Sheng Thao

Oakland Mayor Sheng Thao is one of the Bay Area’s strongest and most effective progressive leaders. Her family story escaping genocide, poverty, and abuse has made her into a determined, empathetic leader. Her commitment to racial justice, building affordable housing, advocat ing for lowwage workers, and protecting tenants can be seen in her many accomplishments as a City Council member and will drive her work to improve the lives of Oakland residents as Oakland’s 51st Mayor. Born and raised in Stockton, CA, Mayor Thao grew up in poverty as the daughter of Hmong refugees. Her family used social services and lived in public housing. She left home at 17, and in her early 20s found herself in an abusive relationship, isolated from her family, and pregnant. She escaped this domesti c violence, but soon had a baby and no permanent housing. For months, she and her son Ben slept on couches or in her car. When Ben was 10 months old, she got a job at a local community college and started taking classes. With the help of welfare and a Head Start program for her son, she put herself through school. She became class valedictorian, then transferred to UC Berkeley, where she co founded a food access program for low income students and graduated with a degree in legal studies.

Sarah Larock

Sarah LaRock has a long-standing passion for resource recovery, and holds a Masters of Public Administration specializing in Solid Waste Management. After several years of working for municipal governments, Ms. LaRock has joined Waste Management offering her expertise in contract management, regulatory compliance, program development, and civic engagement. Sarah is driven to fight pollution by making waste diversion practices such as recycling and composting accessible to everyone and by leading a team of educators who work to inspire participation in these closed loop circular economies. While she appreciates all aspects of her work, Ms. LaRock most values building relationships with individuals and communities to make a positive impact on our shared environment.

Talia Wise

Talia Wise brings over 25 years of marketing communication team building to her role as Director of Communications, WM, Northern California/Nevada. New to the industry, Talia joined WM in August 2021, she reports directly to the Area Executive Vice President, and works with all Area directors. Talia communicates and works regularly with West Coast Director of Government Affairs. Most of her time is spent managing the internal communications team for the Area, which focuses on Public Education outreach programs contracted through Public Sector Specialists relationships.

Erin Armstrong

Erin Armstrong has a successful track record of tackling the most complex and challenging problems facing the Bay Area, with experience in addressing illegal dumping, police oversight, housing, homelessness and more. She has an MBA/MPP from Mills College in Oakland and is the Senior Policy Advisor to Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley. In 2019 she helped to launch the Alameda County Illegal Dumping (ACID) Pilot; a crosssector collaborative aimed at identifying and implementing best practices to address illegal dumping. Erin leads the Illegal Dumping Task Force, a State-wide coalition dedicated to elevating and disseminating best practices for addressing illegal dumping, on behalf of Supervisor Miley. Erin lives and works in Oakland California with her wife Morgan, daughter Matilda, and two very senior cats, Galileo and Guinevere.

Mary Jo McGuire

Commissioner Mary Jo McGuire was elected NACo 2nd Vice President this past July (2021). She has been a Ramsey County Commissioner in Minnesota since 2012. Prior to the County Board, Mary Jo served 16 years in the Minnesota State Legislature, serving in both the House and Senate. Commissioner McGuire is a member of NACo’s Executive Board and serves on its Financial Services Corporation and the Audit and Finance Committee. She also serves on NACo’s Health Policy Steering Committee, Healthy Counties Advisory Board, Programs and Services Committee, and Arts and Culture Commission. She is also active in her state, serving in leadership at the Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC), and is a member of its Public Safety Policy Committee and Education and Research Committee. In her own County, Commissioner McGuire chairs the County’s Legislative Committee, Active Living Ramsey Communities, Suburban Ramsey Family Collaborative, and serves on a number of Boards and Commissions including as a member of the Extension Committee, Ramsey County League of Local Governments, the Transportation Advisory Board, and the Recycling and Energy Board. Mary Jo is a lifelong resident of Ramsey County, currently residing in Roseville. She has a BA in Business Administration from the College of St. Catherine, a JD from Hamline University School of Law, and an MA in Public Administration from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. Mary Jo is trained as a “qualified neutral” in dispute resolution cases. She is an adjunct professor in the Master of Organizational Leadership (MAOL) Dept. at St. Catherine University, has been an adjunct professor at Hamline University, and a guest lecturer at West Point Military Academy.

Iranzu Morras

Iranzu Morras joined PaintCare in 2018, she is based in Los Angeles and oversees the program’s operations across several counties in Southern California. She is passionate about conservation and advancing product stewardship.

