Special Day Classes. She was also a special education teacher with the Contra Costa County Office of Education, where she taught young children with autism. She also was an Assistant Principal with the Contra Costa County Office of Education and oversaw 19 special education classes and staff.

Doni was raised in the DeBolt household and has spent her whole life dedicated to the organization. The DeBolt family was featured in a 1978 Academy Award winning documentary, Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids? The film features Dorothy and Bob DeBolt and their 20 children, 14 of whom were adopted and 9 of whom were disabled. The documentary won the 1978 Academy Award for Best Documentary, and it depicts the unorthodox, but loving and tolerant upbringing Doni DeBolt was raised in.

Doni received four teaching credentials (Multiple Subject, Learning Handicapped, Severely Handicapped and Administrative), two Master's (Masters in Education and Masters in Administration) and a CLAD Certificate from St. Mary’s College of California from 1979-2004. She currently resides in Pleasant Hill, CA.

Doni's personal story and message of "love" for foster children was well received by all members in attendance at our May meeting. It's not often our speaker receives a standing ovation!! Many thanks to Doni DeBolt for sharing her experiences with us!!

April 2014 Father Jayson Landeza

One day, as he was observing a sidewalk protest, Rev. Jayson Landeza found himself on the receiving end of a volley of raw eggs. The priest paused as he recalled the incident and laughed. "It was a waste of perfectly good eggs."

As chaplain to a number of local fire departments and law enforcement agencies, Father Landeza wishes all of the hazards and on-site incidents he's faced could be as tame. He has been called to the scene of homicides, fatal car accidents and other heartwrenching situations where he has assisted and consoled people who are dazed, angry or hurt. He has been recognized for his service with numerous awards, including a medal of honor from the Oakland Police Department for the support he provided to members and families of the department after the shocking day in 2009 when four officers were killed in the line of duty.

Bringing his pastoral presence to the scenes of troubling events is a part of what the chaplain does. "It's about being aware of what's happening, looking around to see if someone is struggling at the location, and see if I can help."

Father Landeza recently brought his years of experience as a chaplain to the federal level as the new chaplain for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives San Francisco Field Division. The needs of the ATF mirror those of city and county fire and law enforcement departments, the priest said.

The role of the agency's chaplain, a voluntary position, is to provide support and comfort to ATF employees and their families in times of crisis. Father Landeza is responsible for an area that consists of most of California (north of Bakersfield) and Nevada.

Father Landeza, who took the chaplain officer basic course at the Army Chaplain Center and School in Portsmouth, New Jersey, has been a chaplain for most of the 25 years that he has been a priest. His first assignment as chaplain was in 1995 for the Fremont Fire Department. Over the years he has been chaplain to the Oakland Police Department, to the Berkeley Fire and Police departments. In addition to being a chaplain, he served the Oakland Diocese as an associate pastor and a pastor.

While he continued to take part in chaplain certification and training programs, including attending citizen police academies for the Berkeley and Oakland police departments, Father Landeza said that he never wanted to be a cop. "I admire police and firefighters — I would not be able to measure up to those physical and emotional demands."

February 2014 Mike Conklin
CEO and Chairman of Sentinels of Freedom

Mike was an extremely interesting speaker. He explained how his organization developed over time and also shared a number of personal stories about the many veterans his organization has been involved with. It was also very nice to hear how one of our own members, SIR Ron Lowe, has been such a strong supporter of Mike's efforts with Sentinels of Freedom over the years.

Mike is a successful Real Estate Developer and the father of three Army Rangers. He was inspired to establish Sentinels of Freedom after one of his 3 sons was wounded in Iraq in 2003. Impressed by the level of care his son received in the military hospitals, and deeply concerned over the plight of wounded warriors without families or community networks to support them after their release from the service, Mike began the work that would evolve into the Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation.

Sentinels of Freedom connects “permanently disabled Veterans with caring community volunteers who pool their resources to provide housing, accessible vehicles, education, a suitable job, and ongoing community support towards an end game of economic self-sufficiency.” After operating informally for several years, Sentinels of Freedom was officially incorporated in 2007.

