2nd Annual Virtual Statewide Conference on Illegal Dumping

Nate Miley was first elected to the Alameda County Board of Supervisors in November 2000 and is currently serving his sixth term. He represents District 4, which includes portions of Oakland, from Montclair in the north to Oracle Arena and the Oakland Coliseum in the south, the City of Pleasanton and the unincorporated communities of Ashland, Castro Valley, Cherryland, El Portal Ridge, Fairmont Terrace, Fairview and Hillcrest Knolls. In January 2021, he was appointed Vice-President by his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors.

Prior to representing District 4, he had the honor of serving the residents of Oakland City Council District 6 where he earned the moniker “maverick” for his tenacity in challenging the status quo and pursuing novel, grassroots-based solutions which leveraged community engagement to tackle issues and problems. As a County Supervisor, he continues to engage and empower communities, protect open space, strengthen our healthcare system, and create more livable and safe neighborhoods. He brings with him a commitment and platform to deliver and improve transportation, healthcare, public safety, and social services to his highly diverse constituent base.

Presented by Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan

Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan was elected in 2018 to serve the 16th Assembly District, which includes the communities of Dublin, Lafayette, Livermore, Orinda, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Walnut Creek, Danville, Alamo, and Moraga. Rebecca is an accomplished attorney, environmental advocate, community volunteer, law professor and mother. A Bay Area native, she has dedicated her career and personal time to improving our community, solving complex problems, protecting civil rights, and fighting to ensure everyone has the opportunity to succeed. As an attorney, Rebecca specialized in ensuring major corporations complied with environmental laws and regulations by leading internal investigations to improve their environmental practices, while maintaining profitability. She also worked with major tech companies on intellectual property cases, involving topics including copyright, trademark, and trade secret theft. Rebecca oversaw and grew her office’s pro bono program and, under her leadership, the office expanded their efforts to include civil rights, immigration, homelessness and domestic violence. She has also served on a number of boards and committees, helping attorneys throughout the Bay Area provide their services to those who desperately need them.  Rebecca is the granddaughter of refugees, who came to the United States to escape the Holocaust. Their experience has shaped Rebecca’s perspective, inspiring her to help others in her own community, including coordinating the legal services effort at SFO to assist refugees and immigrants impacted by the Trump Administration’s travel ban. For the last several years, Rebecca has taught appellate law and legal research and writing at Santa Clara University and Golden Gate University. She is a product of Bay Area public schools and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University Law Center. Rebecca and her husband, Darren, live in Orinda with their three young children.

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Presented by 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, and more. She has an MBA/MPP from Mills College in Oakland, and is the Special Assistant to Alameda County Supervisor Nate Miley where she helps to craft policies for Early Care and Education, Police Oversight and Reform, and Homelessness. In 2019 she helped to launch the Alameda County Illegal Dumping (ACID) Pilot, a cross-sector collaborative aimed at addressing illegal dumping.

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Presented by Ken Houston

Ken Houston is a life‐long community advocate and third-generation Oaklander with 30 years’ experience in the construction industry. He is the founder of the Beautification Council, a community‐based, nonprofit organization, that addresses public health and safety conditions that plague underserved communities. The Beautification Council’s best practices on deterrence of blight were recognized at the 2015 United States Mayors Conference, and thereafter the Beautification Council received grants to address the physical and visual cues that create these horrendous conditions.

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Presented by Larry Sweetser

Larry Sweetser specializes in trying to bridge the gap between California’s strict regulatory requirements and reality for solid waste and household hazardous waste programs for over 30 years. He has been assisting the 24-member county Rural Counties’ Environmental Services Joint Powers Authority (ESJPA) since 2000 and serves on the Solid Waste Association of North America’s California Chapter’s Legislative Task Force. Representing the ESJPA, Larry has been a member of the statewide Illegal Dumping Technical Advisory Committee since 2004 and Chair since 2017. Larry can often be seen monitoring regulatory agency meetings.

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Presented by Adriana Ornelas

Adriana Ornelas is a Program Manager I for Los Angeles County Public Works in its Environmental Programs Division, Residential Trash Collection Section. She helps oversee solid waste collection contracts and programs related to the prevention of illegal dumping in the unincorporated Los Angeles County areas. She also serves as the Secretary of the Board for the Antelope Valley Illegal Dumping Task Force.

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Presented by Jamie Facciola

Jamie Facciola is an award-winning social entrepreneur whose work on developing local solutions to circular economy has been covered in BBC News, Fast Company, Nonprofit Quarterly, The Oaklandside, KQED, and GreenBiz. Her current project, Furniturecycle, is a solutions lab that explores furniture waste from the bottom up. Her professional background is in environmental science and corporate environmental management. Jamie was on the founding board of the National Upholstery Association and holds a Master of Environmental Science and Management from the Bren School at UCSB.

