Candidate for
Supervisor; County of Santa Clara; Supervisorial District 5

A proven leader in public service, high technology and advocacy for children and families, Liz Kniss is the candidate for Supervisor best prepared to bring a dynamic, regional vision to chart the future of Santa Clara County. As a former Mayor, City Councilwoman and School Board leader in Palo Alto, Kniss forged innovative solutions to health, education, public safety, land use, transportation and other "quality of life" problems in Palo Alto and Silicon Valley. As Chair of Palo Alto's Finance Committee, Kniss fostered cooperation among city and county government, business and nonprofit organizations to deliver better city services at maximum efficiency. Liz has served on numerous land use, affordable housing, transportation and economic development commissions in the Valley. As a Marketing & Communications Manager for Sun Microsystems, Inc., Kniss knows first-hand the importance of the high technology industry to the continued prosperity of Silicon Valley. As Mayor, Kniss successfully led the effort to make Palo Alto the first "wired" city in the nation. From her position at Sun, she organized NetDay96 -- a collaborative effort between schools and business that connected thousands of children throughout the state to the internet for the first time. A former school nurse in Cupertino and a public health nurse in San Mateo County, Liz has long been committed to family and children's issues in elected office. As Mayor, she worked to build new bridges between the public and private sectors and initiated a Family Resource Center in Palo Alto. Opened in 1998, the Center now links families to human service providers throughout the Peninsula, with both a web site and physical locations, creating far more options and choices for those families. Kniss earned her Bachelor of Science degree in public health nursing from Simmons University in Boston, Massachusetts and earned a Masters in Public Administration and Health Care Policy from California State University. She has done additional graduate work at the University of California, Berkeley in public administration and health care policy. Liz is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum, an organization of Silicon Valley business, government, labor, nonprofit and high-tech leaders. Kniss has been a board member of the Senior Coordinating Council, League of Women Voters, the Rotary Club and the United Way, among others. Kniss was on the founding board of Involve!, a group that encourages business and nonprofit cooperation in Silicon Valley. She is proud to have successfully worked to bring World Cup Soccer to the Peninsula in 1994. Kniss and her husband Rick Kniss reside in Palo Alto, where they have lived for 28 years. They have two daughters.