Thomas K. Bannon
Chief Executive Officer
Thomas K. Bannon holds lead responsibility for general management of the California Apartment Association. Prior to joining CAA, he was the staff director for U.S. Congressman Robert Matsui; vice president and legislative advocate for the California Building Association; and director of political affairs for the California Association of REALTORS. Bannon holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and psychology and a master’s degree in public administration from California State University, Chico.
Contact: tbannon@caanet.org, (916) 449-6432
Public Affairs
Debra L. Carlton
Executive Vice President, State Government Affairs
Debra L. Carlton is responsible for planning and implementing strategy for all legislative and regulatory issues of interest to members of CAA. She serves as the association’s chief legislative representative and is a registered lobbyist. Prior to her present position, she worked for the Sacramento law firm of Weintraub, Genshlea and Sproul, providing legal and legislative research for the real property section of the firm. Carlton holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of California, Davis, and a master’s degree in public administration from Golden Gate University, San Francisco.
Contact: dcarlton@caanet.org, (916) 449-6422
Joshua Howard
Executive Vice President, Local Public Affairs
Joshua Howard leads the association’s local public affairs strategy, government advocacy, community relations, and political action programs throughout California. Before joining CAA, he served as vice president of public policy and communications for the San Jose/Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and as a senior aide to a former San Jose City Council member. Howard is a registered lobbyist in several Silicon Valley cities. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Santa Clara University and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of San Francisco.
Contact: jhoward@caanet.org, (408) 342-3507
Fred Sutton
Senior Vice President, Local Public Affairs
Fred Sutton oversees the association’s local public and legislative affairs efforts throughout Los Angeles County. In addition, Sutton manages public affairs in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Prior to joining CAA, Sutton served as the director of government affairs for the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles and previously served as a deputy to a member of the L.A. City Council. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Arizona.
Contact: fsutton@caanet.org, (424) 307-1378
Greg Terzakis
Senior Vice President, Local Public Affairs
Greg Terzakis is charged with the overall management of the association in Central California and serves as its primary lobbyist in the region. Prior to joining CAA, he was the public affairs manager for Granville Homes in Fresno, the senior aide to a San Joaquin County supervisor, and a partner in a political-consulting and lobbying firm. Terzakis holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in government from the University of San Francisco.
Contact: gterzakis@caanet.org, (559) 221-2533
Rhovy Lyn Antonio
Senior Vice President, Local Public Affairs
Rhovy Lyn Antonio manages local public and legislative affairs in San Mateo and Contra Costa counties. Prior to joining CAA, she served as chief of staff for former San Jose Councilman Pete Constant and worked for the city of San Jose for eight years managing land use policies and community development issues. Antonio holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from San Jose State University.
Contact: rantonio@caanet.org, (408) 342-3506
Anil Babbar
Senior Vice President, Local Public Affairs
Anil Babbar manages local public and legislative affairs in Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties. Prior to joining CAA, he held government-affairs roles for PG&E and the Santa Clara County Association of REALTORS. Babbar holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from San Jose State University and a graduate degree in public administration from Golden Gate University, San Francisco.
Contact: ababbar@caanet.org, (408) 342-3509
Tony T. Bui
Senior Vice President, State Public Affairs
Tony T. Bui is responsible for planning and implementing strategy for legislative, regulatory and political issues for CAA. He serves as one of the Association’s legislative representatives and is a registered lobbyist. Bui also directs CAA’s political activities through its political action and independent expenditure committees and oversees all candidate support and recruitment programs. Prior to assuming his present role, Bui served as deputy chief of staff to various state legislators and then moved on to be director of public affairs for DeBoo Communications. He has also successfully managed numerous political campaigns. Bui studied political science at San Diego State University.
