Sara D’Elia

President

Ms. D'Elia joined the company in October of 2007 and has over 20 years of property management experience, having had responsibility for over 1.5MM square feet of commercial space and over 12,000 multifamily units. Ms. D'Elia has held senior management positions within locally and nationally known real estate companies, including Arnel, Oakwood Worldwide and The REMM Group.

Since joining Mesa, Ms. D'Elia has increased Mesa's active property management portfolio of units by 86%, and Mesa continues to grow under her leadership. Her experience includes apartment acquisitions, lease ups and redevelopments. She has divided her time equally in fee management and owner- managed assets during her career. Her leadership and communications skills have produced a proven track record in business development, sales and marketing, cost control and budget implementation.

Ms. D'Elia received her BA from California State Long Beach in 1988 and her Certified Property Manager (CPM) designation in 1994. She is currently the President of IREM OC in 2013. She is a licensed California real estate professional, and a former member of the Southern California Leads Group. Her background includes acquisition consulting and expert witness testimony.

Ms. D'Elia served on the Board of Directors for Mercy House Transitional Living Centers for 14 years and continues to support her community via multiple philanthropic contributions.

Jeanette Ruscitti, CPM

Senior Regional Manager

Jeanette Ruscitti joined Mesa Management in September of 2005.  Ms. Ruscitti has 13 years of property management experience, including positions held as Regional Manager, Training and Administration Manager, Audit Manager, Office Manager, as well as multiple on-site management roles. Ms. Ruscitti has held management positions within locally and nationally known real estate companies: Wasatch Premier Communities, Trammell Crow Residential and currently with Mesa Management.

Ms. Ruscitti’s experience includes multifamily residential management, 55+ senior living communities, subsidized housing programs and condo conversions. Ms. Ruscitti received her BA from the University of California, San Diego in 1997 and her Certified Apartment Manager (CAM) designation in 2009. She is currently pursuing her CPM designation through IREM.

 

LeeAnn Braun, ARM

Area Manager

LeeAnn Braun joined Mesa Management in April of 2008. She has over five years of field experience in property management. She began her career in property management as a Leasing Agent and was quickly promoted to Assistant Manager and then to Sr. Business Manager. For the past four years she has worked on-site at a variety of Mesa’s communities including Park Mesa Villas, Villa Buena, Piccadilly Square, Brooklake, and Woodland Village. While managing these properties, she achieved and exceeded occupancy goals and increased revenue across the board. In 2011 she was asked to join Mesa’s Mentor/Leadership program to help aid in the training of on-site associates. During her time with Mesa Management, she has achieved awards such as Leasing Associate of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Associate of the Year, and most recently Manager of the Year. She is currently pursuing her Real Estate License and ARM designation through IREM.

Ken Flaherty

Property Manager

Ken Flaherty joined Mesa Management in October of 2009, bringing over 11 years of Property Management experience. Before joining Mesa Management, Mr. Flaherty held management positions with both Arnel Properties and Far West Property Management.

Since working for Mesa Management, Ken has managed several Mesa properties including The Marquis in Fullerton, Mesa Gardens in Vista, Parkewood Village in Anaheim and Palm Island in Fountain Valley. In 2010, Mr. Flaherty earned Mesa's Associate of the Year award and in 2011, he was chosen for Mesa's Spotlight of the Year Award. In 2010, because of his commitment to excellence, Mr. Flaherty was asked to join Mesa's Mentor/Leadership program to help aid in the training of on-site associates.

He is currently pursuing his BA in Business at the University of San Diego. When not working, Mr. Flaherty enjoys volunteering for the American Diabetes Association.

Ariella Jones

Regional Manager

Ariella Jones joined Mesa Management in June of 2006, and has over seven years of Property Management experience.   Originally from Kansas, Ms. Jones held positions with Aspen Square Management.  Aspen Square promoted and relocated Ms. Jones to southern California in 2005.  After successfully increasing occupancy Aspen’s southern California holdings were sold, Ms. Jones moved to an on-site position with Mesa Management’s Inland Empire portfolio.

Before joining the Property Management industry, Ms. Jones studied Education and Psychology at Emporia State University and graduated Cum Laude.  She earned a BS in Psychology and was a member of the Dean’s List and National Honor’s Society. 

Ms. Jones’ experience includes Area Manager, Training and Development Manager, Field Trainer, Project Coordinator, and multiple on-site roles. She is also a member of the American Society for Training and Development and the Newport Beach Jaycees, an international leadership organization.

Shawn Conerty

Chief Financial Officer

Shawn Conerty has over 15 years of accounting and finance experience with ten years specifically in the real estate and construction industries.  As the Corporate Controller of Herman Weissker, Inc., a full service public utility construction company, Mr. Conerty provided the accounting and finance expertise along with assisting in the strategic operating management that resulted in a growth in revenue from $45MM to $225MM during his years with the company.

