Contact Us
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Contact Information
Marine Recreation Association
1215 K Street, Suite 1150
Sacramento, CA 95814
Nick Garcia
Executive Director
Our phone: 916.441.1475
Our email: mra@marina.org
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Officers
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President
Kate Pearson
Ms. Pearson, a long time recreational sailor, joined Safe Harbor Marinas in late 2015. Prior to this she managed Shelter Island Marina in San Diego and was the VP of Business Development for Knight & Carver Maritime. She was past President of the San Diego Superyacht Association, is the incoming Chair of the US Superyacht Association, and sits on the board of the Marine Recreation Association.
Kate Pearson, Vice President
Safe Harbor Marinas
1450 Harbor Island Drive #100
San Diego, CA 92101
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Vice President
Arron Pellarin
Arron is the owner of the Village West Marina, a 680 berth, full-service marina which services the California Delta Community. He is also the founder and owner of Pellarin Construction Group Inc., a General Contracting Firm and Pellarin Enterprises, a Real Estate Development Company.
Arron’s 35 years of experience in the construction and real estate development businesses haa given him an opportunity to work with numerous City and State agencies. He has also developed and managed numerous large budget real estate projects. He currently holds board seats on the Redwood City Police Activities League, an organization that provides after school services for at-risk youth, and the Redwood City Improvement Association, which is the administrator of public funds dedicated to the beautification and economic vibrancy of downtown Redwood City.
Arron Pellarin
Village West Marina
6649 Embarcadero Drive
Stockton, CA 95219
650.369.0627
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Immediate Past President
Scott Robertson
Scott is the CEO/President of Emerald Cove Marina, Inc., the sole concessionaire on Bullards Bar Reservoir in Northern California. Emerald Cove Marina has 70 private houseboats moorages and 80 slips for smaller boats. They rent houseboats and small boats in addition to marketing and booking the 165 campgrounds. Scott was a founding partner of Robertson, Woodford & Summers, LLP—a CPA firm located in Grass Valley, California. He is the President of Nevada County Broadcasters, Inc.—an FM/AM radio combination located in Grass Valley, California. Scott lives in Nevada City, California, with his wife of 32 years. He has three grown children.
Scott Robertson
Emerald Cove Marina, Inc.
P.O. Box 480
Dobbins, CA 95935
530.692.3200 Fax 530.692.3206
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Treasurer
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Steve Meckfessel
Steve Meckfessel is the largest investor, and manager, of the 770-berth Marina Village Yacht Harbor in Alameda, California. Marina Village is the largest privately owned marina in San Francisco Bay.
Steve holds an MBA from U.C. Berkeley. He is a CPA, a licensed general contractor and real estate broker. In 1980, Steve started as a project controller for Vintage Properties, a mixed-use real estate development firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He became an operating partner with Vintage in 1987 in its Marina Village development in Alameda.
In 1992, Steve formed his own development/management/investment firm, SRM Associates, which grew to become one of the most active development firms in the Bay Area. SRM developed or redeveloped over 4 million square feet of commercial office and R&D buildings. SRM also became a leader in the green building field. SRM’s projects included the $300mm University Circle office project in E. Palo Alto, the Ascend/Lucent and Zhone campuses in Alameda and Oakland, Pixar campus in Emeryville and the Peets Coffee and VF/Outdoor campuses in Alameda. SRM’s projects have won numerous design and industry awards. Steve is a frequent lecturer at the Haas Graduate School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley.
Steve Meckfessel
Marina Village Yacht Harbor
1030 Marina Village Parkway
Alameda, CA 94501
510.217.5481 Fax 510.749.9875
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Secretary - Vacant
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Regional Vice Presidents
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Southern CA Ocean Vice President
Jim Hayes
Jim has been with Almar since 1998. Prior to Almar he spent more than 15 years in the hotel/resort business working for companies like Westin and Le Meridian Hotels. The customer services experience gained from the hospitality industry has helped a great deal in understanding how the marina industry should evolve. Almar operates marinas though out California and Hawaii. Almar is the largest operator of marinas on the west coast with more than 30 years of experience in developing, constructing and operating marinas.
Jim Hayes
Almar Management Inc.
370 Amapola Avenue, Suite 207
Torrance, CA 90501
424.271.3315
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Board of Directors
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Jeremy Grewal
Jeremy Grewal
Safe Harbor Marinas
1363 Spinnaker Drive
Ventura, CA 93001
805.572.7220
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Eric Leslie
Eric Leslie is Director of Marina Operations for Beauchamp Realty Inc. based out of Irvine, California. Beauchamp Realty owns and operates marina properties in Ventura County, Orange County and San Diego County. The marina portfolio includes over 2,000 slips and 50 plus employees. Eric has been in the marina management and development business for 30 years and was a founding Director of The San Diego Marine Trade Association in 1988, which eventually merged with the San Diego Port Tenants Association where he has been on the Board of Directors for the past 20 years. In addition to the Beauchamp Realty properties Eric has a minority ownership interest in 3 other marina related properties: San Diego Mooring Company, Pier 32 Marina and Point Loma Marina. Eric is a graduate of San Diego State University with an Economics degree, has a California Department of Real Estate Broker’s License and extensive experience in working with public agencies.
Eric Leslie
Beauchamp Realty Inc.
2040 Harbor Island Drive
San Diego, CA 92101
619.291.6440 Fax 619.291.2684
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Steve Orosz
Steve Orosz
Marina Bay Yacht Harbor
1340 Marina Way
South Richmond, CA 94804
510.236.1013 Fax 510.236.1957
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Leith Thomas
Leith is in his 12th year with California Yacht Marina serving as the Assistant General Manager for LCT Management, Inc., that has a real estate portfolio with an aggregate of over 5,000 tenants. His first exposure to the boating world began as a child on trips with his grandfather LaRue Thomas to Catalina Island and expanded from there when his family got into the marina industry in 1984. Leith has a degree in Economics from San Diego State University where he took part in the honors program.
