THE 2021 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Ciara Barnett is a Licensed Civil Engineer, a Certified Access Specialist (CASp), and ICC Plans Examiner working for Los Angeles County Public Works in Alhambra, CA. 

Ciara obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and her Master’s degree in Structural Engineering from Cal Poly Pomona. She has worked in multiple Divisions for Public Works, including Waterworks and Sewer Maintenance and Building and Safety. 

Most recently she was promoted to Principal Engineer to lead the Community Services Group. Ciara has spent most of her 20 year career working as a building plan check engineer and an office manager for Building and Safety Division. 

To see Ciara in action, feel free to watch her “My job in 60 seconds” posting on the LA County channel: https://vimeo.com/360317777.

Ciara grew up in Ireland and moved to Los Angeles as a teenager. She lives with her husband and two children.

Ara Sargsyan is an ICC Certified Building Official, Professional Civil Engineer, LEED Accredited Professional, California Licensed General Contractor and Real Estate Broker. Mr. Sargsyan is the City of Santa Monica Building Official.

This is the 6th year that he serves as the ICC Los Angeles Basin Chapter Board of Directors. He was last year's Chapter President.

He has also served as chairperson at the ICC Major Jurisdiction Steering Committee and Exam Development Committee, member of CALBO State Code and State Licensing Board Committees.

For over 10 years, Mr. Sargsyan was the structures specialist at FEMA Urban Search & Rescue System CA Task Force #1 and was deployed for Hurricane Rita relief. Currently he is a Safety Assessment Team member of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.

Most recently Mr. Sargsyan, as a building official, was appointed to serve at two Code Advisory committees of the California Building Standards Commission: Building/Fire and Structural/Lateral.

He has over 20 years of experience with city building departments and 36 years in the construction industry.  Mr. Sargsyan has worked as a Plan Check Engineer/Supervisor, Training Officer, District Office Manager, Zoning Engineer, and Chief of the Development Services Case Management at the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety.

His professional experience also includes building code analysis, structural design, teaching civil engineering courses, and research related to the acoustical properties of building materials.  A number of his research works in noise control and building construction have been published, some have been utilized as textbooks.  He is also the author of Building Height and Area Calculator and Plumbing Fixtures Calculator, that are widely used by Building officials and by the design industry.

Mr. Sargsyan is a graduate of the Yerevan Polytechnic University. 

Cynthia has over 26 years of experience in the construction industry. She spent the first half of her career as a structural engineering consultant and then transitioned to working in the public sector. 

She has been working at the City of West Hollywood for the past 13 years a Senior Plancheck Engineer.  She enjoys her position at the City because she gets to continue to mix her engineering background with helping people and serving the community. 

During her time at the City, she has worn many hats, from plan reviewer, to Interim Building Official to leading public policy efforts. In 2015 Cynthia was chosen to lead efforts for the City’s comprehensive Seismic Retrofit Program. She has been the Project Manager for these efforts from the program and ordinance development phase up to the current phase of implementation.  She is very passionate about this program and seismic resiliency. 

Cynthia was recognized for her work on the City’s Seismic Retrofit Program by being awarded the 2020 SEAOSC Safer Cities Official of the Year.

When Cynthia is not at work, she enjoys spending time with her family, staying active outdoors, and taking advantage of the nearby beaches.