Board Elections
If you are a current Preservation Sacramento member, we will send you a vote-by-email ballot on December 22, 2023. Please submit your ballot by Friday, January 5. We will re-send the vote-by-email ballot in a week (December 29) in case you were missed, but also be sure to check your email account's "spam" folder to see if it was identified by your email software as spam.
If you didn't get a ballot email your Preservation Sacramento membership may not be current. Contact us directly to verify your membership status.
Candidate statements are posted below.
Voting will be conducted by email through Election Runner by electronic ballot with election results being tallied and reported on February 5th. Board members will be appointed to the Board at the January 8 PS Board meeting.
Preservation Sacramento prides itself on its all-volunteer Board and committees and welcomes all who have an interest in preservation. We thank our members for their ongoing time, commitment, and consideration.
Preservation Sacramento 2024 Board of Directors Candidate Statements
The candidate bios below are intended to introduce Preservation Sacramento members to the individuals listed on the 2024 Board ballot. PS will conduct the vote by email and the emailed ballot must be cast for as many candidates you wish to vote for and submitted using the Preservation Sacramento Voting Link provided in your email no later than January 5, 2024. You will receive your emailed ballot on December 22, 2023.
New Board Candidates:
Jeff Brooke: I am a professional archaeologist with nearly 35 years of experience in project implementation and regulation of federal historic preservation law. In my capacity as a professional archaeologist, I have worked in the employment of private industry as well as the National Park Service, the United States Forest Service, and California Department of Parks and Recreation. My work with the state has included over six years of employment at the Northern Service Center as an archaeological lead on a number of construction projects in state parks units throughout central and northern California and the latter has included over 14 years of employment at the California Office of Historic Preservation as a reviewer of Sections 106 and 110 of the National Historic Preservation Act for a variety of federal and state agencies. I was raised in Chico where my father’s side settled in the early 1900s and my mother’s side in the early days of WWII. And while Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco I suppose a bit of mine will always reside in the “City of Trees.” However, I have been living in the Woodlake Neighborhood of Old North Sacramento for over 10-years and have been actively involved in local efforts to promote historic preservation. As such, my personal aspirations are to bring my years of professional experience to bear on the creation of historic districts and properties in the all-too-often overlooked North Sacramento portion of the greater Sacramento metropolitan area.
Ella Cross: I am a fifth generation Sacramentan from an Azorean Portuguese farming family. I joined Preservation Sacramento in 2022. In 2023 I received my M.A. in History from CSUS where I studied Architectural History and in 2021 I received a B.A. in Art History with an Architectural History focus from UC Davis. During my time at CSUS I completed a summer-long curatorial internship with The Society of California Pioneers in San Francisco, and wrote local landmark nominations for the City of Sacramento’s African American Experience Project, which was funded by a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In my final semester at CSUS I co-edited and contributed an essay on Sacramento’s Leland Stanford Mansion to Clio, the local Phi Alpha Theta history journal. Growing up surrounded by the history obsessed older generations of my family helped to root me firmly to this place and to love it deeply.
Ellen Mallory: After 30 years in the Bay Area, I moved to Sacramento in 2021 to restore a historic home. I became interested in historic architecture in college and have continued to enjoy learning about historic buildings and the people that lived in them. I was a board member of the San Mateo County Historical Association, wrote the California Historic Resource Application for Baywood Elementary School, and served on the San Mateo Planning Commission where I focused on trying to preserve historic buildings and maintain the character of city neighborhoods. It was an honor to have my home on the 2023 Preservation Sacramento Historic Home Tour, and I am looking forward to learning more about the buildings and homes in Sacramento. I am so pleased to be working with this organization and its members to identify and protect the valuable cultural and historical resources of Sacramento.
Melissa Mourkas: My interest in Historic Preservation dates all the way back to my undergraduate studies and my B.A. in History of Architecture and Art. A bit later in life I returned to my interest in the study of the built environment by earning a graduate degree in Landscape Design and Planning (M.A.). I am a licensed Landscape Architect in California (CA LA #5139) and a Secretary of the Interior’s Standards Qualified Architectural Historian. Landing in the Sacramento region in 2001, it was only a few years before I was hired as a Planner in the City of Sacramento’s Historic Preservation Office (2005-2008). Later, I served 5 years on the Sacramento Preservation Commission (2008-2012), with my final year as Chair. I have served on several Boards and Commissions over the years, including Sacramento Heritage and the California State Historic Governor’s Mansion Foundation. Prior to retiring from state service at the end of 2022, I worked for the California Energy Commission in the Environmental Office (2010-2022), with the majority of my work there in Cultural Resources. Now happily retired, I have the time, energy and expertise to again serve my community and the Preservation Sacramento organization.
