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About the GWP Commission

The GWP Commission acts as an advisory body to GWP. It consists of five Glendale residents who serve without compensation and are appointed by a majority of the City Council for three-year terms. Their duties are outlined in the Glendale Municipal Code.

Current Members

Hugh Yao - President, Glendale Water & Power Commission

Hugh Yao - Commissioner

Hugh Yao has served on the GWP Commission since 2007 and has lived in Glendale for over 26 years. He is currently employed as a Customer Assistance Manager for the Southern California Gas Company and San Diego Gas & Electric. Hugh is responsible for marketing and outreach for The Gas Company’s utility discount and energy efficiency programs. In addition, he manages SDG&E’s Smart Meter projects for low-income customers. Hugh has been with The Gas Company and SDG&E for over 14 years. He has worked in Gas Facilities Engineering, Market Strategy, and Commercial & Industrial Marketing. Hugh holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from UCLA, a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from USC, and a California Professional Engineer license in Mechanical Engineering. He currently resides in Glendale with his wife, Tessa, and their six-year old daughter.

Contact Hugh Yao

Armen Adjemian - Commissioner

Armen Adjemian - Commissioner

Armen Adjemian is the co-founder and managing partner of Venture Group, a consulting firm located in Glendale, California specializing in corporate finance and transaction advisory. Armen began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he focused on financial statement and internal control audits, primarily in the financial services sector. His primary undertakings were audits of Venture Funds, Mutual Funds, and other major institutional money managers in Southern California, such as PIMCO and Western Asset. After leaving PwC, Armen started his own tax and consulting practice. Later, he founded Venture Group after realizing his passion for working with entrepreneurs and innovative early stage companies looking for capitalization and growth.

Armen received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Accounting degree from the University of Southern California. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of California and is also a Board Member of the Ishtoyan Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides afterschool athletic programs for youth in the community.

Contact Commissioner Armen Adjemian

Zanku Armenian - Commmissioner

Zanku Armenian - President, Glendale Water & Power Commission

Zanku Armenian has more than 22 years of experience leading communications strategies for major corporations and high-profile issue campaigns. Mr. Armenian currently is a senior communications executive in the corporate communications department of Southern California Edison, one of the nation’s largest electric utilities. He manages communications for the company’s largest business units including Transmission and Distribution, Customer Service, Advanced Technology, Power Procurement, Ethics and Compliance and major company initiatives such as Edison’s nationally recognized digital meter and grid modernization programs.

Previously he worked at the Motion Picture Association of America driving communications programs working with member studios including Disney, Fox, MGM, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony Pictures. Armenian also has extensive experience working for global public relations agencies. He was Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Western Region, based out of Silicon Valley, with Brodeur Worldwide, a global public relations firm specializing in communications strategies and services for technology companies. Prior to heading Brodeur’s western region, Armenian established Brodeur’s Washington, D.C. office.

Originally from the Washington, D.C. area, Mr. Armenian has in-depth experience in public affairs and crisis communications working with major corporations and industry coalitions. He was a founding member of Powell Tate, which was founded by President Jimmy Carter’s press secretary Jody Powell and First Lady Nancy Reagan’s press secretary Sheila Tate. He also has held positions with the worldwide public relations firm Burson-Marsteller. During his work at these major public affairs firms, he has worked closely with major government relations firms and media trained prominent CEOs and domestic and international political figures. Early in his career, Mr. Armenian worked at ABC News, in the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, including the office of former Senator and now Vice President Joseph Biden. He also has been very active in national, state, local and presidential political campaigns.

Mr. Armenian graduated from George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts in mass communication and a secondary concentration in government and politics.

Contact President Zanku Armenian

Terry Chan - Commissioner

Terry Chan - Commissioner

Terry has been a resident of Glendale for 25 years and was appointed Commissioner of Glendale Water & Power in 2008. As a registered electrical engineer, Terry has worked for the City of Los Angeles for 26 years in a number of capacities, from distribution system engineering to load forecasting for the 7,300 MW power system serving four million customers, rate design, and the promotion of energy efficiency and alternative energy systems. Terry received an electrical engineering degree from University of California at Los Angeles, a Masters degree in power engineering from University of Southern California, where she also received an Executive Masters in Business Administration. For the past ten years, Terry has studied energy efficiency and renewable energy developments throughout the United States, and in Asia and Europe, with special concentrations on Scandinavia, Iceland, and China. She is certified by the Association of Energy Engineers as a Certified Energy Manager and Green Building Engineer. She currently lives in a solar-powered home.

Contact Commissioner Terry Chan

Deborah Dentler - Commissioner

Deborah Dentler - Secretary, Glendale Water & Power Commission

Deborah Dentler moved from Silverlake to Glendale in 1989 to raise a family, attracted by Glendale's good public schools, parks, and city services. Together with her husband, Tony Segall, an employment lawyer, she raised two sons in Glendale and then adopted a teenage foster child. A graduate of UCLA Law School, she also holds bachelors and master's degrees in history. She is an attorney who practices juvenile dependency law in Glendale, specializing in foster care issues. She taught history, gender studies, and community volunteerism courses at Glendale Community College in the 1990s, and has also taught at Glendale College of Law and been a foster parent and social work educator. She was a member of the board of directors of Metropolitan Water District of Southern California from 2000 to 2004, where she was co-chair of the board's subcommittee on water education. She has held numerous board and commission positions in Glendale, including the Historic Preservation Commission (where she was two-term chair) and the Board of Building & Fire Appeals. A former legal aid lawyer and consultant to non-profit organizations, she has extensive experience in legislative advocacy and legislative drafting, non-profit management, and grant-writing. She is a member of Sierra Club, V.O.I.C.E., Friends of Los Angeles River, 350.org and other environmental advocacy organizations. When her children left home and the family dog died, she and her husband ripped out their lawn, re-landscaped with drought-tolerant native plants and are now enjoying birds, butterflies, and lower water bills.

Contact Secretary Dentler


Attending a Commission Meeting

Glendale residents are encouraged to attend monthly GWP Commission meetings to share suggestions, compliments, complaints, ideas and provide feedback on our programs. Meetings are held on the first Monday of each month in the Glendale City Council Chambers at 4:00 p.m., and usually last two hours.

Presentations made to the GWP Commission can be seen by viewing City of Glendale's Streaming Video Archive page.


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