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Presented by Nate Pelczar

Nate Pelczar has been with the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC) since 2018 and serves as a Special Projects Manager, focusing on statewide legislation and education. He oversees a number of the organization’s various advocacy and educational projects related to the reduction of household hazardous waste, the promotion of producer responsibility, product green design, and product end-of-life management.  Nate serves as Treasurer for the California Chapter of NAHMMA and serves on the board of SWANA’s Gold Rush Chapter.

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Presented by Alameda County Sheriff Greg Ahern

Sheriff Greg Ahern is the 22nd Sheriff of Alameda County. He took office in 2007 and oversees 1,650 employees and a budget more than $550m. The Sheriff provides law enforcements services to the unincorporated districts in Alameda County and serves a population of 150,000 county residents. In addition, the Sheriff contracts for police services with the City of Dublin, Oakland Airport, AC Transit, Hospitals and Social Services. The Sheriff manages the Santa Rita Jail, Coroner’s Bureau, Superior Court Services, Emergency Services, and a host of other county wide services. The Sheriff is very concerned about quality-of-life issues, including illegal dumping, pollution, homelessness, poverty, and addiction. Sheriff Ahern believes blight and illegal dumping can be managed through prevention, enforcement, programs and services to the community. Sheriff Ahern believes we must invest in our communities through public art, sustainable healthy food programs, food insecurity, youth activities and deterrents to harming the environment.

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Presented By 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.

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Presented By Heidi Sanborn

Heidi Sanborn has been a leader in the solid waste industry for 31 years based in California. She started working in 1990 as a consultant to local governments writing waste management plans, then worked at CalRecycle as policy advisor to the chair, and then left government to be an advocate. She is the founding Director of the National Stewardship Action Council promoting producer pays policies for a variety of products in multiple states and has been a key stakeholder at introducing a national truth in labeling bill for “flushable” wipes and other products as well as a bottle bill.

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Presented By Doug Kobold

Doug Kobold Doug has been “talking trash” for over 29 years. He is currently the Executive Director for the California Product Stewardship Council (CPSC). Previously he spent over 18 years with Sacramento County, nearly 3 years with Edgar & Associates, and over 5 years with Yolo County. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering with a minor in Planning from California State University, Chico. Doug is currently the Chair of the SWANA California Chapters Legislative Task Force, Vice Chair of the IDTAC, and a board member for CRRA. 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.

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Presented By Suna Bayrakal

Suna Bayrakal is an experienced policy analyst and researcher with an environmental engineering background. She is director of policy and programs at the Product Stewardship Institute, where she leads technical research and develops and analyzes product stewardship policy in several product areas, including batteries, carpet, mattresses, household hazardous waste, fluorescent lamps, tires, and mercury thermostats. Her expertise includes an understanding of product stewardship programs in the U.S. and Canada at both the policy level and the operational/implementation level. Suna earned her doctorate in environmental studies from York University in Toronto.

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Presented By Iranzu Morras

Iranzu Morras joined PaintCare in 2018, she is based in Los Angeles and oversees several counties in California: East L.A County, North Orange County, San Bernardino County, Kern County, Mono County, and Inyo County. Iranzu is originally from Spain and has a Degree in Economics and a master’s degree in Marketing Management from Deusto University. Additionally, she has over 15 years of experience in account management and business strategy implementation having worked across multiple industries and countries throughout her career. She has recently earned a Certification in Zero Waste Management by SWANA and is currently a UCLA Extension student in Sustainability.

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Presented by Commissioner 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.

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Presented by California State Attorney General Rob Bonta

California State Attorney General Rob Bonta was sworn in as the 34th Attorney General of the State of California on April 23, 2021, the first person of Filipino descent and the second Asian-American to occupy the position. Attorney General Bonta’s passion for justice and fairness was instilled in him by his parents, who served on the frontlines of some of America’s most important social justice movements. It’s why he decided to become a lawyer — to help right historic wrongs and fight for people who have been harmed. He worked his way through college and graduated with honors from Yale University and attended Yale Law School. Attorney General Bonta has led statewide fights for racial, economic, and environmental justice and worked to further the rights of immigrant families, renters, and working Californians. He previously worked as a Deputy City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco, where he represented the City and County and its employees and fought to protect Californians from exploitation and racial profiling. He went on to pursue elected office in Alameda County, first as an Alameda Council Member and later as an Assemblymember representing Oakland, Alameda, and San Leandro. In the State Assembly, Attorney General Bonta enacted nation-leading reforms to inject more justice and fairness into government and institutions. As the People’s Attorney, he sees seeking accountability from those who abuse their power and harm others as one of the most important functions of the job. He is married to Mia Bonta, and they are the proud parents of three children Reina, Iliana, and Andres, as well as their dog Legolas.

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