Hillside Open Space Education Coalition Steering Committee

Four cities and two community associations are represented in the coalition. The Steering Committee is comprised of one elected official from each agency. Three cities and on community association also have identified an alternate member. Each steering committee member was appointed by their City Council, or community association board. The Steering Committee Chariman and Vice Chairman were elected from the membership of the committee and serve one year terms.

The Steering Committee is responsible for setting policy, providing financial oversight and establishing direction for all HOSEC activities.

HOSEC also has recently added three Affiliate Members who have applied and been approved by the HOSEC Steering Committee for membership. The three groups include: Hills for Everyone, Endangered Habitats League and the Puente-Chino Hills Task Force.

 

City of Brea 

Blair
Stewart

Council Member
Vice Chair
 

Council Member Blair Stewart was elected to the Brea City Council in November 2022. He currently serves on the Orange County Athletic Club Advisory Board located in Brea.

Council Member Stewart is employed as a Hazardous Materials Firefighter for the City of Torrance Fire Department. Throughout his 25-year career with the department, he also worked as a Certified Film Safety Officer and Recruitment Specialist. Council Member Stewart is a United States Marine Corps veteran who served in active duty for four years, and as a reservist another four years. He was honorably discharged as a Sergeant E5 in August 1999.

Council Member Stewart is a long-time resident of Brea. A Brea Olinda High School graduate, he played sports and attended Brea Olinda Unified School District schools. Council Member Stewart is a father to two adult daughters and currently lives with his 8-year-old German Schnauzer.

 

Cecilia 
Hupp

Council Member 
(Alternate)

Council Member Cecilia Hupp was elected to the Brea City Council in November 2014 and re-elected in 2018. She completed her first term as Mayor in 2017.

Council Member Hupp opened S&S Home Loans in Brea in 1983 with husband, Scott. The couple purchased a home in town and have resided here since 1988.

In addition to working in the mortgage business for three decades, Council Member Hupp became involved with her homeowner’s association and has served on that board for over 25 years. This gave her an opportunity to develop many positive working relationships with the City and other community organizations. Most recently, she was able to take a leadership role with a local utility company in resolving an operational issue in her neighborhood.

Council Member Hupp considers herself a fiscal conservative who believes in prudent spending, as well as transparency in government. She seeks team-building to achieve mutually beneficial goals.

As they were growing, Council Member Hupp participated with her children in youth sports programs as a team mom while her husband coached. Currently, she has three granddaughters and one grandson. She enjoys gardening, cooking and golf. Plus, she often visits the Brea Dog Park with two pet Shih Tzu dogs.

Currently, Council Member Hupp is serving with the following:

  • Orange County Vector Control Board of Directors
  • SCAG Community, Economic and Human Development Committee
  • California League of Cities Housing, Community and Economic Development Committee
  • National League of Cities Community and Economic Development

 

 City of La Habra

Rose Espinoza
Council
Member
Chair 

Rose Espinoza was first elected to the La Habra City Council in 2000, and she was reelected in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. She previously served as Mayor in 2004, 2008, 2013 and again in 2017.

Councilwoman Espinoza worked as a Principal Designer at Beckman Coulter for thirty-four years. In 1991, Councilwoman Espinoza founded the La Habra program, Rosie's Garage, out of concern for the growing gang activity and low educational attainment of children in her neighborhood. She currently serves as executive director of the organization, which was the subject of the documentary "Rosie's Garage" which aired on KCET in 2002.

Councilwoman Espinoza has continually made a difference by contributing time, energy and talent to La Habra, Orange County and broader communities embracing issues and causes most important to her. On November 15, 2007 Councilwoman Espinoza received the National Caring Award, a prestigious honor that has been given to world renowned people including Mother Teresa, the Rev. Billy Graham and baseball Hall of-Famer Cal Ripken Jr. She is recognized in the Frederick Douglass Museum and Hall of Fame for Caring Americans in Washington D.C.

Councilwoman Espinoza serves as the City’s representative on the Hillside Open Space Education Coalition, SCAG (Southern California Association of Governments), OCCOG (Orange County Council of Government), San Gabriel and Lower Los Angeles River and Mountain Conservancy and serves as the League of California Cities 4th District Representative. She has previously served on the La Habra Community Development Block Grant Committee, Orange County Housing and Community Service Commission, Orange County Vector Control Board, Orange County Library Advisement Board and the Orange County Sanitation District. She is also involved in many community organizations including Neighborworks Orange County Board of Director, St. Jude Healthy Communities Benefit Committee, Advance! Board of Director, and Los Amigos of Orange County.

As the recipient of many awards for volunteerism, Councilwoman Espinoza has received the Points of Light Presidential Service Award from former President Clinton in 1994, the 72nd Assembly District Woman of the Year Award from Assemblywoman Lynn Daucher in 2002, and North Orange County Magazine's 25 Most Influential People in 2006. In 2005 the Orange County Register profiled Mayor Espinoza as one of "100 People Who Shaped Orange County." Her accomplishments have also been featured in Reader’s Digest, People Magazine and CSUF Center for Oral and Public History “Voces de Liberarcíon: Latinas and Politics in Southern California.

Councilwoman Espinoza received her associate of arts degree from Fullerton College and is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in Political Science.

A lifelong resident of La Habra, Councilwoman Espinoza and her husband, Alex, have one son and three grandchildren.

 


 

 City of La Habra Heights

John
Pespisa

Council Member

BIO & PHOTO PENDING

 

 

 

Carol 
Engelhardt

Council Member
(Alternate)

BIO & PHOTO PENDING

 

 

 

 


 

 City of Whittier

Jessica Martinez
Council Member

Council Member Jessica Martinez was elected to the Whittier City Council District 1 in March 2020 to a four-year term and is the first Latina to be elected to the City Council in Whittier.

Jessica received her Juris Doctorate Degree from Trinity Law School, a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from LMU, and a Master’s Degrees in both International Human Rights and Bio-Ethics. She is a public-school teacher in the Whittier City School District, the wife of a veteran, mother of five grown children and an active member of her church. She has lived in Whittier for over 20 years.


 

Hacienda Heights Improvement Association

John
Ford

Board Member

BIO & PHOTO PENDING

 


 

Rowland Heights Community Coordinating Council

David M. Malkin
Board Member

David Malkin and his wife, Teri, have lived in Rowland Heights since 1974. The couple has one grown son who is an anesthesiologist. Dave attended graduate school at UCLA and has had thirty-two years of experience working in hospital administration, from which he retired in 2005. Since his retirement Dave has been doing private consulting in healthcare Risk Management and Performance Improvement as well as volunteering in multiple non-profits. Dave continues to be active in:

  • Rowland Heights Community Coordinating Council and is a past board member
  • Rowland Heights Senior Pathfinders and is a past board member
  • Kiwanis Club Hacienda Heights and is a board member
    • Established local chapter of Shoes That Fit – aligns donors with children who need shoes
  • Walnut Sheriff’s Station Community Advisory Council (CAC)
  • HOSEC

Dave continues to work as an activist to protect the environment and to make our community a better place to raise a family.

 

Debbie Enos
(Alternate)