RANCHO SANTA FE — During the course of the Rancho Santa Fe Association’s annual meeting, President Ann Boon introduced two new candidates for board of director on May 14. Outgoing directors are Rochelle Putnam and Craig McAllister. New candidates wishing to fill those seats are Fred Wasserman and Mike Licosati.
Wasserman’s education includes an MBA from USC and a Doctorate in Public Health earned at UCLA. He currently serves on the board for the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology.
In the Rancho Santa Fe Community, Wasserman served on the Finance Committee and is the co-president of the Rancho Santa Fe Garden Club.
Licosati received his bachelor’s degree and law degree from the University of San Diego and earned his MBA at the University of Chicago. Licosati has been on the board and coached RSF Little League, served on the Fiber Optic Committee, Finance Committee and is on the Health Club Steering Committee.
Boon first introduced Wasserman who shared some of his insight. He told the members who attended the meeting at The Garden Club that he was very transparent.
“I will say what I think. I’ll tell you what I don’t think, and I’ll tell you what’s possible,” he said. He continued, “And the thing that we need to really be concerned about is we need to do more homework. If we’re going to do something, we need to study it thoroughly.”
He then went on to address the Internet connectivity issue. Wasserman pointed out that the Ranch has so many providers promising things that they unfortunately cannot deliver.
“Well, we’re going to try and put a network in here that will deliver,” he said.
Wasserman also compared the Association as a small business. It’s a small municipality, he said.
The Association owns land and farming. Wasserman said there is a great deal going on in the Ranch.
He encouraged members of the Covenant to vote in order to glean opinions. The Association relies on votes and responsive members to help point the community toward certain directions.
Next up at the podium was Licosati who thanked everyone for the opportunity to speak.
“We’ve got a world class community here in Rancho Santa Fe. We have world class residents, and we deserve to have world class infrastructure and amenities,” he said. “I feel somewhat like I’m joining the championship team here because this board has accomplished so much in the last year,” he said, adding how it was like joining a smooth running machine.
Licosati mentioned his goals of transparency, fiscal responsibility, and community engagement, which have already been demonstrated by the board and implemented in many of its policies.
While voter registration has been improved, he said, Licosati still mentioned the current system as still being antiquated.
For Licosati, he felt there was still a lot of opportunity for improvement in terms of voter registration.
One idea Licosati proposed was making voter registration automatic.
“We have an enormously talented, highly educated, resident base, and by not engaging all community members, I believe we’re not using this precious resource we have in this community,” he said. “So as a board member, I hope to further that objective to make our voter registration process more streamlined and hopefully automatic.”
Technology was next for Licosati who described it as a very important amenity to the community. He conveyed to his fellow members that this could significantly help property values while attracting a new group of residents.
Licosati went on to say that so many residents, including him, have a home office. The need for technology and internet services is incredibly important for them and to their children who require instructional material located online.
And from a public safety standpoint, he said, knowing about fires and other emergencies is done through Internet feed and should be accessed by all.
The idea of a fiber optic network would be an enormous asset to the community, Licosati said.
He ended his speech by saying his goal was to, “preserve and enhance the great community that they have.”
