Community Service and Positions
Although my Elected Civic Service is a highlight of my life (besides my family of course), I have always been active in the community around me. After Boy Scouts and my religious convictions taught me that true joy is found in serving others, I progressed through a series of leadership service responsibilities starting with my local church, then my children's school board, then coaching my children in middle school and high school sports, then Downtown Roseville-related boards and committees, then neighborhood boards, and various business groups along the way.
The various service positions below are roughly in the order of most recent/significant down to less recent.
Roseville Coalition of Neighborhood Associations (RCONA) - current President
I have served as an executive director on RCONA and have actively served on it since 2012. After terming out of city council at the end of 2024, I accepted the nomination as president. RCONA is amazing. It's a 501(c)3 community charity organization whose mission is to improve the social, physical, and economic health in the Roseville Community by sharing information, facilitating training and education, providing resources, and encouraging communication and participation among neighborhoods, government, educational institutions, businesses, and other participants.
It is the most integrated form of community involvement in the entire city (Roseville, CA) as the entire city is divided up into neighborhood associations (Note: these are not HOAs) under the RCONA nonprofit umbrella. This organization was initially started by the local police department and operates as an independent nonprofit that serves to communicate information to/from the residents. Each neighborhood has its own board of directors and each has a representative that serves on the general RCONA board for the entire city. I have helped start/restart two neighborhood associations where I lived (Pleasant Grove Neighborhood Association and the Westpark Neighborhood Association) and was president of each until I either moved out of the neighborhood (PGNA) or was elected to city council (WNA). I'm still a member-at-large on the WNA board.
Roseville Police Activities League (RPAL) - current President
The Roseville Police Activities League's mission is to enrich the lives of Roseville youth by building positive relationships between youth, police officers, and the community through a broad range of accessible and affordable activities. I first joined the RPAL board after being elected to city council in 2016 as an appointed council member to the board. In 2018 I joined as regular board member and have served since. In 2023, I accepted the president position as we ended up hiring our previous president as our paid Executive Director. During my service, we have gotten serious about strategic planning and I helped recruit and improve the board of directors to include several regional powerhouses. We also formed active subcommittees to help alleviate the pressure on our staff.
Golden Sierra Workforce Board - current Board Director
I was recruited to join this multi-county board in 2023. The Workforce Board is a private sector-led board of directors who identify and solve problems for the residents and businesses of Placer, El Dorado, and Alpine Counties. We volunteer their time to assist with the coordination of partners and the alignment of workforce services. Their efforts ensure public and private resources are properly invested in the local area. I sit in a business community seat.
Here's a short video that explains what Golden Sierra does...
Roseville Community Volunteer Force - founder
This 2,000+ member informal organization was started during the early part of the 2020 pandemic and it serves the entire city and region as needed. Early in the 2020 pandemic, our community suffered from shortages of important items (remember the serious toilet paper shortages?) and there was a lot of fear and stress. I was able to start a wonderful movement that was similar to the classical story of "Stone Soup" where everyone gave a little extra and it became something beautiful.
We gathered thousands of pounds of computers, toilet paper, diapers, sanitizer wipes, distilled water, hand sanitizer, facemasks and more and activated hundreds of delivery volunteers to distribute these items to those in need. Someone developed a website where the community could request items they needed. We raised thousands of dollars that were all spent on handmade face masks (back when you couldn't buy any in stores and the public was very fearful) and homeless services. We held numerous community mask giveaway drive-throughs (including a massive giveaway at the Westfield Galleria Mall parking lot). We did shopping for elderly and those with fragile health, lawn care, phone call conversations for shut-ins, computers for students who were now at home, and much more. It truly was beautiful.
We donated over $8,000 to homeless organizations and gave away around 8,000 face masks. During several holiday seasons after the initial pandemic, our teams "adopted" families in need and raised thousands of dollars to secretly allow a parent/grandparent to provide a wonderful Christmas for their children without telling them that the community provided it. This resulted in the community voting me as "Local Hero" in the two following years of the Press Tribune's Best-of-the-Best Awards. I didn't do it for the recognition. I did it because my Boy Scout background of helping others kicked in and it was wonderful to watch the giving joy catch on like wildfire throughout the community.
Here's a thorough article that the Sacramento News & Review did on our organization...
Here's a video that the Sacramento Bee created about one of our giveaway projects...
Downtown Roseville Merchants, Inc. - past President (9 yrs)
Shortly after opening our family restaurant, A Dash of Panache, on Vernon Street in Downtown Roseville, I joined this nonprofit corporation board that served the business owners in our downtown corridors (Historic Old Town, Vernon Street, Riverside, and Atlantic). I was elected to the President position a few years later and was re-elected for a total of nine years, stepping down after being elected for Roseville City Council in 2016. During my service, we held numerous business improvement clinics/meetings, grew our downtown events (Downtown Tuesday Nights, Family Fun Night, etc.), developed parking and signage regulations, and we worked hard on revitalization efforts which included the building of the Vernon Street Town Square, both parking garages, downtown bridges, and the new 316 building. I was directly involved in these efforts by participating on committees, educating the merchants and sharing concerns to the city. I was also a key player in helping establish the PBID (Downtown Roseville Partnership) for our property owners.
