2025-2026 SVR Board of Directors Candidate Statements

SVR Candidate Statements for 2025-2026

John Leet
For President

 

Hello SVR!

 

First, a bit of background on my Porsche journey: My mother’s name is Portia, so she always drove a Porsche. Fortunately for me, after getting my driver’s license, she would let me drive her car, a guards red 944. Alas, my budget could only support a Volkswagen until after college when I bought my first Porsche, a ’74 911. I originally joined PCA in 2014 after relocating to the Sacramento area and bought a 981 Cayman S. I had young children at the time, and while I mostly could get by with a 2-seater, there was a frequent need for more room to shuttle the kids to and from school. I traded the 981S for a 991S as my family 4-seater.

 

After attending SVR’s autocross school, I became a bit addicted to autocross, assumed the role of autocross chair, and ran SVR’s autocross program for 4 years and assisted with the Club’s social media presence and marketing for CRAB events. Following that, I transitioned into my current role of Vice President, where I have helped the club establish clear objectives, launched Porsches and Pints and chaired the Juniors Tour to attract participation from our younger members and have some friendly karting competition.

 

As President, I look forward to building on the long storied history of SVR and comradery within the club. I hope to expand participation and evolve our processes to bring more efficiency in managing the club activities. I am familiar with SVR’s processes and procedures and feel I can assist the Club in a further capacity. I ask for your support in my candidacy as President.

 

Best regards,
John Leet
Rick Duste
For Vice President

 

I am honored to have been asked by the nominating committee to serve as theVice President for the Club. I look forward to serving the Club in this role should I be elected by the membership. Prior to Linda and I moving to Auburn, we resided in Petaluma and were active members of the Redwood Region. I served on the Board and held the positions of Secretary and Vice President prior to relocating. Since joining the Sacramento Valley Region in 2002 I have been chairing the Tours Committee for the past two years.

 

The last 20+ years of my working life was spent with Chevron and Phillips 66 managing the marketing of aircraft fuels and in the last 7-years as the Director of Brand Licensing for Phillips 66. I have worked on Boards before including chairing the City of Petaluma Airport Commission and serving as a Board Member on the Sonoma County Aviation Commission and Sonoma County Airport Land Use Commission. I am currently President of the Grand Oaks HOA in Auburn.

 

I got racing out of my system racing go-karts in the early 80s and SCCA Sports Renault during the late 80s and early 90s where I was honored to be selected SCCA Rookie of the Year for the SF Region in 1987 and won the Sports Renault points championships in 1987, 88 and 89. One of my more relevant past experiences to my role in SVR is that I was one of the founders of Northern California Karters (NCK) in 1979 and held the position of President through 1986. The Club hosted six to eight enduro Kart races a year at Sears Point and Laguna Seca fielding an average of 250 entries per weekend. One of my most proud achievements was organizing and managing the week- long 1983 IKF Enduro Kart Grand Nationals at Laguna Seca, sponsored by Winnebago, and attracting over 700 entries from all over the country in 14 classes.

 

As SVR has come out of Covid, we are a very active region sporting a busy and full calendar (76 member participating events in 2024 if you exclude BOD meetings and events of interest). I think we might be offering the most diverse and number of activities/events of any region within the Zone 7. We are catering to many interests including auto-cross, concours, driving tours, tech sessions, rallies, socials including Porsches & Pints, monthly breakfasts, periodic dinners, Porschettes, and charity events to name a few. We are a volunteer organization. So it is important we continue to grow the number of people helping out and be sure they are recognized accordingly for their efforts.

 

I have had a life-long professional and personal history of building and growing things. My focus as Vice President would be to continue growing SVR – but making sure what we do we do well. Focus on the areas that we identify as key deliverables for our membership, and not get too scattered to the extent our execution suffers. We need to continue to strengthen our communications (which we have made good strides at this year, yet still have some opportunities out there).

 

I look forward to fulfilling the role of Vice President should I be selected.

 

Rick Duste
Tina Talamantes
For Secretary
My name is Tina Talamantes, and I have been a member of the PCA since 2007. I am currently the Secretary for the Sacramento Valley Region PCA. In this role, I have learned a lot about the workings of the Club and think my the perspectives I offer and my previous experience serving on the Board of other non-profit organizations is an asset to the Club. Over the years, I have thoroughly enjoyed participating in a variety of local and regional events, including new member tours, Autocross, Rally TSD, Porsche and Pints, and Junior events.

