The Mendocino County Employees' Retirement Association on its December 2025 agenda elected Alex Land as chair, Lenore Swope as vice chair and Catherine Cavness as secretary, and approved a slate of administrative and policy actions affecting pension pay and board governance.

Why it matters: Trustees adopted the board calendar and several governance changes that implement new state requirements for official disclosures and remote attendance, and the board adopted two resolutions to correct the pensionable status of a county resident deputy bonus pay, including retroactive refunds where required for PEPRA members. Those actions affect a small number of members and change how MCERA and some outside vendors must file financial-disclosure forms.

The vote and motions: After nominations, a trustee moved to elect the slate of officers; the motion passed on a roll-call vote in which all trustees present recorded 'Aye.' The board adopted the 2026 calendar after discussing conference conflicts and scheduled the first audit-committee meeting for April 22 at 1 p.m. The audit committee reported no findings for FY2025 and the board approved the financial statements and independent audit by roll-call vote.

Pensionable-pay correction: Executive Director Doris Rentschler recommended two resolutions related to a county "resident deputy" bonus pay created circa 2001. Rentschler said the pay "is at the sheriff's discretion" and noted that under PEPRA (effective Jan. 1, 2013) certain bonus pay types are not pensionable. Staff recommended removing the pay from the pensionable list retroactive to Jan. 1, 2013 for PEPRA members and prospectively for legacy members; trustees voted to adopt both resolutions. Rentschler told trustees only eight people have received this pay since 2013 and only three were PEPRA members, with one current employee who will receive a contribution refund if applicable.

Conflict-of-interest and remote-attendance policy updates: Executive Director Rentschler and board counsel described changes required by Senate Bill 852 and Senate Bill 707. Rentschler said SB 852 (effective Jan. 1, 2026) "reclassif[ies] our consultant to go from Appendix B up to Appendix A" and would add investment managers to Appendix A, making those filers subject to FPPC (Fair Political Practices Commission) reporting. On remote attendance, staff said SB 707 revises definitions of "just cause," folds emergency exceptions into that definition, and adds a disability-related remote attendance option. The board voted to adopt both policy updates.

Direction on legal publication request: Counsel Jeff explained a proposal to join other systems in asking the California Court of Appeal to publish its decision in Albert Mendoza v. Board of Retirement (Ventura). Counsel said the decision applies a duty-to-mitigate legal principle to disability retirement applicants and that publication would make the ruling statewide. Trustees gave informal direction (a "thumbs up") to proceed, with anticipated cost-sharing that counsel estimated to be under $1,000 for MCERA.

Service-provider contracts and RFPs: Staff reviewed vendor evaluations (Brown Armstrong, Callan, Siegel) and recommended extending Brown Armstrong for an additional contract term and issuing RFPs for the investment consultant and actuarial services. Trustees directed staff to extend Brown Armstrong and to issue RFPs for Callan (investment consultant) and Siegel (actuarial), aiming to stagger contract expirations and form an ad hoc review committee in the spring.

Votes at a glance: [All votes recorded by roll call unless noted]
- Election of officers (Chair Alex Land; Vice Chair Lenore Swope; Secretary Catherine Cavness): Approved (unanimous 'Aye').
- Adopt 2026 board meeting calendar (with amendment to note conferences): Approved (unanimous 'Aye').
- Approve FY2025 financial statements and independent audit (audit committee reported no findings): Approved (unanimous 'Aye').
- Adopt two resolutions removing resident deputy bonus pay from pensionable compensation (retroactive correction for PEPRA members; prospective exclusion for legacy members): Approved (unanimous 'Aye').
- Adopt updated conflict-of-interest policy to implement SB 852 (Form 700 filings with FPPC; include investment managers and consultants in Appendix A): Approved (unanimous 'Aye').
- Adopt updated remote-attendance policy to reflect SB 707 changes: Approved (unanimous 'Aye').
- Direction given to pursue publication support in Mendoza v. Ventura: Board gave support; no formal motion recorded.
- Direction to extend Brown Armstrong and issue RFPs for investment consultant and actuarial services: Approved/directed by consensus.

What happens next: Staff will implement the calendar changes and schedule the audit committee meeting for April 22, 2026; process refunds and administrative corrections for affected members under the resident-deputy-pay resolutions; coordinate Form 700 filing changes with trustees and advise investment managers; and begin RFP work and committee formation in early 2026.

Attribution: Quotes and attributions in this report are taken from the board meeting transcript. Key speakers quoted in the meeting included Chair Alex Land, Executive Director Doris Rentschler, Retirement Financial Investment Officer Robert Reveles, and Board Counsel Jeff Burke.

Ending note: The board adjourned and set its next meeting for Jan. 21, 2026, at 8:30 a.m. in the MCERA boardroom.