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By: Susan
Jarvis
On November 15th, America Recycles Day, The United States Conference
of Mayors, Novelis, Inc. and Keep America Beautiful, Inc. announced
the winners of the 2006 Cans For Cash City Recycling Challenge.
For the third year, the program challenged like-sized cities
to compete against each other in aluminum can collection for
monetary awards and to encourage recycling. During two weeks
in September, more than 30 cities collected over 2.4 million
pounds of aluminum cans which equates to over 82 million used
beverage cans. “Friendly, spirited competitions
like the City Recycling Challenge bring city officials, communities
and schools together to help promote recycling,” said
Kevin Greenawalt, President, Novelis North America. “Working
together, the goal is to foster efforts to promote the value
of aluminum can recycling and help cities sustain their local
efforts.”
“We are proud that our Cans for Cash Program helped jump-start
existing programs and redirected many communities to focus on
a common goal," said Peter Spatara, MWMA 2006 President,
Director of Public Works, City of West Palm Beach. “Mayors
leveraged their relationships with community and civic organizations,
partnered with schools, and linked the can recycling challenge
with community improvement and service projects. Participating
cities should be excited and proud that they contributed to
the recycling of more than 2 million pounds of aluminum cans."
The winners of the $5,000 awards for the most aluminum cans
recycled are: • Division One (population 250,000+)
Milwaukee, WI* - 1,147,084 pounds, Mayor Tom Barrett •
Division Two (population 100,00-249,999) Fontana, CA - 213,515
pounds, Mayor Mark Nuami • Division Three (population
50,000-99,999) Bowling Green, KY - 78,310 pounds, Mayor Elaine
Walker • Division Four (population below 50,000) Richmond,
IN - 29,670 pounds, Mayor Sally Hutton
* Note: 2005 Winner in Division Category
To help mayors engage their communities in recycling and raise
awareness about its importance over the long term, cities submitted
innovative education and marketing ideas for an additional $5,000
award. The cities being recognized for the most innovative campaigns
are as follows: • Division One: Lexington, KY,
Mayor Teresa Ann Isaac • Division Two: Tallahassee,
FL, Mayor John Marks • Division Three: Bowling Green,
KY, Mayor Elaine Walker • Division Four: Columbus,
IN, Mayor Fred Armstrong
Winning Cities that Partnered with their local Keep America
Beautiful, Inc. affiliate will be awarded $5,000 and $2,500
respectively: • Division One: Louisville, KY, Mayor
Jerry E. Abramson • Division Four: Tupelo, MS, Mayor
Ed Neely “It is fitting that Keep America Beautiful
affiliates – Brightside in Louisville, Ky., and Keep Tupelo
Beautiful in Tupelo, MS were recognized on America Recycles
Day for rallying citizens to recycle aluminum cans,” said
G. Raymond Empson, president of Keep America Beautiful. “Our
affiliates across the country partner with government, business,
and other organizations to encourage recycling, reduce waste
and prevent litter. We were pleased to partner with Novelis
and The U.S. Conference of Mayors, and to increase aluminum
recycling rates through this important public education initiative.”
The aluminum can is the country’s most recycled beverage
container and has been for more than 20 years. In 2005, more
than 100 billion aluminum beverage cans were produced in the
United States and 52% of them were recycled (a 1.0% increase
over the previous year). Nearly the same amount – close
to 50 billion cans or roughly $1.5 billion worth of aluminum
– was lost to landfill.
Winning cities will also be recognized at The U.S. Conference
of Mayor’s Winter Meeting in January.
Division One
Milwaukee, WI* Louisville, KY* Indianapolis, IN* Lexington,
KY* Pittsburgh, PA* Houston, TX* Division Two
Fontana, CA* Knoxville, TN* Lancaster, PA* Boise, ID* Tallahassee,
FL* Durham, NC* McKinney, TX* Division Three
Bowling Green, KY* Hesperia, CA* Arlington Village, IL* Village
of Palatine, IL* Gastonia, NC*Allen, TX* Fayetteville, AR*Meridian,
ID* Saipan, CNMI*Edinburg, TX Division Four
Richmond, IN * Tupelo, MS* Sumter, SC* West Hollywood, CA* Sidney,
NE* Rancho Palace Verdes, CA* University City, MO* Columbus,
IN* Leesville, LA* Schulyer, NE* Bartlett, TN* Burleson, TX
By:
Susan Jarvis
More than 50 Solid Waste Directors, Public Works Administrators
and Environmental Commissioners gathered in West Palm Beach
for the Municipal Waste Management Association’s 2006
Fall Summit. After a warm welcome from MWMA President and Director
of Solid Waste for the City of West Palm Beach, Pete Spatara,
Tim Johnson from Serious Industries gave an overview of the
relationship between illegal dumping and identity theft. Rather
than discussing illegal dumping in the traditional sense, Mr.