Downtown Roseville is "The Heart of Roseville" and it is a welcoming destination offering a unique mix of history, culture, shopping, dining, and entertainment.
Placer Rescue Mission (501c3 charity) - founding board member
After my experience on the Placer County Homeless Advisory Committee, I knew that something needed to be done to help SOLVE the homeless problem in our county before it grew too large to resolve. I joined forces with a friend and we recruited other volunteers to help us start this nonprofit organization to research and resolve the problem. We researched several nationwide solutions and learned that there was a solution! It would require four things: (1) A secure campus model with complete wraparound services to focus on healing and restoration. (2) A decision that all homeless services (including detox) would be focused on that campus so there was no need for "feeding stations" or clinics anywhere else but on that campus. (3) A countywide law that specified that no homeless services would be given to any person who had not been a Placer County resident for at least one year. This can be easily checked in the statewide homeless software system and it created an unwelcoming environment for transients who wanted to come to our county so that our services were not a magnet to draw more homeless here. We'll take care of "our" residents but not someone elses. (4) A strict county-wide "no camping" regulation that disallowed camping without a permit. As long as there were enough beds for all resident homeless, we could enforce this regulation and then we would solve homeless living in our creeks and off our trails.
The county granted us money to research a specific piece of land for a south placer campus and we developed a proven solution that was well vetted. During this time we also attempted to buy an undeveloped cul-de-sac off Baseline and Brady Lane to build a 9-house with ADA to house all of the homeless seniors in the county. We had healthcare sponsor commitments, designs, etc. but a developer beat us to the purchase.
Our board eventually decided to dissolve and give our designs and data to The Gathering Inn who was committed to carrying the plan forward. However, they couldn't get enough political support...so we still wait for a solution as the county applies bandaids.
PRM's Vision was: "A community mobilized to transform lives and end homelessness."
PRM's Mission was: "To embrace people experiencing homelessness with the love and compassion of Jesus Christ by providing them with proper housing so that they might be redeemed through God’s grace and experience healing in their lives and be restored for a life of wholeness and abundant living."
PRM's Values: "We see each individual as a spiritual person of worth and dignity and worthy of assistance in their life’s journey. We strive to see individuals set free from addictions, mental illness, and homelessness, transformed by God to become physically and spiritually healthy, equipped to participate in society and sustain housing, and encouraged to create relationships of love and service to others. We seek to help those who have been abused and neglected find a better life. We seek to help those who have become addicted to understand their addictions, to expect physical healing, and to live in ways that are healthy to soul, mind, and body."
Roseville Parks & Recreation Commission - past Chair
I was appointed to this commission in 2013 and stepped down upon my election to Roseville City Council in 2016.
Coalition of Roseville Youth (CoRY) - past board director
As a part of the Raising Placer Collaborative, the Coalition for Roseville Youth is a community-wide coalition formed in June 2018, comprised of diverse members from at least 12 different sectors working together to reduce, prevent or delay youth substance abuse while supporting youth wellness and resilience efforts. We focused on youth tobacco, drug, and alcohol usage. I served in the "elected official" seat from 2018-2021 alongside county health staff, and seats for probation, police, business, education, nonprofits, and more as we worked to evaluate statistics, push legislative solutions, and get educational information into our schools.
Roseville Youth Sports Coalition - past board member
During the last few years of my service on the Roseville Parks & Recreation Commission, I served as our commission representative on the Roseville Youth Sports Coalition. The YSC is a unique partnership between local independent youth sports providers and the City of Roseville. The youth sports partners provide athletic activities, opportunities and competition for participants; the City provides game and practice fields for the partners.
City of Roseville Downtown Revitalization Committee - past member
I was appointed to serve two terms on this committee as both a downtown business owner and as the President of the Downtown Roseville Merchants, Inc. We held public meetings with the community to discuss where to focus expenditures with the state's revitalization dollars back before they discontinued the program. This committee was eventually disbanded after the Downtown Specific Plan Steering Committee finished.
Here's a slide show showing our 5-year revitalization strategy from 1999-2004...
City of Roseville Downtown Specific Plan Steering Committee - past member
I was appointed to serve on this important committee as both a downtown business owner and as the President of the Downtown Roseville Merchants, Inc. We held numerous meetings with the community to determine the best plan for the future downtown and we created the important Downtown Specific Plan that encompassed the desires, guidelines, and some regulations to guide the future. I was proud that the city implemented our design well and the downtown truly was revitalized. The Vernon Street Town Square was our biggest catalyst.
I recall that I stood up in one meeting and pointed something out that helped people on the committee realize something they hadn't thought about. I said that we have been catering in the dinners for our various meetings and not once have they brought in meals from a downtown restaurant. If we want to revitalize the downtown, we should start by investing dollars into those businesses! From that point on, all meals came from our downtown businesses (I owned a downtown restaurant and asked to be excluded from these purchases since I was on the committee).