Current Board Members Seeking Re-Election:
Gregory Van Acker (Treasurer): After getting a Master's degree in Television-Radio from Syracuse University, I worked in broadcasting for 25 years for stations in New York, Illinois, and California, ending up at KOVR-TV in Sacramento. I then worked as a teacher in the Elk Grove Unified School District for 19 years, serving as the Business Technology Department Chair at Valley High School. I am now an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Sacramento City College in the CIS department. I have been married for 40+ years and have two grown sons, two daughters-in-law, and two grandchildren. I joined SOCA in the early 80's after reading about it in the Suttertown News. The organization meshed with my interest in both community health and community design, an interest which grew after Stuart Brand of the Point Foundation introduced me to A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander in 1978. We have owned two older homes: a 1920s Elk Grove farmhouse, and then a 1937 Land Park Tony Brasil design. I am interested in preserving older buildings as well as working to improve our urban fabric. I have been a Rotarian for over 30 years, and am Past President of the Rotary Club of Midtown-Sacramento, where one of our long standing projects has been removing ivy from Midtown trees. We have been saving trees since 2001.
Vickie Valine: I have always been fascinated by history and historic buildings. When I was growing up in Sacramento, my family and I would frequently visit my grandparents who owned, lived in, and rented out rooms in a beautiful “boarding house” (built in 1904) in the Boulevard Park neighborhood. I have long felt an affinity for Midtown Sacramento. When I moved out of my childhood home, I came to Downtown Sacramento to find a new old home. I rented an apartment in the Hale Mansion at 1300 H Street (built in 1894) until it was turned into The Sterling Hotel in 1987. In the 1970s I worked for an attorney who had his office at The Sun Building at 717 K Street (built in 1895), and I later worked for a non-profit Quaker lobbying firm located at the Cal-Western Life Building at 926 J Street (built in 1926), which became the Citizen Hotel in 2008. After my husband and I moved into our 1911 bungalow 23 years ago, I researched our house’s history at the Sacramento Archives and The Sacramento Room. We even met with the original owner’s 78-year-old granddaughter, who grew up in the house. She was able to share some details with us of how the house has changed. Our home (during its 100th birthday year) was included in the 2011 SOCA Home Tour. I began attending the SOCA Home Tours in the 1990s, have volunteered at the SOCA/PS Home Tours since 2008, and have been a SOCA/PS Board member since 2009. I was the SOCA/PS Historic Home Tour Volunteer Coordinator for 14 years, and I now Look Forward to continue to work as a PS Board member with other PS Board members and like-minded people to educate the public and to help work to protect historic homes and neighborhoods in Sacramento.
Luis Sumpter: Luis is a licensed Realtor-Associate with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Mason McDuffie, working in its Midtown office. He has represented Buyers and Sellers for 15 years with a focus on historic properties in the City’s older neighborhoods. Luis’ community involvement includes Alkali Flat/Mansion Flats Historic Neighborhood Association (AMFHNA), Board of Directors; Preservation Sacramento, Board of Directors; Preservation Sacramento Annual Home Tour Chair; Sacramento City Management Academy, Alumni, Sacramento Police Chief Interview Panel, Appointed by City Councilmember Hansen; and his professional involvement includes: Sacramento Association of Realtors (SAR) “Masters Club”: President; SAR Leadership Academy, Chair; SAR Grievance Hearing Committee, Boardmember and Life Member of SAR’s Masters Club. Luis lives in a 1909 fourplex in the Alkali Flat neighborhood and some of the units in his building make up the “FStreetLofts”, fully furnished guest accommodations, that are rented to visiting professionals.