Johnson discussed the “theft of service” - illegal
dumping into another person or business’ solid waste container
for which they are not paying for the service. Participants
in theft of service type illegal dumping include both commercial
and residential users. According to Mr. Johnson, illegal dumping
can be costly for cities and lead to a host of environmental
problems, but can be combated by through increased education
and public awareness and controlling the waste stream by locking
the containers. Locking the containers can be done manually,
with padlocks and chains, or automatically. Automatic locking
systems decreases both the time used in the field to lock the
containers and the amount of time trucks are idling.
Carrie Gallagher, Program Director for Keep America Beautiful,
provided an update on KAB’s Cigarette Litter Prevention
Program. Begun in 2003, KAB’s pilot program is based on
extensive field testing and is a multi dimensional approach
to preventing cigarette litter. In 2005, KAB developed the Guide
to Cigarette Litter Prevention, an interactive resource for
implementing a community program.
KAB’s program is based on four principles, enforcing anti
litter laws, because”people aren’t going to stop
because you ask them to,” said Ms. Gallagher, installing
ash receptacles, encouraging the use of pocket ash trays and
continuous public education and awareness. Keep America Beautiful
has developed a series of PSA’s depicting a cigarette
with the tag line “this is litter too.” The pocket
ash trays “are designed to appeal to smokers senses of
touch and sound,” said Ms. Gallagher. “Don’t
underestimate the value of toys.”
"Something Great is About to Happen”, began Stephanie
Rolle McMillan, Director of Neighborhood Services. The newly
created Department of Neighborhood Services was tasked by West
Palm Beach Mayor Frankel to be the “eyes and ears of the
community and help residents cut through the red tape.”
The department developed a mission: To be the liaison between
neighborhoods and city government through effective communication,
advocacy and education to ensure quality service delivery. According
Ms. Rolle McMillan, they are defining neighborhoods, as inclusive
components, comprised of residents, schools, businesses, agencies
and faith based organizations.
The department developed a series of priorities:
Develop and maintain strong neighborhood relationships
Promote linkages between neighborhoods and city government
Provide effective advocacy for all neighborhoods
Empower neighborhoods through information, education and resources.
Ms. Rolle McMillan said her departments success is based internal
collaboration with other departments developing relationships
with other city employees and department heads, understanding
how city services are delivered and the policy’s which
guide their decision making. The Department of Neighborhood
Services and The Department of Utilities teamed up to create
“Talking Trash: A Guide to Waste Disposal For Residents.”
The Code Enforcement Division observed a pattern of behavior
and contacted Neighborhood Services to implement some solutions.
The ‘Talking Trash” program is based on continuous
education and updated as laws, policies and ordinances change.
For more information on any of the programs, including the Talking
Trash video, please log onto www.usmayors.org/mwma
By: Brett Rosenberg
Brandon Daley, Deputy Commissioner, Energy and Air Quality,
City of Chicago, provided insights into how to address the global
climate change issue at the local level. Citing the Mayor’s
commitment an passion about the environment, Daley discussed
several integrated programs and policies the City has undertaken
to reduce its impact on the earth’s climate.
Beginning several years ago as a means to alleviate the “heat
island effect,” in which ambient temperatures in urban
areas tend to be much higher that less developed areas, Mayor
Richard M. Daley started planting trees all over the City –
in neighborhoods, downtown, in parks, everywhere. The City then
installed a rooftop garden on its city hall, which has reduced
the energy necessary to cool the building in the summer and
eased stormwater runoff. Since the city and county each occupy
half of the building and the county declined to participate
in the garden program, there is ample evidence of the numerous
benefits of the rooftop garden.
