Toward a Cleaner Future

by John Hawkins, President and CEO, The Club

Treating the City’s wastewater is probably not something you think about a lot … unless of course you work for Public Works, or you’re otherwise interested in how cities work.

But that’s why the City employs a bunch of very smart people in our LA Sanitation department. While we go on presuming that water treatment is being handled, the professionals are stopping to think – what is the best way to treat the water? Is it enough just to scrub it a little and pump it into the ocean?

Not anymore, by a long shot. The City of LA is way beyond that. LA is on a constant mission to try to reclaim as much of the wastewater as possible, and even to create energy out of the operation, and make a statement about how to live sustainably. They are on it, as people say these days. And they’re doing a great job.

From left: Club COO Robert Larios; Sanitation COO Traci Minamide; and Club Director of Marketing Summy Lam overlooking the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant and the Pacific Ocean in Playa del Rey.

That’s what I learned from reading the in-depth interview this month with Traci Minamide, LA Sanitation’s Chief Operating Officer and one of the top female Sanitation professionals in the world. The City is in good hands with experts like Traci figuring out how to make a better, cleaner world. I learned a lot, and I hope you do, too.

SOFTBALL VETERAN GENO: Geno Gandara (left) with his children Amanda, Eugene and Phillip.

Congratulations to the Sports Dude (Club COO Robert Larios) and all the players in the Club Softball League on its 10th anniversary. Have a great time in your 11th season! And I love the story about Geno Gandara, who’s played in every Club Softball League since the start. His children are now old enough to play, too! Awesome!

As we head into the fall, and all our lives turn incredibly busy, I hope we all take the time to enjoy the most important thing of all – family.

— John

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