Brian Schmidt Email & Phone Number

Santa Clara And San Mateo Counties

San Francisco Bay Area

• Directed the Advocacy Program and all Program staff at Greenbelt Alliance, working to protect open space from sprawl and redirect infill to compact, walkable neighborhoods near transit throughout the nine-county San.
• Assembled a coalition of environmental supporting establishment of Vehicle Miles Traveled policy in San Jose to limit greenhouse gas emissions, now used by the State of California as a model for other jurisdictions.
• Led Greenbelt Alliance as it pioneered successful ballot measures protecting open space from sprawl in Gilroy, San Jose, Milpitas, Antioch, Windsor, Cotati, Novato, and Sonoma County.
• Supported open space, housing, and transportation funding measures at the city and county level in San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Napa, and Sonoma Counties.
• Led Greenbelt’s crucial support for legislation enabling the establishment of Solano County’s open space district.
• Managed new policy adoption for controversial issues such as rent caps in the CASA Compact for the housing crisis.

San Francisco Bay Area

Provides legal advice and environmental policy consultation to multiple non-profit organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Work included protection open space areas in the vicinity of Glroy and Morgan Hill from sprawl, ongoing work to protect Coyote Valley south of San Jose, and regulations for native plant restoration.

Santa Clara County, California

Director, District 7, Board of Directors. Elected in a competitive, county-level election with 57% of the popular vote to represent northern Santa Clara County on issues of environmental restoration, flood control, and water supply for 1.8 million people. Supervises top level officials in the 750-employee organization, modifies and approves the $300.

Santa Clara County

• Elected in competitive, county-level election with 57% of popular vote to represent northern Santa Clara County on issues of environmental restoration, flood protection, and water supply for 1.8 million people.
• Supervised top-level officials in 700-employee organization and at associated joint powers agencies, including hiring Executive Director for Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency.
• Reviewed, modified and approved the $300M-$400M annual budget as well as multiyear capital budgets, investment reserve policies, and issuance of commercial paper.
• Carried out campaign promises on increased environmental protection, including managing problems related to sea-level rise along San Francisco Bay.
• Elected as Water District representative to Association of California Water Agencies, served on the board of ACWA Region 5, and was a Planning Committee member of the California Water Policy Conference.
• Instrumental in 2012 passage of property tax measure Safe Clean Water Measure B, including environmental support; achieved 74% voter approval, a record for Santa Clara County. Dramatically increased funding above.

San Mateo And Santa Clara Counties

• Legislative Advocate leads as policy-maker and spokesperson for CGF, and lobbies to protect natural resources, preserve agricultural lands, and promote environmentally sound development and long-range planning. Special.
• Successfully preserved 6,000 acre Coyote Valley, stopping San Francisco-San Jose sprawl zone, when other environmental organizations had offered compromises.
• Helped preserve environmentalist/developer coalition for habitat protection plan that would fund thousands of acres of new open space purchases.
• Successfully fought sprawl proposals in multiple cities in Santa Clara County.
• Exposed and eliminated secret consultation between developers and government agencies that altered environmental documents.

Stanford California

• Conducted complex environmental litigation at Stanford Law School's Environmental Law Clinic, with special focus on forestry litigation involving the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act..
• Took primary responsibility for cases, communicating with clients, judges, and opposing counsel, and wrote complaints, briefs, administrative comment letters, and memoranda.
• Wrote briefs and argued the case that forced Forest Service to do environmental planning it tried to evade.
• Additional legal research concerned California state environmental law, federal Clean Water Act, and the Administrative Procedures Act.

• Private law firm practicing public-interest environmental law.Practiced many aspects of administrative and litigation work involving laws such as NEPA, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the.
• Participated in case management, strategizing with clients, and brief-writing.
• Work involved public speaking and published research.
• Personally recruited a national environmental organization as a client for a statewide challenge to stop damage to the environment.

Juris Doctor (J.D.), Environmental Law, Water Law, Administrative Law, "With Distinction" Honors

Activities and Societies: Environmental Law Society, Stanford Environmental Law Journal Co-author of The Endangered Species Act Handbook.

Bachelor’S Degree, Government, Economics, Philosophy, Magna Cum Laude