I am deeply passionate about serving the community, a commitment that spans more than two decades. My 28-year career in government , along with extensive volunteer work in the arts, medical, and education sectors, reflects this dedication. I have previously served on the Board of Directors for Midtown Medical Center (now Elica Health Centers) for 13 years in various roles. Currently, I am also a Board Member for the Sacramento Ballet Company.

My passion is rooted in philanthropy, volunteering and giving back to the community.

Tina Talamantes

 

Cindy Nomellini
For Secretary

 

Hello, my name is Cindy Nomellini. I recently retired after 40-years with PG&E and my husband and I are now beginning to use this new free time to enjoy our 911 GTS. During my working career, I supported a Director, Superintendent and several Supervisors. This included taking
notes and documenting meetings, including decisions that were made, as well as managing the documentation and records associated with the business units the managers were responsible
for.

We recently joined SVR-PCA. Since joining we participated in the New Member event and the Porsche’s and Pints events. I’ve also attended a Porschette’s event where I met some wonderful ladies.

We live in El Dorado Hills, having relocated from the Bay Area. I grew up in San Francisco and attended school in the East Bay. We have two sons, one of which is completing his automotive program at UTI (Universal Technical Institute) and will be certified with a technical license and opportunities to work at any BMW dealership upon graduation. We have always been a car enthusiast (Porsche, BMW, Ferrari) family with myself as the least knowledgeable, but still learning.

I attended the August SVR Board of Directors meeting and experienced first-hand what goes on. Everyone was so welcoming. I am confident that I can handle the secretary position for SVR-PCA.

I look forward to meeting new people and experiencing new events that the PCA has to offer.

Please vote for me for the Secretary position.

Cindy Nomellini
Michael Born
For Treasurer

 

Since I became a member of PCA in 2020, I have participated in many events from autocross, touring and rallying to track days and social events, making many new friends. I also learnt quickly, that without volunteering time to the club none of these events would be happening.

I grew up in Germany, about 20 miles from Weissach, and got a business degree from one of the oldest universities in Germany. My career in high tech supply chain management spanned the next 4 decades, along raising 5 kids and getting them through school. It taught me the value of attention to detail, while not missing the big picture.

As treasurer for SVR I would ensure that all financial aspects of our club are being managed responsibly, from budgeting to financial reporting and record management. I would do so hand in hand with the other board members and our president, to ensure the club stays financially healthy. After all, that ensures more events will happen for our members!

Michael Born

 

 

Steve Long
For Membership 

 

Porsche Club of America, Sacramento Valley Region Nominating Chair, Committee and Members:

In August 2022, I volunteered to fill the vacant role of Membership Chair. In that short time, I have not yet created the impact which I believe the position should. That in mind, I am asking for your support and vote that I will continue in this role.

We have been PCA SVR members since 2017. Our family owns four variants of the Porsche brand and enjoy the care and maintenance of those vehicles. There would be five if I hadn’t let the 1969 911 T Sportomatic go twenty years ago, but I digress. Needless to say, we are enthusiasts of the brand and PCA.

My career is part of the automotive industry with recycling and repurposing total loss automobiles. Day to day duties involve data analysis, project tracking, constant communication and high levels of organization. I see these attributes as a great fit to the role of Membership Chair to support incoming and new members along with outreach to recruit more owners into our club.

I look forward to diving into the position and energizing it in our region. I appreciate your consideration and vote to continue as Membership Chair.

Thank you for your time.

Steve Long

Mardi Quain
For Social Director

In 2014 Skip and I joined SVR with the intent of enjoying activities around our Porsche, meeting new friends and contributing to the SVR
club experience.

Since that time I have served as Social Director for two years, one year as Secretary, and now again in 2020 as Social Director. Am now finishing serving as Social Director 2023-2024, and would like to Continue for the 2025-2026 term.

 

Some of the activities initiated or participated in, are:

Social Director:
Initiated:

the Hosting Seminar 2018 and offered again 2020
Concept of forward event bookings into New Year and before January Planning Party

Secretary: Chaired the Bylaws Committee 2019, resulting in updated Bylaws approved by membership and effective 1.1.2021

Hosted with Skip, beginning 2015:

Valentines Dinner, Blackhawk Museum Tour, annual Detail Maniac
Seminars, Rivercats Baseball games

Have participated in organization and efforts for events:

CRAB Nos. 36, 37, and 38
Christmas Party 2019
Covid Christmas 2020
Christmas Party 2022 & 2023

Plus, have enjoyed the many dinners and tours offered by other members.
SVR has added fun and purpose for both Skip and I. So I will welcome the opportunity to continue to be Social Director for the new term and hope you will vote for me.

Thank you

Mardi Quain