As Daley explained, the Mayor wholeheartedly believes in leading
by example. By undertaking a program and showing that it works,
he then can require, or at least urge the private sector to
follow. Through an important incentive program to encourage
rooftop gardens and other green building strategies, the City
has a “green permit process” that expedites a developer’s
project through the permitting process and waives many of the
associated fees for projects that meet certain environmentally
sustainable criteria.
These are just part of Chicago’s 2006 Environmental Action
Agenda, according to Daley. Other examples abound, such as 15
million square feet of commercial office space that has been
retrofitted for more energy efficiency, saving over $8 million
per year; economic development programs, such as luring a solar
panel manufacturing company to town, not only to produce a beneficial
product but add jobs, too; and the “Waste-to-Profit”
network, in which a company’s wastes or byproducts can
be used as inputs for another company’s product, thus
reducing the amount of waste generated and the energy required
for brand new materials.
Rick Sapir, an attorney for Hawkins, Delafield and Wood, gave
MWMA members an update of Flow Control issues, which will be
heard by the Supreme Court in early 2007. Simply stated, flow
control is the ability of a municipality to control the “flow”
of garbage to a facility.
In 1994, The United States Supreme Court struck down a flow
control ordinance in Clarkstown NY which obliged haulers to
bring their waste to the Clarkstown Recycling Inc. landfill.
The courts upheld the ordinance until the 2nd Court of Appeals
when the US Supreme court ruled the ordinance violated the Commerce
clause by ruling that garbage was considered commerce. Most
state and local flow control ordinances were then overturned
which paved the way for increased privatization.
The courts recently disagreed on two new cases resulting in
their agreement to hear the United Haulers Association Inc.
v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority. Previously,
in the second circuit court decision, the judge distinguished
between publicly owned and privately owned facilities. The judge
ruled that there can be no discrimination against out of state
waste disposal centers. The 6th circuit court, however, did
not distinguish between publicly and privately owned facilities.
The United States Conference of Mayors and the Municipal Waste
Management Association are filing an amicus brief outlining
the Conference’s support for flow control.
By: Susan Jarvis
While the 2006 hurricane season was uneventful, the lessons
learned from previous seasons should still be taken to heart.
In his presentation “Disaster Recovery and Clean Up: You
Don’t have to Do it Alone”, Mike Carroll, Solid
Waste Services Division Manager for the City of Orlando, gave
Fall Summit Participants a primer on Hurricane Preparedness.
“Who should prepare for a natural disaster?” began
Mr. Carroll.
Everyone who meets any of the following criteria:
If you are within 200 miles of the Southeast coast (from the
Potomac River to Texas)
If you are in a flood prone area
If you are in an area that has had tornados or severe thunderstorms
If you are in an area that has ice storms
If you are near an active fault line
If you have a danger of wildfires
If you have the potential for man-made disaster
When deciding if you need help preparing, you should ask yourself
the following questions:
Are you sure you know how big a job you are facing?
Can you clean it all up in less than 2 weeks?
Can you pay for the clean up and disposal without help?
“Help can come in many forms, from planning and training
to debris removal and FEMA reimbursement assistance. Help can
also come from other jurisdictions, your Disaster recovery contractors,
consulting firms, your annual contractors, state emergency management
offices and the Federal Government, “ said Mr. Carroll.
In Orlando, there is a debris manager and field operations center
and debris contractors and a monitoring firm are pre-positioned.
Orlando also conducts two training exercises every year. Your
goal concluded Mr. Carroll, “is to get your city back
to normal as quickly as possible. “
Tom Henderson, Solid Waste Services Administrator for the District
of Columbia briefed attendees on the right approach to mutual
aid. “Hurricanes,” began Mr., Henderson,”
are the last place to implement a mutual aid agreement. There
will be widespread disaster and other local jurisdictions will
have the same problems you do.” In Washington DC it took
an Act of Congress to implement a mutual aid agreement between
the District, Virginia and Maryland, known as the National Capitol
Region. The mutual aid agreement covered police, fire and debris
removal. The real key to good mutual aid agreements is training.
In the National Capitol Region, all the municipalities train
together, and speak the same language.”
Mark Stafford, COO of DRC Inc, provided a private sector perspective
on disaster recovery. The biggest challenge for your “stand
by contractors”, began Mr. Stafford, is personnel challenges.
