Board Members

Gabe Verdugo was appointed to serve on the Pollution Control and Shorelines Hearings Boards in 2024. Before his appointment, he served as an administrative appeals judge with ELUHO. Mr. Verdugo previously litigated consumer class actions and insurance cases in private practice. He also served as a judicial law clerk for Judge Rosanna M. Peterson at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington and for Justice Steven C. González at the Washington Supreme Court. Mr. Verdugo graduated from the University of Washington with bachelor's degrees in plant biology and German language and literature. He earned his law degree from the University of Washington School of Law.

Michelle Gonzalez was appointed by the Governor in 2020 to serve on the Pollution Control and Shorelines Hearings Boards. Before joining the boards, Ms. Gonzalez directed the Women’s Commission, an agency in the Governor’s Office. She also served as assistant dean at the University of Washington School of Law and as a senior lecturer in the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, where she has taught courses on administrative law and mediation and negotiation. Ms. Gonzalez has worked in the private and public sectors as an attorney and clerked for a federal magistrate judge in the Western District of Washington.

Ms. Gonzalez earned a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. She is a volunteer board member for the Thurston County Dispute Resolution Center. She enjoys mentoring students, and she started an externship program for law students with the agency. She speaks conversational Spanish and enjoys opportunities to practice. 

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Jason Foust was appointed by Governor Bob Ferguson in 2026 to serve on the Pollution Control and Shorelines Hearings Boards. Prior to his service on the Boards, Mr. Foust was an Assistant Attorney General in the Public Lands and Conservation Division at the Washington State Attorney General’s Office where he represented the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in a wide variety of environmental and natural resources issues and served as Advisor to DNR Law Enforcement. Prior to that, Mr. Foust was a criminal prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, and a civil trial attorney in South Florida. Mr. Foust holds a BA in Political Science from Coastal Carolina University, a JD from Florida Coastal School of Law, and an LL.M. in Environmental Law, magna cum laude, Certificate in Energy Law, from Vermont Law and Graduate School. Mr. Foust is also the current Chair of the Environmental and Land Use Law Section of the Washington State Bar Association, a member of the Board of Directors for the Thurston County Bar Association, and a Fire Commissioner for McLane Black Lake Fire Department, Thurston County Fire District No. 9. In his spare time, Mr. Foust enjoys playing guitar, skiing, surfing, and spending time with family and friends.

Andrew O’Connell joined ELUHO as an administrative appeals judge in 2023. Before joining the office, Mr. O’Connell was an administrative law judge for the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), presiding over adjudications involving rates, mergers and acquisitions, and practices of investor-owned utilities in Washington such as Puget Sound Energy, Avista Corporation, and Waste Management of Washington. Before that, he worked for the Washington State Attorney General’s Office as an assistant attorney general, representing the staff of the UTC in various proceedings, including rulemakings and rate cases, while also providing more general legal advice to the UTC.

Mr. O’Connell earned a Master of Laws degree with distinction in climate change and energy law and policy from the University of Dundee’s Centre for Energy, Petroleum, and Mineral Law and Policy. His graduate dissertation on cap and trade was published by the Texas Environmental Law Journal. He graduated magna cum laude with a Juris Doctorate from Gonzaga University School of Law while, at different times, serving as the Editor-in-Chief of the Gonzaga Law Review, competing in the National Appellate Advocacy Competition, working in Gonzaga’s Indian Law Clinic, and externing for Judge Robert T. Dawson at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. Prior to that, he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and history from Washington University in St. Louis.

Neil graduated from Oregon State University with a Bachelor’s in Wildlife Science and then was employed by the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife for nine years before entering law school at University of Oregon.  After law school, Neil spent some time in the Republic of Palau, drafting environmental statutes and regulations, and then worked 26 years for the Washington Attorney General’s office, representing the Washington Departments of Fish & Wildlife and Natural Resources and the Forest Practices Board.  In 2018, Neil was appointed to a PCHB/SHB Board member position in the Environmental and Land Use Hearings Office (ELUHO).  Neil retired in 2023, but returned to ELUHO as an Administrative Appeals Judge in June of 2024.

Neil has been married since 1976. Neil and his wife enjoy hiking, horseback riding, traveling, and reading fantasy/science fiction and spy thriller novels.

Danny joined ELUHO as an Administrative Appeals Judge in January 2025.  Before that he was an environmental attorney at K&L Gates LLP, first as an associate then as a partner.  His practice focused on timber, endangered species, and cleanup of contaminated sites.  Danny earned a Bachelor's degree in Math and Philosophy from the University of Washington and a Masters Degree in Teaching from Western Washington University.  He taught middle school math in the Middle East for a year, then attended law school at the University of Washington, where he graduated with highest honors.  After law school, he clerked for the Honorable Charles Wiggins of the Washington State Supreme Court and the Honorable James L. Robart of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. 

Danny has been married to his wife Meghan since 2013.  He has two young sons, Amos and Simon, and a dog, Phoebe.  He enjoys writing, reading fiction, triathlon, bowling, cards and games, and backpacking.