Bob Fultz Response to Question #1:

1.  What qualifications and experiences (e.g., education, professional background, relevant technical expertise, experience with collaborative decision making, etc.) do you bring to the SLV Water District Board of Directors?

I am running for re-election to the SLVWD Board, to which I was elected in 2018 based on a platform of positive change, of which I’m proud to be a part of making those changes a reality. I’ve lived in Boulder Creek for 35 years, being active in the community by serving as a SLV Unified School District Trustee (2002-2006) and in a variety of local volunteer positions. I have over 35 years of business experience in Silicon Valley, working in a variety of product, strategy, finance, telecommunications, cybersecurity and executive roles. I was also a member of the California State Guard from 2011 – 2018.  Most recently I was CFO of a company (since acquired) producing cellular base station software targeted at supporting the developing world (e.g., Africa) where over 1 billion people still do not have reliable and cost-effective communications. I now serve as CEO of that same company. I have two engineering degrees and an MBA.

I have served on a number of SLVWD committees both as a public volunteer (Administration—prior to being elected) and as a Board member, including Engineering/Environment, Administration, Finance, and as Board Liaison for the Lompico Assessment District Oversight Committee.  These appointments have given me a broad perspective and insight into the whole of our District and its needs.

Throughout my service on the water board and in our community, I’ve been dedicated to honoring what makes us special in San Lorenzo Valley and neighboring mountain areas. As Board members we are elected to be representative, serving everyone, and must seek and weigh all opinions with respect.  This Board experience is invaluable, as you also learn to recognize there are special interest groups attempting to shape policies that I do not believe are in the best interests of the SLVWD community at large.  In the interests of transparency, I believe that this group, “Friends of SLVWD”, is such a group in the area of finances and infrastructure.  It is not sanctioned by or affiliated with the SLV Water District.  Rather,  it is a new name for a legacy group that has sought to influence local politics for decades, and which has members who supported previous Boards that made the poor policy decisions that necessitated the policy changes that I advocated for during the campaign of 2018.  While there are many areas of agreement between this group and myself (e.g., environmental policies), regrettably, from their public statements, this group appears to be comfortable with a continuation of the same policies that brought about our current financial and infrastructure situation.  By contrast, I believe a better model for our District’s success is reducing the rate of growth in operating expenses, directing more of our District’s precious revenue (collected from our community) to infrastructure improvements and reducing our unfunded liabilities so that our children and grandchildren are not burdened by historical responsibilities at the same time they face their own current responsibilities.

That said, as stated above, I represent all of the SLVWD community and so I am committed to forthrightly and transparently responding to any person or group, including this group, that reaches out to me for my opinion or policy on topics of concern to the District and our community at large, and seeking common ground for collaboration.  For our community members that are reading this and other information on the FSLVWD website, please remember that your interests are best served by going directly to the real sources of information about policy preferences—meaning your elected Directors.  I encourage you to contact me directly at bob.fultz@pacbell.net and read my material, including a detailed analysis of operating expenses and trends as well as unfunded capital obligations based on open-source District data, at www.bobfultz.com, and which has other information relating to critical issues facing the District.