Board Members and Staff

Brent C. Eckersley is currently serving his second term as a member of the EMRB.  Mr. Eckersley was named Chairman of Board in July 2017, succeeding Philip E. Larson.  Mr. Eckersley holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree (B. Arch) from Cal Poly Pomona, a Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) from the Price College of Business, and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree (JD) from the University of Oklahoma.  Mr. Eckersley was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1998 and the State Bar of Nevada 1999.  Professionally, Mr. Eckersley is in-house counsel for the Yamagata Enterprises Family Office, LLC.  Mr. Eckersley and his wife have been married nearly 25 years and are the parents of five children.

Gary Cottino was appointed to the Board in October 2017. Mr. Cottino is a Senior Professional in Human Resources and a Senior Certified Professional (SHRMP-SCP) with 31 years experience as a senior/executive Human Resource and Administration generalist, employee and labor relations specialist, trainer, and in-house HR consultant in multi-union, multi-location, multi-state, corporate, division, and front-line business environments. He is also a current Adjunct Instructor at the University of Nevada Las Vegas Continuing Education program, teaching HR and Management seminars and classes.

Brett Harris was appointed to the Board in 2019. She grew up in Southern Nevada and graduated from Las Vegas Academy. She went to college at New York University before returning to Las Vegas for law school. She graduated from the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law where she served as President of the Student Bar Association and received the Dean's Award at graduation for her service to the school and the community. She has practiced law since 2011, and she's been managing her own law practice since 2017.  She lives in Green Valley with her husband, Matthew, daughter, Margot, and their dog, Poppy. 

Michael J. Smith was appointed to the Board on October 8, 2020. Mr. Smith grew up in Hernando, Mississippi and is a graduate of Rust College where he received his Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, and his Master of Arts in Education Administration and Supervision from the University of Mississippi. He is a retired High School principal with more than 30 years of experience in K-12 education in the states of Mississippi and Tennessee.  He is currently an operator at the American Job Center of Nevada in Reno and the Carson City Redevelopment Authority Citizens Committee and a Board Trustee with the Carson City Symphony Association. He resides in Carson City with his wife of 2 years, Margaret, a fifth-generation Nevadan, and puppy Louie.   

Bruce Snyder has served as EMRB Commissioner since November 2013. Prior to this appointment Mr. Snyder, an attorney, had been the General Counsel of a local public sector labor union for more than a dozen years. He is a graduate of the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, where he ranked third in his class. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Snyder was an office manager for a wastewater utility in Illinois for almost two decades, where he was in charge of the human resources, IT, finance, purchasing, and other office functions and served as the agency’s liaison with its various outside counsel. Mr. Snyder is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, where he received his B.S. in Political Science and Urban Affairs and later received his MBA 

Marisu was appointed the EMRB's Executive Assistant/Board Secretary in December 2014.  Before her appointment to the EMRB, Marisu was the Legal Secretary for the Nevada Real Estate Division, bringing with her over 20 years of experience as a Legal Secretary/Assistant working for various firms in Los Angeles, Honolulu, and Las Vegas. She attended the University of the Philippines, College of Manila where she majored in History, and received her paralegal certificate from the Attorney Assistant Program at the UCLA School of Law Extension in Los Angeles, California.