Nominations for 2020 Contributor of the Year
Doug and Dana Ambrisko – Doug and Dana installed LED lighting in the Rental Bike container and changed the Office container to LED lighting. While working on the lighting they also reinforced some bleachers which had become unstable and installed the iron-works sign on the judge’s stand.
Annabell Holland – Annabell worked closely with the County and steered us through the pandemic in a transparent and risk-minimizing manner.
The Overhaul Team – This team rebuilt about 40 of our rental bikes. The bikes were rebuilt with standard setups, common parts and finished off with new powder coats. The team consisted of Fergus Tanaka, Wagner Sousa, Roddy Gilchrist, Aaron Garcia, Dustin Long, John Benet and Chris Bonilla.
Erik Salander – Erik has kept the facility in good condition by doing upkeep such as weeding, leaf blowing, edging, asphalt patching and painting.
The Supervisor Team – This is the team of supervisors who came out and ran the sessions when we resumed holding sessions after the pandemic shutdown. This team consists of Annabell Holland, BJ Gicquel, Joe Atmore, Andrew Lanier (all Juniors sessions), Mark Rodamaker and Larry Nolan.
Candidate Statements for the 2021 Board of Directors
Candidate statements (6) in order of submission: Erik Salander. Annabell Holland, Lisa Kiratsous, Mark Koenig, Matt Martinez and Joe Atmore.
Erik Salander
This was my second year on the Hellyer Board and first as President, I would like to continue on the Board in 2021. In 2020, despite having any racing we conducted a number of projects at the velodrome. Some of these projects were improvements and some were standard maintenance. This should have the facility at a better starting point going forward.
In 2021 I’d like to continue with my 2020 work and lead/assist in any other projects when necessary. I’d like for our community to grow by getting more racers to the track, more races, more vols/supervisors/promoters, and more funding to pay for improvements to our facility and racing.
2020 has been an off year but I think the track is in a good position going forward. Where other racing disciplines are having challenges with race venue availability, rising event costs and barriers of entry – track riding and racing can be a big part of the solution.
I’ve only been racing on the track since 2015, not long compared to most. Yet in that short time I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy track racing and the Hellyer community. I’m grateful for the contributions of past Board members and volunteers. I’d like to do my part to carry on.
Annabell Holland
After three years serving on the Board as Vice President, I would like to continue for 2021. This past year has been like no other, with COVID-19 impacting all of our lives and closing the velodrome for several months.
I was able to put my past government experience managing and developing Parks & Recreation programs for local government to good use in 2020! I led the Board’s effort to liaison with the County and to develop an operation protocol to reopen Hellyer. From there a small team was formed comprising of Erik Salander, Lisa Kiratsous, and myself, to build the backend platform to allow Hellyer to become a contactless operation. This included creating an online store, developing waivers for COVID, and creating new web interfaces to allow for easy viewing of session registration. The efforts around COVID-19 continue, and communication with the County is frequent.
About me: I have been a volunteer Hellyer Supervisor since 2009 and am 4 years retired from 26 years of managing and developing Parks & Recreation programs for local government. Over the past three years I have brought this professional experience to the Hellyer Velodrome Board. If reelected for 2021, my focus will be on managing our COVID-19 response as we are able to expand our offerings later in 2021. My long-term focus for the track continues to be growing the Capital Reserve budget, planning for the future need to resurface the track, and moderate facility upgrades throughout the year.
I fully understand the uniqueness of operating a County owned facility and the government red tape involved in making capital improvements and even minor improvements to our facility.
We are fortunate to have this velodrome. It has given so much to me, and returning that gratitude honors those who helped me get started.
Lisa Kiratsous
I would like to continue my role as treasurer of the 2021 NCVA Board of Directors. I have been a part of the Hellyer community since 2015. This past year was my second year on the board. I really enjoyed working with the other board and committee members to keep our facility running smoothly. This past year I worked with Annabell and Erik to move our payment system completely online due to COVID. This system has allowed us to track our revenue more accurately, therefore I look forward to keeping this system in place once things return to normal. I appreciate this opportunity to give back to our community. Thank you for your consideration.
Mark Koenig
I’ve been part of the Hellyer community since 2013. I’ve been the chief supervisor for the last few years and supervise some of the Saturday novice sessions. I’ve also served on the board of directors in 2016 (infrastructure committee) and 2020 (supervisor committee). I’d be honored to serve on the board again in 2021.
Matt Martinez
My goal is to actually be more active on the board side of things for 2021. I was more of a peripheral board member this past year and was not satisfied. I hope to help increase rider attendance at the track and do a better job promoting races by adding a BAR omnium, Madison, Keirin, and other events. I plan to spread the word around the roadie world a little more as well. This may look familiar because it is my statement from last year.
Joe Atmore