Contact: tbui@caanet.org, (916) 449-6423
Victor Cao
Senior Vice President, Local Public Affairs
Victor Cao manages CAA’s legislative advocacy and political action programs for the Southern California region. Before joining CAA, he was chief of staff for the Orange County Board of Supervisors and government affairs manager for the Building Industry Association of Orange County. Cao is a graduate of the University of California, Irvine, and has a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.
Contact: vcao@caanet.org, (949) 474-1411
Matt Buck
Vice President, Local Public Affairs
Matt Buck manages CAA’s legislative advocacy and political action programs in East Los Angeles County. Prior to joining CAA, he was the regional public affairs staff for the Western Municipal Water District, the California and Nevada Credit Union Leagues and O’Reilly Public Relations. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in social science from California State University, Los Angeles, and has an executive master of business administration degree from the Pepperdine Graziadio Business School.
Contact: mbuck@caanet.org, (949) 734-2025
Matt McDonald
Vice President, Local Public Affairs
Matt McDonald manages legislative advocacy and political action programs in the Sacramento Valley region. Prior to joining CAA, McDonald was a land-use politics consultant, managing complex public affairs and communications efforts for clients in the housing, retail, mining and hospitality industries in more than 12 states. Prior to consultancy, he worked on political candidate campaigns at the federal, state and local levels, ran a prominent California political action committee, and was a legislative staffer at the California State Assembly. Matt has a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from UC San Diego and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
Contact: mmcdonald@caanet.org, (916) 449-6456
Melanie Woods
Vice President, Local Public Affairs
Melanie Woods manages legislative advocacy and political action for San Diego County. Prior to joining CAA, Woods served as director of workforce programs at the San Diego Workforce Partnership. She brings more than a decade of experience working in San Diego as a housing and land use adviser to three San Diego County supervisors. Her background also includes time at Southwest Strategies, San Diego’s largest public affairs firm, and collective impact think-tank LeSar Development Consultants. In these roles, she assisted public and private sector clients on entitlements, long-range planning and affordable housing. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and political science and a master’s degree in public administration from San Diego State University.
Contact: mwoods@caanet.org, (619)-219-5147
Robert Bicker
Legislative Analyst
Robert Bicker is CAA’s legislative analyst and is responsible for coordinating the day-to-day tracking of the association’s public affairs program, which includes bill identification, tracking and analysis. Prior to joining CAA, Bicker was a legislative assistant at the California Chamber of Commerce and a law indexer for the Capitol Legislative Counsel Bureau. He holds an Associate of Arts degree from Sacramento City College in languages and literature.
Contact: rbicker@caanet.org, (916) 449-6424
Mike Nemeth
Marketing and Communications Director
Mike Nemeth manages CAA’s media relations, marketing and communications programs, including the association’s weekly electronic newsletter. Prior to joining CAA, Nemeth was managing editor for The Salinas Californian. He also worked as a reporter for two daily newspapers in Florida. Nemeth holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from the University of Central Florida.
Contact: mnemeth@caanet.org, (916) 449-6426
Compliance & Education
Heidi Palutke
Education, Policy and Compliance Counsel
Heidi Palutke holds principal responsibility for CAA’s compliance and education programs, including the development of statewide and local compliance forms and materials. She conducts research and analysis of state and local legislation to support CAA’s public affairs team. She also represents CAA before various regulatory agencies and departments and manages CAA’s various litigation projects. Prior to joining CAA, she was an associate with the Law Offices of Andrew L. Packard in San Francisco and served as a legal policy analyst for Lead Safe California. Palutke holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from Michigan State University, and a Juris Doctorate from Golden Gate University School of Law, San Francisco. She is a member of the California State Bar and has been admitted to the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.
Contact: hpalutke@caanet.org, (916) 449-6425
Margarita Carazo
Education and Training Director
Margarita Carazo is responsible for managing logistics of all education programs, including in-person classes, webinars, on-demand classes, educational email marketing, and video editing. She also manages the California Certified Residential Manager certification program. Prior to joining CAA, she worked for Gerson Baker & Associates. Carazo has also held positions as a medical assistant and holds the designation of certified medical assistant.