Humberto Quinonez

Humberto Quinonez joined San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) in 2007 as a Senior Environmental Health Inspector one of my many job duties is to help city agencies to manage and dispose hazardous waste. I respond to many inquiries from Department of Public Works to pick up illegally dumped hazardous waste. My chemistry background helps me analyze and identify unknown chemical waste. I’m really passionate about removing chemicals from San Francisco street that potentially can represent a danger to human life and health.

Benjamin Lucha

Ben started with the City of Palmdale in May of 2007. Ben has a Bachelors of Science degree from the University of California, Riverside in Environmental Sciences. Prior to arriving to the City of Palmdale, he worked for the City of Santa Clarita for over six years, first as an Environmental Analyst and later as an Environmental Projects Development Coordinator working primarily on Solid Waste related issues. Ben has almost twenty-five years of experience in the environmental field, with approximately twenty-three years working in the public sector.

As part of his duties as Innovation and Environmental Manager for the City of Palmdale, Ben is involved with a variety of topics. The Innovation and Environmental Division oversees solid waste compliance issues, such as SB 1383 implementation, household hazardous waste programs, and illegal dumping programs; energy efficiency projects; wireless communication facilities and 5G deployment; and the City of Palmdale’s citywide fiber deployment project.

Ben is currently Vice Chair on the Utilities and Public Right of Way Technical Committee for the American Public Works Association and is also on Alternative Technology Advisory Subcommittee for the Los Angeles County Integrated Waste Management Task Force. He is also certified in Sustainable Behavior Change and as an Envision Sustainability Planner.

Doug Kobold

Doug has been “talking trash” for over 30 years. He is currently the Executive Director for the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC). Previously he spent over 18 years with Sacramento County managing contracts, procurement, new recycling programs development, household hazardous waste (HHW), and pending legislation and/or regulations. He also spent nearly 3 years with Edgar & Associates providing solid waste consulting services throughout California and over 5 years with Yolo County managing the County’s landfill. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering with a minor in Planning from California State University, Chico.

Doug is currently the Vice President and a board member of the California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA), the past Chair and a voting member of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) California Chapters Legislative Task Force and has served as President of the SWANA Gold Rush Chapter. Additionally, he has served as the Vice Chair of the CalRecycle Illegal Dumping Technical Advisory Committee (IDTAC) and he was the Chair of CPSC, the Founder and President of National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC), Chair of the California Mattress Advisory Committee, and a member of the California Carpet Recycling Advisory Committee.

Ken Houston

Ken Houston, a subject matter expert on illegal dumping, graffiti vandalism, and homeless encampments is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Beautification Council a 501 (c)3 organization. The Beautification Council disrupts the cycle of blight and homelessness, through an innovative duplicable proven process collaborating with private-public partners and governmental agencies.

In 2012, Ken Houston declared homelessness and blight a state of emergency before it became an epidemic. As a life-long community advocate, he immersed himself amongst the homeless/unhoused population for 30 days to understand the cause, effects, and impacts. The lived experience became the platform for efficacious programming and cross-sector collaborative partnerships.

Passion, People, Projects are the driving force behind Ken Houston and the Beautification Council’s initiatives. The initiatives have a positive impact on blight and the unhoused along with the justice-involved through employment, economic stability, and housing.

One of Ken Houston’s strongest beliefs is that we must invest in our youth and children to create positive leaders of tomorrow. His fundamental approach is to take them back to the basics by engaging them with nature and early community involvement.

Jordan Wells

Jordan Wells, joined the National Stewardship Action Council (NSAC) at its formation in 2015 and currently serves as the organization’s Director of Advocacy and Communications. NSAC is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization that will advocate for an equitable, circular economy anywhere in the U.S. Jordan is NSAC’s registered lobbyist in California and has navigated numerous bills from inception to passage including in 2021 the first-in-the-nation Truth in Recycling Labeling law (SB 343, Allen) and helped California to get the highest bounty in the country for thermostat recycling.

Barbara Bella 

Barbara Bella is a long-time Bay Area resident, small business-owner, mother and activist residing in Russian Hill, San Francisco. Barbara spent 40 years in media strategy and sales, served a Board Member and Chair for Golden Gate Philharmonic youth orchestra, and as a Trustee for San Francisco University High School. Upon retirement in 2017, Barbara has been active in the San Francisco volunteer community involved as a CASA, (Court Appointed Special Advocate for a Child in Foster Care), Chef for Home Away from Homelessness, the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank and as co-organizer of Russian Hill Clean Up and Smile events. In this capacity, Barbara has become aware of the serious toxic waste implications of cigarette litter, not just in her neighborhood or city, but to the environment-globally-and has led efforts by RHN to seek legislation to mitigate and rid our environment of this toxic scourge. 

