Employee Profile

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JEOVANY GOMEZ

JOB TITLE:

Materials Regulations Specialist

YEARS WITH THE COUNTY:

15

DEPARTMENT:

OC Waste & Recycling

BEST PART OF YOUR JOB:

Knowing my work makes the environment better for my children’s future

Jeovany Gomez loves learning. Since he joined OC Waste & Recycling in August 2003, he’s been able to fulfill his love of learning by acquiring a multitude of new skills as he moved up through the ranks to become a materials regulations specialist.

At 19 years old, Jeovany joined the County as a utility driver, picking up and dropping off mail and packages at the County’s landfills, as well as some light duty maintenance. From there, he promoted to an office technician position, helping reception in taking phone calls and providing support for office services. Moving forward, he joined the budget and finance team as a staff assistant, handling educational reimbursements, working with the County Procurement Office and processing purchases. He also worked on the financial aspects of the annual United Way Dine at the Dump event, which invited local dignitaries to support charitable causes.

At one point in Jeovany’s OCWR journey, then-Safety Officer Earl Gaugler suggested he get into a hazardous materials position.

“He told me which classes to take and where to take them,” said Jeovany, who took the advice and enrolled at Rio Hondo College in Whittier.

Today, as a materials regulations specialist, he is in constant communication with the public, overseeing the County’s four Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) collection centers. He visits each site – in Anaheim, Huntington Beach, San Juan Capistrano and Irvine – on a weekly basis, checking the manifest for each shipment of items headed to recycling facilities and providing support to staff when questionable items arrive.

Some residents try to dispose of boats and infested fruit trees that the HHWs can’t take. Jeovany and his colleagues maintain close working relationships with state agencies like the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the California Department of Consumer Affairs to assist with those items. Jeovany also works with OC Health Care Agency’s Environmental Health Services, which inspects all the HHW facilities.

The HHWs do accept items such as householder cleaners – think Windex or Scrubbing Bubbles – and automotive products – motor oil, antifreeze, as well as light bulbs, batteries and even sharps, such as needles used to inject insulin. Residents can also bring in their electronics to be recycled.

“We can take anything with a circuit board,” Jeovany says. “Residents are responsible for removing all personal data, but we do lock electronics like laptops and cell phones inside at night as another layer of protection.”

Another odd item that comes through Jeovany’s desk is soil from building contractors. The Brea Olinda landfill uses it as cover to bury trash.

“We only accept dirt from Orange County contractors,” he explains. “They might be trying to get rid of dirt from a road or pool project, or maybe a new housing development.”

The Brea Olinda landfill accepts the soil for free after it has passed testing to make sure it’s free of contaminants. Jeovany is the one checking those results.

“If someone randomly showed up with a truckload of dirt, they’d be charged or turned away. We can only accept so much at a time.”

After COVID hit, Jeovany, like so many across the County, has taken on a lot to keep services running smoothly. Currently, he’s the only

Jeovany and his family on vacation in San Francisco.

person in his specific role, as his previous partner took another job in June 2020. He does so much, a deputy director joked he should add “Detective” and “Firefighter” to his job title after a couple incidents at the Anaheim HHW.

One fateful night in February 2020, while he and his wife were driving around to calm their infant son, he decided to drive past the Anaheim HHW site on the way home because of a recent rash of breakins.

“We were going over the 91 Freeway and saw a guy walking eastbound and we were driving westbound,” Jeovany said. “He was wearing a headlamp. I told my wife that was odd.”

He pulled a U-turn to make sure the man wasn’t going into the facility. Unfortunately, his wife saw a random light moving around near the electronics bin. He called the police, who arrested the individual.

“I give my son credit for catching the person,” he said.

The break-ins gave him another task: new fencing for the Anaheim facility.

Earlier this year, as he was returning to the Anaheim HHW site, he saw smoke. It turned out a nearby homeless encampment had caught fire. Anaheim Fire Department, nearby businesses, including Republic Services, which handles trash collection for various cities, all worked to contain the blaze because if the hazardous waste caught fire, everyone would be in extreme danger. In the end, no one was injured.

In his off time, Jeovany and his wife like to take a trip to the downtown San Luis Obispo Farmer’s Market once every summer.

“It’s not like your typical farmer’s market,” he says. “The environment is different. It’s a great time on a Thursday night. They have some of the best barbecue.”

They look forward to taking their sons on vacation once the pandemic is over.