DRC has 300 stand-by contracts in Florida, procured from either
an RFP or bid process. Mr. Stafford recommended municipalities
look for the following things in their contractor: Capacity
to meet your needs, ability to respond with adequate resources
in a timely manner and financial capacity to remain liquid when
federal funds are delayed. Your contractor needs to meet and
sustain payroll without FEMA funds. Take a look at some of the
contract templates available, and cover all your bases, which
may include beach restoration and vehicle removal.
Veronica White, from the City of New Orleans briefed participants
on some of the lessons she learned before, during and after
Katrina. “You can never be prepared enough, “she
began. Her first lesson, Be self reliant. Get a line item in
your budget for disasters and maintain that funding.
Learn how to appeal. In New Orleans, over 60% of the project
work was headed to be appealed. While the city was without sewage
for 3-4 works, Ms. White ordered 3,000 portable toilets. FEMA
declined to reimburse the city for $3million. The city won that
appeal.
Finally, be patient. “Do what you can do and then start
all over again”
For more information, log onto www.usmayors.org/mwma
By Brett Rosenberg
Among the countless challenges public works officials face,
high fuel costs and emissions from vehicles and other municipal
operations rank among the highest. Fortunately, as the MWMA’s
Fall Summit’s distinguished Renewable Energy and Alternative
Fuels panelists explained, options abound to improve environmental
performance while reducing costs.
Ted Michaels, President of the Integrated Waste Services Association
(IWSA) began by expressing that “This is a very exciting
time to be in the renewable energy business.” Michaels
then provided some insights into challenges and opportunities
concerning municipal waste-to-energy facilities, which produce
electricity from trash, thus reducing the amount of material
that goes to landfills.
For starters, he noted that the Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended
the renewable electricity production credit for facilities that
enter service through December 31, 2007. Qualifying facilities,
including municipal waste-to-energy plants, are eligible to
receive a one cent credit per kilowatt hour sold, over a ten
year pay-out; however, as Michaels made clear, no new waste-to-energy
plants have begun operating since 1995.
What’s more, according to Michaels, the EPA’s Green
Power Partnership, which aims to expand consumer choices for
more environmentally benign electricity does not include waste-to-energy.
One of the challenges that the industry will face during the
110th Congress is encouraging wider recognition of waste-to-energy
as a viable, clean alternative to conventional power sources.
As climate change policies garner wider attention and support,
Michaels anticipates opportunities to convince policy makers
that producing electricity from solid waste combustion can mitigate
greenhouse gas emissions from other sources, including landfills.
Following Michaels’ presentation, Paul Pabor, Vice President
for Renewable Energy Programs at Waste Management, Inc., expanded
on opportunities to capture renewable energy from landfill gas.
Waste Management is currently involved in projects with 16 municipalities,
co-ops and non-profit entities in which energy is created via
captured landfill gas or the gas is used as feedstock for some
other purpose. These projects have many advantages, including
incentives for non-profits, tax credits for corporations, and
expanding community relations.
In one example Pabor cited, a local paper mill was slated for
closure due to high energy costs, but through a partnership
with the community and landfill operator, the mill was able
to buy landfill gas for power purposes at a reasonable price.
The mill therefore remained open, preserving jobs and its presence
in the community. As a landfill operator, Pabor said, “Our
approach is to look at each site individually – if there’s
a potential end-user, we’ll proceed accordingly. As far
as that paper mill is concerned, you can’t get better
publicity than that.”
It was clear from both Michaels’ and Pabor’s presentations
that new environmental concerns and recent increases in the
costs of all types of traditional energy sources have reinvigorated
an often overlooked resource. Namely, trash will continue to
be a viable alternative to power generation, and, therefore,
a resource for municipal energy enterprises.
Brandon Daley, Deputy Commissioner of Chicago’s Energy
and Air Quality Division transitioned from waste-to-energy and
landfill gas to a presentation concerning fleet vehicles. Mayor
Richard M. Daley (no relation to Brandon) has vigorously worked
to make Chicago “the nation’s greenest city.”
Through an on-going and holistic fleet modernization program
the City is able to achieve demonstrable benefits through reduced
fuel use and costs, and environmental quality goals.
