Ruben Arizmendi is an attorney who has been in a civil practice, which includes business litigation, estate planning, bankruptcy and business set ups. The business transactions include forming corporations, LLC’s, Family Limited Partnerships, in addition to many business lawsuits wherein he represented plaintiffs and defendants. His estate planning experience includes the preparation of hundreds of living trust documents and probate.

Ruben received his Bachelor of Science degree from San Diego State University and his Juris Doctorate degree from Thomas Jefferson School of Law. Ruben is a member of the California State Bar Association, San Diego County Bar Association, Hispanic National Bar Association, California La Raza Lawyers Association, San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association, American Bar Association, Thomas Jefferson School of Law Alumni Association, and the San Diego County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Ruben’s interests in the Sierra Club arise out of his desire to see the world as environmentally strong and healthy, not only now but for generations to come. This is only going to happen when we all work in harmony to preserve the precious few environmental gems that seem to be sifting rapidly through our hands.

Peter A. Andersen (PhD, Florida State University, 1975) is professor emeritus in the School of Communication at San Diego State University. He has been a member of the Sierra Club for over 40 years. In the 1990’s he served three terms as chair of the San Diego Chapter Political Committee. In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s he served two terms on the San Diego Chapter Executive Committee. He was the head of the committee and lead plaintiff in the fight against the Jackson Drive extension that would have bisected Mission Trails Park. He successfully stopped the Jamul Quarry in California, prevented the flooding of Canaan Valley in West Virginia, and led the fight to preserve the Volo Bog in Illinois. In this time of political turmoil it is more important than ever that activists resists the destruction of the local and global environment. He is willing to serve to restore this wonderful chapter to full status and facilitate the important work we need to do.

George Courser is a 4th generation San Diegan, with his children and grand-kids living in the County. His 45-year working career was in the supermarket industry, employed by Safeway and Ralphs in all capacities from clerks’ helper to Store Director in both chains. George currently serves as the Chair of the Chapter’s Conservation Committee.

Over the years George has been involved in major projects in the Southland including the recently resolved Gregory Canyon Landfill, the Sunrise Powerlink, ballot Measures A & B and innumerable smaller projects. His preference is assist residents who are facing major general plan amendments to be successful in protecting their homes and communities.

His career brought him familiarity with all of Southern California and an appreciation of our natural resources and amazing biological diversity. His interests and activism were spurred by San Diego County’s failure to exert the California Environmental Quality Act standards or regulatory control over several projects in the North County.

During her career, Ms. Robinson has served as Hospital Administrator/CEO of several psychiatric hospitals. Karenlee has Masters Degrees in both Psychiatric Social Work and Healthcare Administration. She has facilitated significant organizational change with several hospital startups and turnarounds.

As a leader in large hospital organizations with multi-disciplinary staff, she has learned to work collaboratively and successfully with many stakeholders, including patients, families, physicians and staff, all having varied interests. Over the years, she received numerous awards and recognitions for her leadership. She has been active with many mental health and community organizations including serving on the Board of San Diego Mental Health America for 14 years and as Board President from 2007 to 2009.

From 2012 to the present, she has been the Program Coordinator for the San Diego Sierra Club Wilderness Basics Course. Karenlee is an active COL II leader. She has been a leader for both local and national outings. Her organizational leadership and expertise, her enthusiasm for exploring and conserving the outdoors and her availability since retirement will be of value to help lead the Club at this critical transition point.

A native San Diegan, Fred is a graduate of UCSD with degrees in both Political Science and History. Since graduating from college he has worked for several technology companies as a Technical Writer and Technical Documentation Specialist for the past 17 years.

Fred has been active with the county Democratic Party for over the past 12 years and has held various Executive Board positions including serving as Vice Chair of the party from 2009 to 2012. Currently he is serving his fourth term as the elected
representative for the 78th Assembly District to the Executive Board of the California Democratic Party. He is the cofounder of the San Diego County Democrats for Environmental Action which is the only Democratic Club in Southern California dedicated to advancing environmental issues.

An active Sierra Club member since 2002, Fred has been serving on the Political
Committee for the chapter since 2013. He is a strong believer in building strong
coalitions among like-minded allies in achieving environmental goals. He welcomes the current challenges the chapter is facing at this time, and looks forward assisting the chapter during this critical time.

Paul has recently retired after spending 35 years as a local environmental professional. Over those years, he served as a coastal program analyst at the California Coastal Commission, a land officer at California State Parks, and Airport Planner for the SD Airport Authority. He has a BA in Zoology and a MA in urban planning and is highly experienced with land use and water entitlements including CEQA/NEPA, Coastal Act, Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act, and is a former certified member of the American Association of Airport Executives. A longtime member of the Sierra Club, Paul is an elected member of his local Point Loma Peninsula planning group. Paul has extensive leadership experience of teams from different agencies under scrutiny from public perception. His administrative law and land use background is weighted with team leadership experience to help lead the club forward.