by
Joshua D. Scroggin
The annual election to select officers for CoastHills Credit Union’s volunteer Board of Directors and Supervisory Committee took place in February, and the Credit Union was proud to announce the election winners at the CoastHills Annual Meeting held in March.
Elected to three-year terms, the Board will be represented by Homero Contreras, Kris Andrews and Bernard E. “Bee Jay” Jones, all incumbents. The Supervisory Committee will be represented by David R. Meyers, Colleen Scott and Allison Smith. Myers and Scott were also incumbents.
Chuck Scheitauer is the Board Chairman, Jones the Vice Chairman, Contreras the Secretary and Lee-Volker Cox the Treasurer. Bill Anders, R. Bruce Coggin, Jeremy Moreno and Hugh Rafftery are the remaining directors.
Paul Klock remains the Supervisory Committee Chair. Chuck Winkles also serves on the Committee.
Learn more about each of the election winners below:
Board of Directors
Homero Contreras (Incumbent)
Homero Contreras has worked in the agriculture industry his entire career, including for his father and local farmers in various capacities.
His family is very active in agriculture, farming strawberries, peppers and various specialty crops. He is proud to be part of the farming community.
Contreras holds an Associate of Science in accounting from Allan Hancock College, a Bachelor of Science in accounting and a master’s degree in finance from Colorado State University.
Contreras has served as a volunteer on the Board of Directors at CoastHills for the past two years. His goal is to give back to the community by utilizing his skillset and experience to assist the Board in reaching expectations of members and employees.
He also volunteers as a Board member of the California Lettuce and Leafy Green Marketing agreement and the Grower Shipper Association of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
Contreras has lived on the Central Coast his entire life. He enjoys cooking and outdoor activities including golfing and spending time on the local lakes with family.
He has been happily married to his wife Jennie for 23 years. Looking to start his life and establish credit, he opened a bank account with Vandenberg Federal Credit Union because the idea of a member owned financial institution appealed to him.
Kris Andrews (Incumbent)
I am honored to have served as Vice-Chairman of your Board of Directors and on the Supervisory Committee.
This year culminates my 11th year of volunteer service to the credit union and its members. While serving on the Supervisory Committee, I was involved with all aspects of the auditing process, working to ensure the financial health of our Credit Union remained secure.
As a member of the Board of Directors, I have been involved in the strategic planning process that included the completion of our new corporate headquarters. As a strong community oriented Credit Union, we have seized the moment. The future for managed growth and increased benefits to our members is bright and full of promise.
I look forward to continuing to serve the membership and the Central Coast community as a member of the Board of Directors. As a board member, I can exploit my passion for community service, financial management, and my love of this great area we call home. I believe my education, which includes graduate degrees in both business and education, my extensive leadership experience as a retired military officer, and my experience as a member of the Board of Directors will continue to contribute to real growth, financial soundness, and the effective management and leadership of our credit union.
Bernard E “Bee Jay” Jones (Incumbent)
This year completes 6 years of volunteer service by Bernard E. “Bee Jay” Jones to CoastHills and its members. He believes in improving service to members, maintaining a legacy of community enrichment and sustaining a rewarding and fulfilling work environment for CoastHills staff.
Jones is passionate about community service and institutions such as CoastHills, which play an integral role in serving the community. As a member of the Board of Directors, he has provided direct oversight and leadership to the strategic plan for expansion and has worked diligently to achieve a vision for the construction of a state-of-the-art corporate office facility.
Jones works as a Systems Safety Engineer General Dynamics at Vandenberg Air Force Base. He holds an undergraduate degree in physics from Southwest Texas State University and a master’s degree in public administration from University of Houston. He is also a retired Air Force officer whose career spanned 23-plus years. He and wife Sylvia have seven children and 10 grandchildren. He attends True Vine Bible Fellowship Church, where he serves as the co-lead of the Usher Board.
He is grateful for the opportunity to serve and is committed to ensuring CoastHills remains financially sound and continues to make a positive difference in our community, our families and neighbors’ lives. To those ends, he would appreciate your support.
Supervisory Committee
David R. Meyers (Incumbent)
It has been my distinct honor to have served as the Secretary of the Supervisory Committee (SC) for CoastHills Credit Union these last four years. During that time I have participated in a number of crucial source selections. These have resulted in assembling our current slate of auditors which, along with our excellent senior management team, has made CoastHills a strong leader among credit unions, assuring we maintain our fiduciary responsibility to our membership. Each year I have completed all mandatory financial training classes with 100 percent accuracy. In addition, I have attended several leadership forums geared to enhancing performance of Supervisory Committee members. To ensure I am always observing actions of management and the volunteers, I regularly attend Monthly SC meetings, the Board of Director meetings, audit outbriefs, and financial reviews.
By working closely with our teams of auditors, I have supported the development of remote audit protocols that have ensured fiscal and compliance integrity while ensuring our employees, members, and auditors are safe from Covid 19.
With a BS in Mathematics from San Diego State, an MS in Systems Management from USC as educational background, coupled with work experience as a Brigadier General in the Air Force and as a Vice President with Lockheed Martin, I humbly ask for your support in the upcoming election to continue serving CoastHills and you, the member, for another term on the Supervisory Committee.
Colleen Scott (Incumbent)
Colleen is a long time Central Coast resident with over 30 years of financial institution experience.
She is currently employed at Tetra Tech, Inc. in Santa Maria as a Senior Contract Administrator. Colleen has a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Management with a concentration in Human Resources from the University of La Verne.
She loves animals and has spent time volunteering with the Santa Maria Valley Humane Society, as well as other organizations in our community.
The Supervisory Committee is tasked with safeguarding CoastHills members assets and, as such, Colleen’s financial background fosters a unique understanding of that role. She has enjoyed serving on the Committee these past 3 years and views it as a way to give back to the community.
Colleen is looking forward to continuing to serve you, our members and the community, with your support.
Allison Smith
As a 4th generation Central Coast native, Allison Smith grew up in Orcutt, graduating from Righetti High School and Allan Hancock College before earning a bachelor’s in business administration from California State University, Fresno. She and her husband have been married for 16 years and have one son, Cooper, who is in 8th grade at Orcutt Junior High. They reside in Los Alamos. Smith’s volunteerism is inspired by her family and personal experiences. In 2001, a friend’s cancer diagnosis inspired her to become a founding board member of Hats for Hope, a local non-profit organization helping patients cope with the effects of treatment. For nearly 7 years, she held various board positions, including Secretary, Vice President and President.
When her son started kindergarten, she began working with the Orcutt Children’s Arts Foundation, recognizing the importance of continued arts education throughout a child’s school career. She volunteered first as a board member then as Vice President and President. Smith is an Office Manager for her husband’s Law Office of Aaron B. Smith in Orcutt.
She looks forward to the opportunity of serving on the CoastHills Advisory Committee. She sees this as a great way to stay involved with her community and be part of an organization integral to servicing the people with whom she shares it.