Founded by LaRue, a family business in its third generation, California Yacht Marina operates in Southern California and oversees all day to day operations with its four owned marinas in addition to a marina owned by a municipality- totaling over 1,900 wet slips. Leith has extensive hands on experience in all aspects of marina operations, including the back office where he has spent his time with CYM under the mentorship of R. Kevin Ketchum, Past President of MRA.
Leith is a hands on manager who has operational experience at the site level starting out in the maintenance department and culminating as Dockmaster. In these positions he has gained the knowledge for not only the maintenance of marinas but also environmental regulations and requirements of being a certified Clean Marina, Emergency Preparedness and Response Plans, IIPP, Job and Safety Training Programs, Hazardous Spill Response Plan, and the list goes on.
His back office experience includes payroll, human resources, accounts payable/receivable, monthly excess cash distributions, responding to RPFs, data and market analysis, accounting and controls, IT integration of on-site and corporate business systems, contractual and operating documents, and web & print advertising.
Leith Thomas
California Yacht Marina
22905 Lockness Avenue
Torrance, CA 90501
310.534.8436 Fax 310.534.8670
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Trade Directors
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Andrew Bleier
Andrew has been serving the evolving requirements of the recreational marina industry for over 20 years. Being a third-generation principal and operating officer of KECO Pump & Equipment, I interact daily with Marina owners, operators, service persons, consultants, engineers, regulators and boaters alike. Over the past 20 years, I have worked diligently to re-establish KECO as the industry leader in the recreational marine sanitation segment; leading through innovation and hands-on approach.
He has been on the water my entire life, first introduced to sailing at the age of 4. I am raising my young family to appreciate and respect the core values the water has taught me. I am a water person, avid sailor/racer and my hobbies include skiing, diving and more recently boat restoration.
Andrew has a technical background (mechanical, electrical, IT) a degree in communication and am skilled in all facets of operating two modern businesses. (KECO & MarineSync).
Andrew Bleier
Keco Inc.
PO Box 80308
San Diego, CA 92138
619.298.3800 Fax 619.298.3300
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Bryce Fisher
Bryce Fisher joined Bellingham Marine in 2016 as a member of the company’s sales team. His focus is on helping clients navigate marina and commercial dock construction projects.
Bryce’s expertise is in permitting support, feasibility analysis, market development, evaluation of site-specific design criteria, engineering management and project coordination.
Bryce’s regional territory includes California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Baja California and the west coast of Mexico.
Bryce has a long history in the marine industry. His 20 plus year career includes marina management, marine construction, and the development and sale of custom products to major boat manufacturers. He also holds a USCG 100-Ton Master Near Coastal Captain License.
Bryce Fisher
Bellingham Marine
8810 Sparling Lane
Dixon, CA 95620
707.693.2458 Fax 707.678.1760
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Barbara Galgiani
Barbara is an experienced risk manager and insurance broker. In her 25 years of working with marinas she has gained knowledge of operations and the unique decision-making processes that occur within a marine facility. Barbara has expanded her client base to include a specialization with commercial marine-related risks.
Currently, Barbara utilizes her extensive knowledge in marine exposures to support her clients through insurance solutions and risk mitigation. She is experienced in both Jones Act (maritime crew) and US Longshore and Harbor Workers exposures. Barbara is known for her ability to look at operations from a variety of different perspectives to offer both insurance and non-insurance solutions to her clients.
She is committed to the highest level of expertise possessing several professional designations including: CPCU (Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter), CIC (Certified Insurance Counselor), CRM (Certified Risk Manager) and CWCA (Certified Work Comp Advisor).
Barbara Galgiani, CPCU, CIC, CRM, CWCA
LP Insurance Services, LLC
209.606.5627
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Rusty Morgan
As the sole Grandson of an Olympic sailor, Rusty has been either at the helm or in the bilge of a boat since birth. His life in the Marine industry began sweeping floors and sewing boat covers at a small sailmaker in New Jersey, but he soon moved on to coaching all levels of Jr Sailors throughout the country, hoping to instill the culture of fine yachtsmanship in a new generation of mariners. After some time honing his skills in the boatyard, maintaining and refitting race yachts, the last few years have seen him deeply involved in the technical operations of the 34th and 35th Americas Cup, Coaching the Jr Program and serving as the Waterfront Director at the St. Francis Yacht Club. Rusty takes pride in coming up with creative solutions to unusual problems, educating others in the industry, and providing exemplary customer service along the way. Currently, Rusty is the Technical Sales and Support person for Propspeed on the West Coast of the USA and Canada. When he's not on the water, you can find him kiteboarding, snowboarding, or lost somewhere in the woods on his bike.
Rusty Morgan
Imtra Corporation
30 Samuel Barnet Blvd
New Bedford, MA 02745
847.372.8095
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Permanent Board of Directors
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Dave Munro
647 Nuna Avenue, #56
Ft. Meyers, FL 33905
916.215.0095
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Legislative Advocates
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Platinum Advisor
Beau Biller
1215 K Street, Suite 1150
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.443.8891
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General Counsel
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Philip E. Weiss, Esquire
Brodsky, Micklow, Bull & Weiss
955 Harbor Island Drive, Suite 130
San Diego, CA 92101
619.225.8884 Fax 619.225.8801
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Operations Administrator
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Mariann Timms
Marine Recreation Association
14900 West Highway 12, #30
Lodi, CA 95242
Phone: 209.482.1152
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