Contact: mcarazo@caanet.org, (408) 342-3511
Monica Deka
Compliance and Legislative Counsel
Monica Deka advises CAA’s state public affairs team, develops CAA education and compliance materials, assists members on CAA’s Helpline, and supplements CAA’s advocacy efforts with legal input from her years in private practice. Deka has extensive experience advocating on behalf of property owners and managers throughout California in litigation and real estate transactions. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Moravian College, a Juris Doctorate from St. John’s University School of Law, and a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from New York University. She is a member of the California and New York State Bars. She previously worked as an attorney for the firm Kimball Tirey & St. John LLP.
Contact: mdeka@caanet.org, (916) 449-6455
Mallory Homewood
Policy and Compliance Counsel, Local Government Affairs
Mallory Homewood advises CAA’s local public affairs teams, develops CAA education and compliance materials and supplements CAA’s advocacy efforts and litigation projects with legal input from her years in private practice. Homewood has extensive experience advocating on behalf of property owners throughout California in litigation, real estate transactions and land use projects. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and is a member of the California State Bar. Prior to joining CAA, she worked as an attorney for the firms of Hoge Fenton Jones & Appel and Bowles and Verna, LLP.
Contact: mhomewood@caanet.org, (916) 449-6436
Embert P. Madison, Jr.
State Advocacy and Compliance Counsel
Embert Madison analyzes and drafts state legislation impacting CAA, develops CAA’s education and compliance materials, and supplements CAA’s advocacy with legal input on legislative proposals. Madison has extensive experience drafting state legislation due to his time with the Office of Legislative Counsel and has years of private practice experience advocating on behalf of property owners in real estate transactions and land use projects. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of California, Riverside, a Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Davis, and is a member of the California State Bar.
Contact: emadison@caanet.org, (916) 449-6439
Whitney Prout
Executive Vice President, Legal Affairs
Whitney Prout advises CAA’s state and local public affairs teams, develops CAA’s education and compliance materials, assists members on CAA’s Helpline, and represents the interests of CAA members on regulatory issues. Prout has extensive experience advocating on behalf of rental housing providers throughout California in litigation and compliance matters, as well as legislative and regulatory fora. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the University of Redlands, a Juris Doctorate from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law, and is a member of the California State Bar. She previously worked as an attorney for the firms Law Offices of Joseph W. Carroll, PC and Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP.
Contact: wprout@caanet.org, (916) 449-6438
Administrative
Laura Meadows
Controller
Laura Meadows is the controller for CAA, with principal responsibility for accounting, finance, human resources, payroll, IT and office management. Laura holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration and accounting from California State University, Sacramento. Prior to joining CAA, Meadows worked as a member service representative for the Golden 1 Credit Union.
Contact: lmeadows@caanet.org, (916) 449-6437
Forrest Walsh
Information Technology
Contact: fwalsh@caanet.org, (916) 449-6421
Support staff
Amy Baker
Data Integrity Specialist
As the data integrity specialist, Amy Baker works on accounting matters with CAA’s controller and senior vice president of membership and operations. Since joining CAA in 2001, Baker has worked in many areas of the association, including education and the CCRM Certification program, and she has worked closely and directly with the events and membership teams.
Contact: abaker@caanet.org, (916) 449-6452
Stephanie Contryman
California Membership Specialist
Stephanie Contryman oversees statewide renewals for CAA. Her duties include addressing prevalent membership questions, verifying property data within CAA’s membership and facilitating the renewal process for existing members.
Contact: scontryman@caanet.org, (916) 449-6451
Briana McDaniel
Member Services Coordinator
Briana McDaniel is CAA’s front-line member services coordinator. She is the voice you hear when you first call CAA. Before joining the association’s team, McDaniel worked in customer support in the telecommunication industry.
Contact: bmcdaniel@caanet.org, (916) 449-6444
