Candidate for
Council Member; City of Palo Alto

BERN BEECHAM BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

CITY COUNCIL SERVICE As a member of the City Council, Bern has assumed a leadership role in the full range of areas that benefit the Palo Alto community. His many responsibilities while on the Council include service in the following capacities:

• Vice Mayor, 2003
• Chair, Finance Committee, 2001; Member, Finance Committee, 2003
• Chair, Policy & Services Committee, 2000 ; Member, Policy & Services Committee, 2000
• Chair, Audit Committee, 2002
• Chair, Council-Appointed Officials (CAO) Ad Hoc Committee, 2002
• Chair, Stanford University Liaison Committee, 2003
• Chair, Northern California Power Agency (NCPA), 2003; Commissioner, 2000-2003
• Chair, NCPA Finance Committee, 2000-2003
• Executive Committee, NCPA, 2000-2003
• Director and Vice Chair, San Francisco Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, 2003
• Director, San Francisco Bay Area Regional Water System Financing Authority, 2003
• Member, CAO Ad Hoc Committee, 2000-2001
• Member, Economic Base Ad Hoc Committee, 2002-2003
• Member, Stanford University Liaison Committee, 2001-2002
• Delegate, Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, 2002-2003
• Board Member, Midpeninsula Community Media Center, Inc. (formerly SVCC), 2000-2001
• Liaison, Palo Alto Community Child Care, 2002
• Liaison, Palo Alto Housing Corporation, 2001 , Alternate 2000
• Liaison, Utilities Advisory Commission, 2000-2003
• Liaison, Junior Museum and Zoo, 2003
• Liaison, Lytton Gardens, 2003
• Alternate, Santa Clara Valley Water District Commission, 2000-01
• Member, Telecommunications Advisory Board, 2000-2001
• Alternate, Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) - Policy *Advisory Committee, 2001
• Advisory Board, Palo Alto Foundation for Education (PAFE), 2003

BUSINESS EXPERIENCE Bern has more than twenty years of management experience with Silicon Valley technology firms. This work began in 1979, when he assumed management responsibilities at a local silicon wafer manufacturer. Since then, he has gained experience in manufacturing, engineering, finance, marketing, personnel issues and program management. In the past decade as a management consultant, Bern has focused on international trade, supporting the export of high-value Silicon Valley products to Japan. Earlier in his career, Bern worked for the United States Environmental Protection Agency. He served initially in the heavily industrialized Midwest, where he helped to establish air pollution controls that were among the nation's strongest. Later, working in Washington D.C., Bern analyzed the economics of water pollution control technologies.

PERSONAL Being the third oldest in a family of ten children, Bern recognized early-on the fundamental importance of consensus-building. He spent a portion of his high school years in Germany. Bern has been married to Cheryl Lathrop for 26 years. Since 1978, Bern and Cheryl have lived in a 1903 house just north of Palo Alto's vibrant downtown. The home, listed on the City's historic inventory, was severely dilapidated when purchased. Bern completed much of the renovation work himself, gaining significant experience in the sensitive reuse of historic structures. Bern holds an M.B.A. from Stanford University (1975) and a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Missouri (1970).