Here's an article in Comstock's Magazine that helped describe the journey...
Roseville Chamber of Commerce Revitalization Committee - past member
Similar to the city's Downtown Revitalization Committee, this Chamber committee had a wide range of stakeholders that focused on ways to revitalize our downtown area as well as older commerce areas. We pushed for the Facade Grant program to help businesses get grants to improve the fronts of their old buildings. This program was highly successful. We also worked on obtaining numerous brass plaques throughout downtown that told the history of certain buildings to keep the interesting history alive. As the president of the Downtown Roseville Merchants, Inc., I was very active on this committee and served until we disbanded it after the downtown was essentially revitalized.
Westpark Neighborhood Association (WNA) - past President, current board member
When our family moved from central Roseville to western Roseville where all the new growth was occurring, the previous WNA had disbanded after splitting into two different neighborhood associations (NA). I was currently the president of the Pleasant Grove NA when we moved and the RCONA board asked if I'd restart the WNA, which I did. We formed a new board and for a brief while, I was president of both NAs until we could get new leadership at PGNA. I started a new Facebook group which quickly became one of the largest groups in the city as we continually answered questions to the new residents. Our board was very active as we held numerous community events such as National Night Out, Movies in the Park, Photos with Santa, Neighborhood Cleanups, You've been Boo'd, and started Neighborhood Watch programs. We always had police and fire representatives at our meetings and we kept everyone informed about development and school updates. After my election to city council in late 2016, I stayed on the WNA board as a member-at-large, but stepped down as president. I have been on the board continually since 2015. Note: these RCONA neighborhood associations are not HOAs, they are community organizations that share information and host events to improve quality-of-life for our residents.
Pleasant Grove Neighborhood Association - past President
Karen and I got involved with RCONA in 2012 and we got neighbors together and started the Pleasant Grove Neighborhood Association (PGNA). I was elected as president and we did a great job of communicating with the neighbors with meetings and newsletters and held fun events such as National Night Out, Neighborhood Santa, Easter egg hunts, You've been Boo'd, and decorating contests. We also started Neighborhood watch programs and had police and fire speak at our board meetings. When we moved a few miles to western Roseville, I eventually stepped down so I could run a new neighborhood board in Westpark.
Note: these RCONA neighborhood associations are not HOAs, they are community organizations that share information and host events to improve the quality-of-life for our residents.
Placer County Homeless Advisory Commission
As a downtown business owner who ran into some challenges with homeless individuals who caused issues in the parking lot behind our restaurant. I started to work with local officials and ended up getting appointed by Placer County Supervisor Duran to this commission. I found myself as the only business owner sitting in large meetings surrounded by commissioners who were ALL from social service organizations or city/county officials. I had the impression that the organizations seemed to be arguing over competing dollars and I believe I made a significant difference by repeatedly reminding everyone that we need to stop in-fighting for our piece of the pie and step back as a group and figure out a way to SOLVE this problem because it's not only a chronic problem for the homeless human beings themselves, but it's hurting our businesses and making neighbors angry and frustrated.
Our group brought in Dr. Marbut to conduct a major study about homelessness in our county and his final report was scathing at best. It clearly stated that our efforts were only Band-Aids, not solutions. This experience caused me to push for real solutions and with his feedback, I helped start the Placer Rescue Mission which is listed on this page.
Chamber Membership Drive Winner (x2)
For two different Chambers of Commerce, I was not only on the winning team, but I was able to win the "Top Dawg" award for bringing in new members or increased sponsorship levels into the Chamber. What was cool was that this was with TWO DIFFERENT Chambers! In 2021, I helped the Roseville Area Chamber of Commerce and was on Team Red and we beat all other teams AND I received the Top Dawg award for bringing in the most and highest value (sponsorship) members. In 2025, the Rocklin Area Chamber of Commerce ran the same event and I helped Team Green bring in significantly more than all other teams AND I again received the Top Dawg award.
In 2021, the Roseville Chamber presented me with the "Ryan Haney Referral Partner of the Year" award and I supposedly set a record for the most referrals and dollar values ever in the chamber.
I love the mission of our Chambers of Commerce and it was an honor to help each of these chambers because it helped our regional business community and economics.
Elementary School Board - Past 6-year Chair
I served as a board member of a private Christian school from 1992 to 2003 and was voted by the board to be the Chair from 1997 to 2003 and left after we implemented term limits. It was a great training ground for learning how to lead in during crises such as a flood that covered much of our property and damaged buildings, financial difficulties, staffing issues, and diverse viewpoints. We learned how to significantly improve our policies, how to prioritize education and culture over teacher seniority, how to get parents more invested, how to improve our board, and how to market better.
I created the first website for the school and participated heavily in assisting in all kinds of school functions, including helping coach sports, teaching computer programming sessions to students, fundraisers, and more.
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