Cindy Brenneman - Chair

Mrs. Brenneman is a 35 year resident of Costa Mesa and very active in the community. She currently serves on the Costa Mesa CERT Advisory Committee , Mesa Verde Community, Inc., and is a Trauma Intervention Program (TIP) Volunteer. Cindy and her husband Tom have lived in Mesa Verde for 32 years.

Karen Ursini - Vice Chair

Karen Ursini and her husband have owned the Newport Rib Co. in Costa Mesa for 22 years. They have raised their three children in Costa Mesa and have been active in youth sports, PTA organizations, and the Costa Mesa Child Care and Youth Services Committee. She is retired from the non-profit organization, Coalition for Children, Adolescents and Parents (CCAP) where she served on the board and then on the staff as a Parent Educator Coordinator.. In 2003, the Ursini family received the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame Award.

Mary Fewel - Secretary

Mary Fewel has been a cheerleader for West Costa Mesa for the past 20 years, helping to re-open Victoria Elementary School in 1993, creating a long-running newsletter for the Freedom Homes (now Canyon Park) neighborhood, and serving on various Westside improvement committees. She is a sales associate for Re/Max Metro, and lives in Costa Mesa, overlooking Canyon Park, with her husband Chris and two sons.

Committee Members

Jamie Brownlee

Jamie Brownlee is the Director of Outreach Ministries at Vanguard University and her role is to oversee both local and global ministries. Jamie is responsible for creating a vision for Outreach and organizing opportunities for students to serve in our own backyard of Costa Mesa and internationally. She partners with organizations within Orange County and has developed an intense training program to prepare students to work in other cultures.

Dr. Steven Grant

 

Wendy Leece

Wendy Leece came to Costa Mesa from Tucson, Arizona in 1972 and never left. Always a resident of the Westside, Wendy’s early years in the city were spent raising her five children who attended local schools and played in many sports leagues.

In 1994, Wendy was elected to the Newport Mesa Unified School District School Board and served two terms representing Trustee Zone 7. Wendy was appointed to the Parks and Recreation Commission in 2003 and served as Chair of the Commission in 2006. Wendy has also served on her homeowner’s association’s Architectural Review Committee and is the immediate past president of the Costa Mesa Republican Assembly. She was elected to the City Council on November 7, 2006. Council Member Leece states, “The Costa Mesa Community Foundation is a very active group of committed people who give of their time to make Costa Mesa a better place to live and work.”

Wendy is very proud of her children: Bret, daughter-in-law Blithe, grandchildren Kennedy and Hamilton; Megan, Stephen, Amy and Emily.

Lea Lowe

Lea Lowe is the Executive Director for a non-profit corporation in Long Beach, CA.  She also participates in the “Reading by Nine” program at Whittier Elementary School.  Lea has a long history of involvement in various non-profit organizations and has lived in Costa Mesa for six years.

Lorena Penaloza

Ms. Peñaloza joined the Office of General Counsel for California State University in January 2008. She is a member of their Litigation Team and is a resource attorney for Unlawful Detainer Actions. Prior to 2008, she spent several years with the City of Santa Ana City Attorney’s Office where she advised clients on issues involving planning and building regulations, the Public Records Act, the Brown Act, and where she served as Legal Counsel for the Human Relations Commission, the Workforce Investment Board, the Santa Ana Empowerment Corporation, and the Zoning Administrator. Ms. Peñaloza also served as the City’s Code Enforcement Prosecutor for three and half years and handled tort defense litigation on behalf of the City of Santa Ana.

Prior to working for the City of Santa Ana, she was a Staff Attorney with the Office of the General Counsel for the Social Security Administration (SSA) in Maryland. During her tenure with SSA, she detailed as a Legislative Counsel with the Committee on the Judiciary for the U.S. Senate. She began with the Office of the General Counsel through the Presidential Management Fellowship Program (formerly known as Presidential Management Internship).

Ms. Peñaloza is admitted to practice law in California and before the United States District Court for the Central District of California. She is a member of the following: the Orange County Bar Association, the Hispanic Bar Association of Orange County, the Orange County Women Lawyers Association, and served on the board for the American Latino Voter Education Fund. She is also an alumnus of Future Leaders of America and Hispanas Organized for Political Equality.

Ms. Peñaloza received her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Political Economies of Industrial Societies from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jeffrey Harlan

Jeffrey Harlan is an urban planner and environmental consultant with The Planning Center in Costa Mesa. Formerly an environmental attorney, Jeff has been a long-time advocate for, and practitioner of, community and open space/recreational planning, sustainable development, and green building. Having served in a leadership role in a number of non-profit and community organizations, he is currently a member of the City of Costa Mesa Santa Ana River Trail Blue Ribbon Committee, and Orange County Green Connect. Jeff and his family live in Eastside Costa Mesa.

Tom Sutro

William Turpit

Bill Turpit moved to Costa Mesa at the beginning of his career as a lawyer and has enjoyed being active as a volunteer with a number of Costa Mesa's neighborhood and civic committees and organizations.  Of special importance to Bill has been his involvement with organizations serving youth and families, primarily in the Westside where he resided for his first 25 years in Costa Mesa.  Bill is a real estate lawyer and partner with the firm Jackson, DeMarco, Tidus & Peckenpaugh in Irvine.