Throughout his career, Mr. Conerty has amassed significant experience and knowledge in accounting, finance, property acquisitions and dispositions. He is currently managing a $200MM real estate portfolio and is responsible for all financial matters, cash flow management, project level financing and lender relationships. Prior to entering private industry, Mr. Conerty spent five years with the Orange County office of BDO Seidman, LLP as an Audit Senior Associate where he successfully completed and received his Certified Public Accountant (CPA) certification.   Mr. Conerty also earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting with a Secondary Minor degree in Finance from Chapman University.

John Schutz

Director of Maintenance

John Schutz brought his construction and customer service experience to G Companies in 2005 and joined Mesa Management in 2008.  At G Companies, he established a customer service department for the single family homebuilding division, and moved on to project management in both single family home developments and multi-family apartment projects. Mr. Schutz oversees Mesa’s maintenance teams as well as its in-house CapX team.  He is responsible for the direction of all phases of the larger capital improvement projects from concept to completion, including scope preparation, bidding, contract negotiation, quality control and accounting.

Prior to joining G Companies, John gained much of his construction experience owning and operating a general contracting company for 12 years.  Centerline Construction of Orange County, California, specialized in property management and tenant improvement projects, but also dealt with room additions and full home remodels on the residential side. 

Christina Danks

Commercial Manager

Christina Danks joined the Mesa team in 2009 as Commercial Property Manager and she brings with her a wealth of experience in the real estate industry. Prior to joining Mesa Management, Ms. Danks was a Project and Administrative Manager for G Companies and Cameo Homes for three years. Ms. Danks spearheaded many special projects involving reconciliation of liabilities with various municipalities, contract negotiations, entitlements, and served as liaison and legal research concerning CFD formation and municipal bond issues. While being responsible for managing the company’s banking relationships and account administration, Ms. Danks also served as Operations Manager for Groove Construction from 2005 to 2006. In this capacity Ms. Danks managed all facets of the company’s operations, from accounts receivables, accounts payable, payroll, staff training and contract negotiation and administration.

Prior to joining Groove, Ms. Danks spent five years as a team member of a ministry based in Hong Kong. Her work was supporting staff focused on the socio-economic development of the minority people groups in Mainland China.

Shellie Sylla

Marketing Director

Ms. Sylla brings over 14 years marketing experience in multi-family, commercial and residential real estate to the team. Prior to joining Mesa, she coordinated a rollout for a major wireless company, opening more than 200 retail stores for the company nationally.

A licensed real estate agent, Ms. Sylla was integral in the development and sales of multiple projects for Three G Development, totaling more than 750 homes. Involved from start to finish, Ms. Sylla coordinated the setup and design of sales trailers and models, DRE filings, the oversight of the sales teams, legal teams, preferred lenders and the closing of escrows.

Ms. Sylla’s marketing experience was invaluable with the advertising campaigns and grand openings for the company’s single-family portfolio. In addition, Ms. Sylla is responsible for the website development, design and upkeep as well as social media updates for the company’s multi-family divisions. She works closely on Mesa’s branding and corporate marketing team and is responsible for increasing brand awareness, helping manage long-term relationships with strategic partners and coordinating public relations efforts. 

Yong Held

Director of HR

Yong Held joined Mesa Management in July of 2007 and has over 9 years of real estate experience.  Ms. Held works as a strategic partner with Management and Employees within the organization to accomplish operational business goals, employee development and satisfaction. Ms. Held strives to create a positive, motivational and safe work environment for all employees.

Her experience in employee relations includes: coaching, development, performance corrective action, staff retention, all corporate events and employee satisfaction. Ms. Held is responsible for the implementation and administration of payroll, health and medical benefits, 401k, workers compensation and recruitment. Ms. Held assures the company's compliance of all federal, state and local employment labor laws and regulations. Her dedication to excellence and effective communication style has contributed to her success in the human resource industry.

Originally from Arizona, Ms. Held co-founded, OutReach Academy of the Arts, a non-profit organization working with at-risk teens and was a principal of a consulting firm specializing in business intelligence. Ms. Held received her BA from Arizona State University in 2002 and her Masters in Clinical Psychology from Vanguard University in 2009.  Ms. Held has a real estate license in the State of California and is a member of the Orange County Association of Realtors, The Society for Human Resource Management and Professionals in Human Resource Association.

 

Brittney Smith

Training Manager

Brittney Smith joined Mesa Management in April of 2011. She has over four years of field experience in property management. Before joining the Property Management industry, Ms. Smith studied Community Relations and Political Science at Michigan State University.

Ms. Smith began her career in property management working in the field as a Leasing Agent and was quickly promoted to Assistant Manager and then to Business Manager. For the past two years she has worked on-site at a variety of Mesa's communities including Palm Island, Villa Buena, and Park Mesa.

In 2011 she received the Rookie of the Year award and in 2012 was asked to join Mesa's elite Policy and Procedure team to help aid with the Operations and Procedures Manual and Exhibits. Ms. Smith's passion for sharing her knowledge and her commitment to excellence made her the ideal candidate for Mesa's Training Manager. Ms. Smith has added tremendously to the training of all Mesa's Associates. She is pursuing her Real Estate License.