Benton County Commissioner Pat Malone has been appointed by Governor Tina Kotek to lead the state’s new Task Force on Municipal Solid Waste in the Willamette Valley. The task force will continue the work, wrapped up in July, of the Regional Sustainable Materials Management Plan (SMMP) Task Force convened in 2024 by Benton County.
Commissioner Malone learned of his appointment just before Thanksgiving when he saw the governor at the Association of Oregon Counties annual conference in Eugene. He has been working on the solid waste problem in the area for more than four years, first in Benton County Talks Trash and then on the SMMP task force. Nearly everywhere he goes, he finds himself talking about the problem of solid waste. It is on the minds of leaders in counties and municipalities throughout western Oregon…