OAKLAND, January 10, 2012
John A. Coleman reelected EBMUD board president
Walnut Creek’s John A. Coleman was unanimously reelected to his second consecutive one year term as president of the East Bay Municipal Utility District Board of Directors Tuesday. Coleman, who represents Alamo, Blackhawk, Lafayette, the town of Danville and portions of San Ramon, Pleasant Hill and Walnut Creek, is the Board’s longest serving member, first elected in 1990.
Coleman is executive director of the Bay Planning Coalition, a nonprofit industry that works on maritime and other issues in the San Francisco Bay. He is active on many water and wastewater boards at the regional, state and national levels. He is currently vice president of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) Board of Directors, a member of the National Water Resources Association and the WateReuse Association. Now, he returns as president of the EBMUD Board.
“I’m excited at the new direction the District is taking as we move forward with a changing workforce and economic challenges,” said Coleman. “We’ve positioned the District well in the event there is a drought by adding a supplemental supply and we’ve managed to keep our rates as low as possible.”
Coleman was also Board President during the critical stage of negotiation between the Sacramento community and EBMUD when the unprecedented water collaboration between the previously warring communities led to the joint Freeport water project that will take water from the Sacramento River for both communities. He has a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Natural Resources from U.C. Berkeley, and a certificate in management from the University of the Pacific School of Business and Public Administration.
Also on Tuesday, Andy Katz of Berkeley, was reelected to his second consecutive one year term as vice president of the Board of Directors. Katz was elected to the Board in 2006 and reelected in November 2010. He represents the cities of Albany, Berkeley and Emeryville and a portion of Oakland as well as El Cerrito and Kensington.
Katz is an environmental attorney and clean air advocate for Breathe California. He is active in environmental and public health organizations and is a member of the Sierra Club California Executive Committee. Prior to joining EBMUD’s Board he served five years as a member of the City of Berkeley Zoning Adjustments Board. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of City Planning degree from U.C. Berkeley, and a Juris Doctorate from Santa Clara University.
Coleman and Katz are joined on the seven-member Board by Katy Foulkes, Piedmont; Doug Linney, Alameda; Lesa R. McIntosh, Richmond; Frank Mellon, Castro Valley, and William B. Patterson of Oakland.