Updating the fleet began with trash trucks because, according
to Daley, “Refuse trucks are among the best place to start
because they’re in the neighborhoods every day for the
people to see.” So far, four units are equipped with special
filters that prevent soot emissions; 76 vehicles are equipped
with “oxi-cats,” which greatly reduce soot, carbon
monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions; the remaining 370 units
will be retrofitted with the oxi-cat equipment over the next
year.
Other types of Chicago’s fleet vehicles are also getting
the retrofit treatment to improve the city’s air quality.
Also, the City operates hundreds of hybrid and alternative fuel
vehicles that operate on either natural gas or E85. The City
maintains 12 fueling facilities to keep its vehicles on the
road.
Although Chicago finances its fleet through several avenues,
including incentives from the federal government, Tom Henderson
of the Washington, DC Department of Public Works noted that
the Department of Energy does not recognize hybrid vehicles
as “alternative fuel” vehicles.
By: Susan Jarvis
Scott Shannon’s presentation “Waste To Energy: Using
Superpowers for Good” took a look at how waste to energy
could be used as a strategic asset in terms of energy independence.
The presentation also explored how Superheroes, like Batman
and Superman, have many similarities with the Waste To Energy
industry. “Like superheroes Mr. Shannon began, “waste
to energy facilities have special abilities, like shrinking
in size. A waste to energy plant shrinks the amount of garbage
ultimately requiring disposal and transforms it into usable
energy.” Superheroes and Waste to energy facilities also
have trademarks tools or weapons. “Green Arrow has his
bow and arrow, Wonder woman has her lasso and waste to energy
facilities have a furnace, to combust and shrink the waste,
a boiler – to recover the heat and make steam, a TG, to
convert the heat energy of the steam to electric power and a
Spray Dryer Absorbers to control acid gases like SO2 and HCl,
among other things.”
Mr. Scott concluded that like Superheroes, Waste to Energy Facilities
serve the greater good. They preserve valuable land, and offset
energy needs serviced by fossil fuel combustion. One ton of
burned garbage is equal to 500 pounds of coal, 1 barrel of oil
or 550 KWh of electricity. Waste To Energy facilities also reduce
green house gas emissions and enable the recycling of other
materials. While Waste to energy facilities have had to over
come some public relations obstacles they have ultimately been
embraced by municipalities. In Florida, WTE plants process 22%
of Municipal Solid Waste and communities are still investing
in retro fits and upgrades.
Jeff Clunie, from RW Beck provided attendees with a comparison
of estimated costs of waste disposal methods. He asked “is
there a future for Waste to Energy?” In his presentation,
Mr. Clunie outlined a recent feasibility study which compared
the costs of continued land filling at county-owned landfills,
use of county-owned, privately operated transfer stations for
long-haul truck transfer to out-of-state landfills, a Municipal
solid waste composting facility, a WTE facility sized to accept
waste from just one county, and a regional WTE facility sized
to accept waste from two counties.
In the course of the study, Mr. Clunie also identified market
drivers for waste disposal, including increased fuel costs,
availability of renewable energy credits, and the ability to
sell power to alternative power grids. Municipalities will reap
benefits, Mr. Clunie continued, when their waste disposal systems
are designed with economies of scale in mind.” Other market
drivers include new technologies, like waste to ethanol, gasification
that converts MSW to a fuel gas with the use of some oxygen,
conversion of plastics to oil, pyrolysis systems convert solid
waste to gas in the absence of oxygen, plasma systems use plasma
torches to provide the energy to convert solid waste to energy,
chemical and biological conversion of the cellulose fraction
of MSW to ethanol.
Waste to Energy, concluded Mr. Clunie, does have a future, as
it is the only current commercially demonstrated alternative
to land filling.
For more information on Waste TO Energy or to view the presentation,
log onto www.usmayors.org/mwma
By: Ted Fischer
At the MWMA Fall Summit in West Palm Beach, Public Works Commissioners
and city employees gathered together for a session on pride
in the industry. “If you have ever wanted to end a conversation
at a dinner party, all you have to do is say to the person you
are speaking with that you are a trash man,” said Ken
Baylor, Vice President, Employee and Labor Relations, Republic
Services. “We are just as important as any other worker
within cities and we need to be proud of the job that we do.