January 2014 Curt Pipes
Tasting Room Manager of a Boutique Livermore Winery

Curt joined Las Positas Vineyards in January 2013, and as the Tasting Room Manager, he embraces the passion and goals of the owners to maintain and expand on the rich heritage of the Livermore Valley wine industry.

Curt graduated in 1998 with a degree from the Hotel & Restaurant Culinary School at Santa Barbara City College and then joined the Elephant Bar & Restaurant chain, working for 11-years and becoming a General Manager. Following a period at a Santa Barbara Winery, Curt moved North. He will comment on Livermore winery growth since mid-1800’s, and discuss operations at Las Positas Vineyards.

November 2013 Dan Ashley, ABC7 News Anchor

Dan Ashley came to ABC7 in 1995 as the weekday 5:00 p.m. news anchor and investigative reporter. He has received a number of awards, including two awards from the Radio Television News Directors Association of Northern California (RTNDA) for Best Newscast, 60 Minutes and Best Newscast, 30 Minutes. In 1996, ABC7 News at 6:00 p.m. won an Emmy for the most outstanding single news broadcast in a large market. Most recently, Ashley reported from Poland on the "March of the Living" with Bay Area holocaust survivors, and before that, reported from Marine Corp basic training at Camp Pendleton in San Diego. Other notable assignments include reporting live from New Hampshire and South Carolina for the state primaries and from Iowa for the state's caucus.

Ashley began his television career at WTVD, the ABC owned television station in Durham, North Carolina. He then worked for WCBD-TV, the ABC affiliate in Charleston, where he was weekend anchor and later the 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. anchor. During his news tenure in Charleston, Ashley also won the prestigious DuPont Columbia Award and the Edward R. Murrow Award.

Ashley's distinguished work is recognized by many industry organizations, including Associated Press, United Press International, and the Press Club of Atlantic City. He has also received awards from the New Jersey and Atlanta chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Ashley is a graduate of the University of North Carolina with degrees in English and Speech Communication.

October 2013 Victor Gauthier

California Department of Transportation

Victor is the Communications Associate & Tours Program Manager for the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge Seismic Safety Project. He manages the project tour program which provides presentations and/or narrated construction site tours to nearly 4,000 people since 2011. He has become an expert on the existing San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as well as the East Span of the new Bay Bridge. He has assisted in developing a new up-to-date version of the Corridor Overview presentations that will be viewed by hundreds of visitors to the Public Information Office as well as for participants of his offsite presentations. Victor presents to professional organizations, schools, conferences and regional associations. Victor is an active member of the Communications Partnership Team and has volunteered on behalf of the client at local schools and public events. Victor is also a member of the Web team that monitors and updates the Baybridgeinfo.org site, as well as all social media for the Public Information Office. Victor was heavily involved in the Westbound deck closure in 2012. During the closure, Victor escorted media and dignitaries on the construction site, and documented all visitors in attendance. Maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders and businesses is critical as more than 280,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily. Victor was an active team member that helped to successfully get the Bay Bridge open during the Presidents Weekend Closure of 2012.

August 2013 Ron WETTER, Kaiser Permanente
Community & Government Relations Manager

Ron Wetter had addressed our Branch 128 back in June 2012, but quite a bit had changed in a short time so it was great to get him to come back in to provide an update.

Ron holds a B.A. in Political Science from San Jose State University and a Masters in Public Administration from California State University, Hayward. Both have served him well as he presides over Community and Government Relations on behalf of Kaiser Permanente and therein discusses health care issues and their effect at both the local and national levels and their likely effects on Medicare. A former teacher of a class titled “The Business of Health Care and the Road Ahead”, it was as if Ron envisioned the changes now being implemented. He is also a former employee of Contra Costa County and PG&E.

Ron lives in Walnut Creek with his wife Terri and son Alex.