Lori Wilson

Lori Wilson is the first Black female Mayor to serve in all of Solano County. First elected to the Suisun City Council in 2012, she served as ViceMayor for six years before winning the Mayor’s race in 2018. During her tenure, she has worked tirelessly to make Suisun City a welcoming and safe place to call home. Lori has a track record of fiscal responsibility while leading efforts to bring more housing, jobs and diversity to Suisun City. She is committed to fighting for the residents of California’s 11th Assembly District with a track record of creating good jobs, keeping the community safe and improving the quality of life for all her constituents. Lori successfully implemented a number of public health and safety initiatives to ensure that residents were able to stay safe and healthy through the pandemic. As part of the pandemic response, Lori worked with Suisun City Fire Department (SCFD) in coordination with Solano County Public Health and Office of Emergency Services to bring in free COVID-19 testing to Suisun City. Under her leadership, her city worked with the Community Action Partnership of Solano County to house the homeless against exposure to COVID.

Brian Johnson

Brian Johnson is a father of two, husband, and a San Francisco resident. He has spent his career solving problems with software. So, when he was confronted with enormous amounts of illegal dumping in his neighborhood, he set out to use software to automate locating, identifying, and reporting it. Brian built the Trash drone, using artificial intelligence and an image processing pipeline to find all the illegal dumping in Bayview from thousands of daily drone photos from his neighborhood.

Marr Christian

Marr A. Christian has been a dedicated civil servant for more than 34 years working successfully in a multitude of capacities, from Code Enforcement to Firefighter/Paramedic. r. Christian began his distinguished career as a first responder in the private industry in an Diego, then quickly transitioning to San Bernardino and Riverside Counties with his aramedic license, ultimately obtaining his firefighter certificate and being hired on at mall and medium municipalities. He is currently the Division Manager over the Code nforcement Unit for the City of San Bernardino. Marr worked for over 24 years as a Supervising Code nforcement Officer for the County of Riverside leading dozens of diverse teams, training/coaching 100+ fficers and working with an abundance of organizations, task forces, departments, and communities.

Cory Bytoff

Cory Bytoff is the Sustainability Program Manager for the City of San Rafael. He co-authored and is responsible for implementing the City’s Climate Action Plan, now being used as a model by the other cities in Marin. Cory approaches sustainability from an interdisciplinary lens with a focus on community + collaboration.

Walter Gonzalez

Walter Gonzalez Valdez is a Management Analyst at the City of San Rafael’s City Manager’s Office. Walter is passionate about ensuring that all communities, regardless of background and makeup, obtain equitable access to all public services. This has led Walter to co-design projects and services that tackle inequity in the distribution of resources. Walter graduated from the University of California San Diego in 2021 and hopes to continue his education to further his mission.

Anna Olivia

Anna Oliva currently serves as the Climate Corps Zero Waste – Business and Community Outreach Fellow placed with the City of San Rafael Sustainability department. Her primary contributions have been to the City’s Equitable Low Carbon Economy Strategy, Illegal Dumping Program, and SB 1383 education, implementation, and outreach. Anna graduated from the University of Oregon in 2022 and is looking forward to applying her experience with local government, sustainable business, and environmental behavioral change as she continues her career in sustainability.

Walter Yu

Walter currently serves as the Clean California Program Director and has 20 years of civil and transportation engineering experience. During his 17-year Caltrans career, he has worked on a variety of new initiatives including the District 4 Construction Stormwater Inspection Program, Caltrans Statewide Trash Implementation Plan for the State Water Resources Control Board and Enterprise Data Governance Task Force. In his free time, Walter enjoys volunteering with Code for America as cochair of the Sacramento and Fresno chapters and was recently admitted into the Master of Science in Transportation Management Program at San José State University for the Spring 2023 semester.

Renee Esplana

Renee is currently working as a liaison with the Caltrans Headquarters Clean California Team. She provides support for activities related to the Clean California Program and Clean California Community Days. As part of the statewide team, Renee assists with the implementation of Clean California activities, priorities, procedures, and guidelines. Renee has worked in various capacities throughout her Caltrans career, including managing District 4’s Executive Staff Support Team, working as a District Strategic Planning Coordinator, implementing the inclusion of alternative fuel and electric vehicles into the D4 Automotive Management Fleet Program, and participating in various community engagement campaigns. In her spare time, Renee enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and taking jazz, tap, and hip-hop dance classes.

Supervisor Miley would like to thank all of the conference panelists, the incredible sponsors without whom this event would not have happened and every viewer who took the time to learn more about how we can end illegal dumping once and for all!

For the most updated information coming out of Supervisor Miley's office including progress and news about the ACID pilot and illegal dumping, please subscribe to our newsletter here. To join the Illegal Dumping Taskforce please email Erin Armstrong at erin.armstrong@acgov.org.