RHE Councilwoman Appointed to CARB

Judith Mitchell, a councilwoman for the city of Rolling Hills Estates, has been appointed to the California Air Resources Board, Gov. Jerry Brown's office announced Tuesday in a statement.

Mitchell, 71, has served on the Rolling Hills Estates City Council since 1999—she was the city's mayor in 2004 and 2009. She was the president of the League of California Cities in 2009 and is a past chair of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments.

Mitchell's appointment to the unpaid position must be confirmed by the state Senate.

"I am very excited," Mitchell told the Daily Breeze. "I'll look forward to working with other board members on the matters that come before us on mobile sources (of air pollution)."

Mitchell has been active in environmental causes. As a member of the Rolling Hills Estates City Council, she initiated the city's first Environmental Advisory Committee, and since 2010, she has been a member of the governing board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

She has also been the chair of the League of California Cities' Climate Change Working Group, "which drafted policy guidelines to address the challenges of global warming and greenhouse gas emissions," according to her biography on the Rolling Hills Estates website.