Tri-City Mental Health is overseen by a Governing Board composed of seven members. Four members are a council member of his/her respective City, and three members of the Board are community members appointed by the three Cities, each serving without compensation. The Governing Board has the powers common to public agencies as enumerated in the Joint Exercise of Powers Act. Meeting monthly, the Board directs the strategic objectives and policy of Tri-City. Get to know our Governing Board members below.
Tri-City's Governing Board holds regularly scheduled meetings on the third Wednesday of each month at the MHSA Administrative Office. Meeting dates, times and locations are subject to change. Please check the posted agenda for the most current information. All meetings are open to the public, except special closed sessions that concern personnel or legal matters.
Jed Leano, Esq., Chair
City of Claremont Council Member, District 4
Jed Leano is serving his second term on Claremont City Council (November 2022 - November 2026).
Mayor Leano serves as chair of the San Gabriel Valley Regional Housing Trust Board, Chair of Tri-City Mental Health Board, and Claremont’s representative to the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGV COG) Homelessness Committee. He represents the SGV COG on the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) Community Economic and Human Development Committee (CEHD), charged with the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) methodology, and represents SCAG on the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC), charged with overseeing programs to reduce motor vehicle air pollution. He serves as chair of the Claremont Lincoln University MPA program Advisory Council, Vice Chair of the Filipino American Democratic Caucus of the CA Democratic Party, and on the board of the San Gabriel Valley Immigration Resource Center.
Prior to his election to City Council, Councilmember Leano served as the Vice Chair of the Community and Human Services Commission and was the founding Chair of Housing Claremont. Since 2011, he has served as lead attorney for the quarterly immigration and naturalization clinic at the United Methodist Church. He was founding board member and lead attorney of the Neighborhood Immigration Clinic in 2009, a state-wide pro-bono immigration law clinic, and served as Board Chair from 2012-2014. Prior to moving to Claremont, Jed resided in Pasadena, CA where he served as 80th President of the Pasadena Jaycees and National Legal Counsel for the United States Jaycees.
Councilmember Leano works as an immigration attorney in private practice in Pasadena, CA. He was admitted to practice law by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2006. He obtained his Juris Doctor from Rutgers School of Law in 2005 and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Kentucky in 2001. He and his wife Liz have one son, Welles.
John Nolte, Esq., Vice Chair
City of Pomona Council Member, District 1
Informaation is currently pending.
Elizabeth Ontiveros-Cole, Board Member
City of Pomona Council Member, District 4
City of Pomona Council Member Elizabeth Ontiveros-Cole has lived in Pomona for six decades – she was raised in Pomona, graduated from Pomona schools, was married and raised her children in Pomona. She has worked for Pomona Unified School District Health Services for 22 years.
As a dedicated Pomona citizen and District Four resident, she played a vital role in the installation of traffic calming provisions in her neighborhood to prevent speeding and promote pedestrian safety. In response to an increase of residential break-ins, she successfully petitioned to increase the number of street lamps for better security at night in both the street and the adjacent alleyway. She has also dedicated herself to preserving the neighborhood’s historic 100 year-old camphor trees in midst of both the California drought and an infestation of plant fungal disease. In addition, she helped organize a neighborhood watch group in alliance with Unity Church of Pomona.
As District Four’s Councilmember, Councilmember Ontiveros-Cole will continue to be an active Pomona citizen and civil servant by continuing her efforts to improve and clean up streets and alleyways; promote community safety, crime prevention programs and neighborhood watch groups; address and alleviate homelessness; beautify Pomona parks and recreation areas; bring new projects and developments to the City; promote and fund the Pomona Public Library; and preserve historical landmark and buildings.
Wendy Lau, Esq., Board Member
City of La Verne Council Member, District 5
Wendy Lau is a Risk Management Sr. Manager for AECOM, a Fortune 500 architectural, engineering, and consulting firm. In this role, she is engaged in the evaluation and mitigation of risk for potential pursuits and actively assists business lines and teams with the management of risks throughout the lifetime of a project. Wendy also serves as the Regional Lead for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and as the President of the Women’s Leadership Alliance, the women’s employee resource group.
Prior to AECOM, Wendy was a partner at Wood Smith Henning & Berman, LLP, a national civil defense law firm. For over sixteen years, Wendy served as legal counsel to numerous companies ranging from small businesses to multi-million-dollar corporations. Her legal experience includes business transactions, contracts, construction, labor and employment, and general liability while her overall professional expertise includes strategic planning, fiscal accountability, onboarding, team building, and professional development, as well as talent management and pipelining.
Wendy’s other current responsibilities include serving as a Trustee for the University of La Verne, a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI); a director on Phi Sigma Sigma’s National Housing Corporation; and a Councilmember for the City of La Verne. In both her professional and personal life, Wendy is a passionate advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Carolyn Cockrell, Board Member
City of La Verne Community Representative
Information is currently pending.
Ronald T. Vera, Esq., Board Member
City of Claremont Community Representative
Ronald Vera is a partner with the Law Firm of Vera & Barbosa, and of counsel to the Sacramento based Law Firm Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard. He has been in private practice since 1987, with offices in Claremont, California. Prior to starting his private practice, he was with two nationally recognized public interest law firms where, for 14 years, he litigated seminal cases in the field of civil rights and education. Over his career he has advised cities, school districts, health related organizations, education foundations, and major non profit corporations, including serving as Legal Counsel to the Brethren Hillcrest Retirement Community, the University of La Verne, The Keck Graduate Institute, the Claremont Graduate University, and the San Gabriel Valley Civic Alliance. He has served as a consultant to the Ford Foundation, the College Board and the American Council on Education. He is currently an adjunct Professor at the Claremont Graduate University, where he teaches courses on Education and the Law.
He recently stepped off the Boards for the California Community Foundation and the Los Angeles County Fair Association, and is currently taking the time to write a series of articles on the connection between education and healthy communities. He currently serves on the Board of Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. He continues to serve on the Advisory Committee to the California Consortium of Education Foundations.
Mr. Vera earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from Michigan State University and his law degree from UCLA. Over his career he has received a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, and has served as a Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley and the University of Houston. He served as Interim CEO for the Los Angeles Legal Aid Foundation in 1996. He was a Visiting and Adjunct Professor for seven years at Loyola Law School, teaching among other courses the Education and Law seminar each year. Among his awards is the Sierra Club’s Community Service Award for his pro bono work on environmental cases.
Mr. Vera is married to Christina Vega, an educator, and they have been residents of Claremont since 1986.
Paula Lantz, Board Member
City of Pomona Community Representative
Information is currently pending.