Karen Jacques: I have lived in the Central City for over 40 years. During that time period, my husband and I rehabbed ten historic houses, most of which were ‘Housing and Dangerous Building’ cases when we bought them. We are currently competing what will be our last project: the rehab/reconstruction of an old barn that will become housing in the1800 block of Uptown Alley. All our projects are in the Central City and, except for the barn, all are city landmarks or contributors in historic districts. I founded the original Midtown Neighborhood Association in 1991 and served on its board until my husband and I moved to the Richmond Grove neighborhood in 2015. I began serving on the Preservation Sacramento board in the mid 1990’s when it was still called the Sacramento Old City Association. Between 1994 and 2003 I coordinated the Fainted Ladies Tour which Preservation Sacramento sponsored. It was a bus tour that was designed to call attention to pre World War !! buildings in the Central City and Oak Park that were in danger of demolition due to neglect. The tour helped save some of those buildings. Between 2007 and 2012 I took time off the Preservation Sacramento board to serve on the city's Preservation Commission and chaired the Commission for two of those years. My current activities as a Preservation Sacramento board member include acting as liaison between Preservation Sacramento and Public Accountability for Our Capitol (the ad hoc group that formed in response to the Capitol Annex Project and is trying to preserve as much of the historic integrity of the State Capitol as possible). I also represent Preservation Sacramento on a city appointed work group that is charged with making recommendations on what will be an updated Sacramento Urban Forest Plan. I’m also a member of Preservation Sacramento’s Projects and Historic Preservation Committees. I love being part of the Preservation Sacramento board and would be honored to serve on the board for another term
Matt Walker: I joined the Preservation Sacramento Board of Directors in 2016 and have served as the Secretary for the past three years. I’ve been drawn to history for as long as I can remember. As a child, I collected old stamps and coins, loved listening to stories told by my grandparents , and dug holes in my parents’ backyard in search of fossils (and actually found some!). My interest in the past continued to grow over the years, eventually leading me to UC Santa Cruz, where I graduated with a BA in History. After working at my local history museum in Richmond, California for a couple years I moved to Sacramento where I received my MA in Public History from Sacramento State University. After graduation, I spent several years working in the private consulting world as an architectural historian, documenting built environment resources throughout the state to aid clients with compliance with State and Federal historic preservation laws. Since 2020, I have served as the Historian for the Gold Fields District of California State Parks where I’m tasked with compliance, documentation, and the preservation of the buildings and structures within the 5 district parks, including Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park and Folsom Powerhouse State Historic Park. I have enjoyed my time serving on the Preservation Sacramento Board of Directors and would be honored to continue in this role for another term if reelected.
Evan Elliott: I am a professional archaeologist who has focused on the prehistoric and historic periods of Northern California. I grew up in the East Bay, in a neighborhood filled with 1920's eclectic homes. My love of architecture began between there and trips to my grandmother's Victorian in San Francisco. Since then it has grown and one of my favorite things is exploring the architecture of neighborhoods I don't know, on foot and on my bicycle. I feel that the feeling of a neighborhood rests in its history and that this is often threatened by thoughtless development. While new construction has its place, creative use of the places we have help preserve neighborhoods. Additionally, new development must be considerate of the area, rather than disrupting it. As Sacramento enters a new era, with redevelopment of the Downtown and the Railyards, an organization such as Preservation Sacramento becomes all the more important. I hope to make a difference in this community through this organization.
Donald L. Cox: Mr. Cox has worked with Paula Boghosian and Historic Environment Consultants since 1994. He has worked in the capacity of architectural historian, writer/editor and photographer. Mr. Cox has worked on several community and neighborhood surveys. He has participated in the successful nominations of numerous homes and buildings to the National Register of Historic Places. Cox has worked on rehabilitation/seismic upgrade projects involving civic and government buildings such as the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, California Department of Food and Agriculture, Sacramento City Hall, Sacramento Water Filtration Plant and Emeryville Town Hall. Commercial projects have included the Maydestone, Hotel Stockton, Globe Mills, Hotel Marshall and Historic Modesto Post Office. Prior to joining HEC, Mr. Cox had a 20-year career in Marketing and Advertising where he specialized in software and high technology products. He owned his own advertising and marketing agency, Don Cox & Associates, for ten years.
Rick Castro: The Sacramento Midtown zoning requirements and how they are implemented impact the livability of our neighborhood. Preservation Sacramento has a major voice in how they are developed and expanded. I welcome this opportunity to work more closely with our like minded community by participating on the Preservation Sacramento board and working together to develop the optimum understanding, evaluation and coordinated response to imminent changes to our neighborhoods. As a long-term Midtown resident, I have been concerned, impacted by and involved with a variety of issues facing Sacramento including homelessness, traffic, bicycle safety, shade tree canopy, public transportation, housing preservation, housing affordability, community diversity, new housing development and the impact of city regulations. In some ways, my interests are broad – from transportation, to the environment and the homeless, but there is an interconnection to all these issues. My passion for Sacramento has always overlapped with SOCA / Preservation Sacramento’s dedication to protect Sacramento’s historic places and encourage quality urban design through advocacy, outreach and activism. By participating on the board, l welcome the opportunity to share my expertise and problem solving skills in land-use planning, policy and decision making to protect and improve our neighborhoods.
William Burg: I joined the SOCA (Preservation Sacramento) Board in 2007 and served as President from 2012-2015 and 2018-2023, currently serving as chair of the Project Review Subcommittee and member of the Historic Landmarks & Districts, Preservation Roundtable and Home Tour Subcommittees. I received an MA in Public History from Sacramento State in 2010, work as a historian for the California Office of Historic Preservation, and write books and articles on Sacramento history, planning, transportation, and culture. I have served as President of Sacramento Heritage Inc., Sacramento County Historical Society, and Newton Booth Neighborhoods Association, and have also served on the boards of Midtown Neighborhood Association and Capital City Preservation Trust.