If someone is willing to dispute with you about the importance
of your job, then it is time to stop services on a nice hot
August day and let the trash on the curb sit for a week and
see how the residents of your community quickly respect the
job that you do.” “No one should be ashamed of the
jobs that are done. We are a vital part of everyday life like
police and fire departments, and we too are first responders
in the event of a disaster, man made or natural and deserve
the respect that others are immediately assigned.”
The session was able to bridge the views of management and employees,
to look at the job of a public works employee and the recognition
they receive. “Many cities are convinced that if they
don’t have a budget for recognition, and there is no possible
way of recognizing their employees. I am here to tell you that
a few nice words go a long way. Tell your employees about the
good job there are doing and don’t be scared to say Thank
you for their efforts,” said Baylor.
Mr. Baylor was dynamic and very well received by conference
attendees who were excited about the session. Not only did Mr.
Baylor work on bridging the gap between employee and supervisor
but he also tried getting the attendees to understand that no
one is above the job. “Take pride in everything you do.
You are good at it and you offer one of the best services around
for such an affordable price. Comparing apples to apples, you
need to look at how much it would cost a customer to ship the
same amount of trash via UPS, $40- $50 and everything has to
be packaged in a particular way, yet trash pick up is only dollars
to the customer and we pretty much take anything and in any
shape.” For more on the MWMA Fall Summit and to see meeting
presentations please visit our website at www.usmayors.org/mwma
Crowder-Gulf- Thursday Night Party Sponsor
DRC Emergency Services, LLC-Opening Reception Sponsor
Waste Management, Opening Luncheon Sponsor
Labrie Equipment- Thursday Afternoon Dessert Breaks Sponsor
McNelius- Breakfast Sponsor
Phillips& Jordan- Thursday Morning Coffee Break
Beck Disaster Recovery Services and RW Beck- Wednesday Lunch
Sponsors
Exhibitors
LaBrie Equipment
Rehrig Pacific Company
Serious Industries
Toter Inc.
Crowder-Gulf
DRC Emergency Services LLC
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2006 Executive Committee
President
Peter Spatara, City of West Palm Beach, FL
1st Vice President
Clarena Toleson, City of Philadelphia, PA
2nd Vice President
Elmer Heap, City of San Diego, CA
Immediate Past President
Susan Keil, City of Portland, OR
Past Presidents
Kevin Bennett
Lexington-Fayette (KY) Urban County Government
Willie Rhodes
City of Austin, TX
Karen Larkin
City of Tacoma, WA
Gary Price
City of Denver, CO
Rudy Davidson
Louisville-Jefferson County (KY) Government
Tom Henderson
City of Washington, DC
Trustees
Jonathon Bilmes
Bristol Resource Recovery, Bristol, CT
Dan Cardenas
City of San Antonio, TX
Mike Carroll
City of Orlando, FL
Robin Davidov
Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority
Frank Giordano
Pollution Control Financing Authority, Camden County, NJ
Keith Hackett
Louisville-Jefferson County (KY) Government
Sadhu Johnson
City of Chicago, IL
Sean McDonald
City of Seattle, WA
Daphne Washington
Kern County (CA)
Steve Willis
City of San Jose, CA
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2007 Executive Committee
President
Clarena Toleson, City of Philadelphia, PA 1st
Vice President
Elmer Heap, City of San Diego, CA 2nd Vice
President
Mike Carroll, City of Orlando Immediate Past
President
Peter Spatara, City of West Palm Beach, FL Past
Presidents Susan Keil
City of Portland, OR Kevin Bennett
Lexington-Fayette (KY) Urban County Government Willie
Rhodes
City of Austin, TX Karen Larkin
City of Tacoma, WA Gary Price
City of Denver, CO Rudy Davidson
Louisville-Jefferson County (KY) Government Tom
Henderson
City of Washington, DC Trustees
Jonathon Bilmes
Bristol Resource Recovery, Bristol, CT Robin
Davidov
Northeast Maryland Waste Disposal Authority Frank
Giordano
Pollution Control Financing Authority, Camden County, NJ
Keith Hackett
Louisville-Jefferson County (KY) Government Sadhu
Johnson
City of Chicago, IL Daphne Harley
Kern County, CA Kumar Menon
City of Indianapolis, IN John Alford
City of West Palm Beach, FL |
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