The Rossmoor Community Services District has elected Director Jeffrey Rips, a nonprofit executive, to serve as Board President for 2022. Director Mark Nitikman was elected as First Vice President.
The elections occurred at the Board of Directors Jan. 11 meeting, which they had decided in an earlier special meeting to hold over Zoom rather than in person (see related story).
After a brief introductory statement citing some of the district’s accomplishments under his leadership, Board President Dr. Jeffrey Barke nominated Rips to become the board’s new president. Rips was the only nominee and was elected unanimously.
Immediately following his election, Barke said “So I will now turn over the ceremonial gavel over to our new President, Jeffrey Rips, I have no gavel to hand you but you can pretend you got one.”
“Well, thank you very much,” said Rips, I appreciate that very much.” Rips said he would continue to pursue the issues that the board has identified as priorities and he thanked Barke for his service.
As customary, Rips said to Barke, “I will virtually present the gavel to you that Mr. Mendoza has, and he will give it to you at some point in the future.”
Rips then nominated Nitikman for First Vice President and he was elected unanimously.
When it came to the election for 2nd Vice President, it was a different story. The same division that surfaced on previous issues resurfaced as the board had differing ideas on who should fill the post.
The board split 2-3 over Barke’s nomination of Tony DeMarco, with Barke and DeMarco voting for, and Rips, Nitikman and Director Searles voting against. Nitikman nominated Director Nathan Searles as 2nd Vice President, which then passed 3-2 with Rips, Nitikman and Searles voting yes, Barke and DeMarco voting against.
Before moving on, Rips took a moment to thank the board for their support and thanked outgoing President Barke for his leadership during the year.
“I just want to take a couple moments to thank you for your leadership and your guidance,” said Rips.
“Your partnership with General Manager Mendoza, your partnership with the rest of the board, and our community has led to some really, overwhelmingly positive changes for our district,” he said.
“You mentioned them [the accomplishments] in your state of the district (see related story), but really, the street sweeping is something that would not have happened with a lot of effort and energy under your guidance,” said Rips.
He also credited Barke for changes in the traffic committee and for the relationship with elected officials. “Your ability to create relationships has really helped our district,” he said.
“I think he did a great job this year,” said Director Tony DeMarco. “Thank you for all of the time. I know that it takes a lot of time and I know you’re a busy guy, so we got a lot accomplished,” he said.
“The district street sweeping by far will always be under your tenure, so keep up the good work and thank you very much for your leadership,” said DeMarco.
Director Nathan Searles said “I don’t think we could have had the relations needed to get street sweeping done with the county and local elected officials.”
“You opened those doors really well,” said Searles.
“Everybody said what I would have said so thank you for putting in a lot of work over the past year,” said Nitikman.