July 2013 Mary C. Shelton, Superintendent
San Ramon Valley Unified School District

On July 1, 2012, Mary C. Shelton assumed the office of Superintendent of the San Ramon Valley Unified School District (SRVUSD). Prior to July 2012, Mary held various administrative positions within the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD); she was unanimously Board approved for the SRVUSD post, beating out numerous other candidates.

With a Bachelors of Science Degree in Secondary Education from the University of Tennessee, and a Masters of Science Degree in Mathematics from the University of Mississippi, although Ms. Shelton had worked as a computer programmer for Chevron in New Orleans, she always seemed destined to be in education. Mary then spent 4-years teaching College Math at Louisiana State University in Shreveport, LA, and at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss, before moving to the Jesuit Catholic High School in Sacramento where for 11-years she taught Math and ultimately became the Assistant Principal. From 2001-2006, she moved into the Sacramento Public School system, taking over as Principal at John F. Kennedy High School. Then in 2006, Mary went to work for the SCUSD.

Located in Sacramento’s urban center, SCUSD supervises 81-schools and about 48,000 students. Appx. 69% of those students were considered below the Federal Poverty Threshold. Alternatively, SRVUSD is a smaller but wealthier District with 35-schools and about 30,000 students.

The SRVUSD ranks among the Top 5% of all School Districts in California, and the Top 2% of all Unified Districts in the State. Over 94% of Graduating Seniors attend College or University. This month, the SRVUSD will bestow diplomas and certificates on more than 2,200-graduates. This year alone, the District is home to FIVE Distinguished Middle Schools and FOUR High Schools are recognized in the Top-200 High Schools in the Nation - TWO of them ranking in the Top-100.

Mary is the mother of two grown children, an attorney and a civil engineer, who both live out of area.

June 2013 Steve P. Simpkins, Danville Chief of Police

In August 2010, Steve Simpkins, a then 16-year veteran of the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff, became the FIFTH Police Chief in Danville’s 28-year history. Keeping communities safe was why Chief Simpkins first went into Law Enforcement and he has a strong history of "taking the bad guys to jail."

Starting a renowned career in 1993 as a Reserve Deputy in Sacramento County, then moving to Contra Costa County in 1994, Chief Simpkins has worked in Field Operations as a Detective and Patrol Officer, in our County Jails, and served in the contract cities of Orinda and San Ramon. Promoted to Sergeant in 2001, then Lieutenant in 2005, Steve was the Facility Commander for both of the Counties largest Jails, along with an assignment as Administrative Commander for the Custody Services Bureau. Prior to taking over in Danville, he was Watch Commander for all operations of the Sheriff’s Office during non-business hours.

Chief Simpkins completed the FBI National Academy at Quantico, VA, he has a Graduate Certificate in Criminal Justice from University of Virginia, a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Chapman University and an Associate Degree in Criminal Justice from Solano County. Presently, the Chief is completing his Masters from Oklahoma University. A resident of Clayton for several years with his wife and four children, his personal interests, when there’s time, are World travel and muscle cars.

May 2013 Fred LaCosse

former TV Personality and San Francisco Television Legend

Over seven years ago, Fred LaCosse was troubled by the lack of quality in the teachings of American History being received by his grand-daughters. Fred embarked on 3-years of research that concluded in his development of a unique history-based presentation entitled: ‘Your American Freedoms: Protect Them or Lose Them.’

Born and raised in South Bend, IN, Fred earned Degrees from Wabash College & Northwestern University, then survived two years of Army food and brief TV stints in Chicago and Columbus before moving West to begin a fantastically successful 45+year career in Bay Area Television.

During that time Fred worked with: KNTV, KRON, KGO-TV, and KICU. At different times he was a Floor Director, Director, Production Manager, Announcer, Reporter, Producer, Anchor and News Director. Somehow he found time to marry his beautiful wife Terry Lowery, who co-hosted "AM San Francisco" with Fred on KGO-TV from 1982-1987.

Fred LaCosse is the recipient of numerous awards for his community involvement, as well as an Emmy for his news feature reporting and being elected to the National Television Academy Silver Circle.