Trash hauler’s chairman departs

Brad Anderson, chairman of Houston-based Waste Management, resigned this week citing “personal reasons,” according to a company SEC filing.

Anderson replaced the late Bob Reum as board chairman a little more than a year ago. He was formerly vice chairman and CEO of Best Buy. He joined the waste disposal giant’s board in 2011.

Anderson has also recently resigned from the boards of General Mills and Minnesota Public Radio, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported this week.

The resignations follow the revelation by the Center for Responsive Politics that Anderson donated to a conservative group that has publicly claimed the Council on American-Islamic Relations civil rights nonprofit has ties to terrorist groups and which launched an anti-Muslim social media campaign supporting then-presidential candidate Donald Trump.

Secure America Now received a $25,000 donation from Anderson, according to 2016 tax returns obtained by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The returns also show that Secure America Now received $2 million from Robert Mercer, a billionaire and a politically influential supporter of conservative causes.

Anderson told the Star Tribune he was unaware of the group’s anti-Muslim campaign, nor did he know that Mercer was a fellow donor.

Anderson did not return a call for comment from the Chronicle on Wednesday.

Waste Management, Houston’s 10th-largest publicly traded company, reported $14.5 billion in total revenue for 2017. The company is valued at $35.7 billion.

Thomas Weidemeyer, chairman of the Waste Management board’s nominating and governance committee, will serve as interim board chairman until a successor is elected.