Candidate for
Council Member; Town of Atherton

William (Bill) Widmer is an eighteen year resident of Atherton along with his wife of 30 years and twin children. He has served the community as a Council member for the past four years included terms as both Mayor and Vice Mayor. During the aforementioned terms, Bill was instrumental in the Town's decision to outsource several departments which resulted in reversing the Town's eight year period of deficit spending. Bill also led the way to focus on and address Town's long term liabilities. To date, Atherton's previously outstanding pension liability has been paid off, resulting in over $350,000 of budget flexibility and over $4.2M of our post-retirement benefit obligations have been paid down. As Mayor, Bill conducted the negotiations with Facebook which resulted in over $375,000 in revenue and budget relief. He also insisted on the Town holding its contractors responsible for their work when errors and omissions result in additional costs-something which resulted in an additional budget supplements of almost $200,000. Other key contributions include the recruiting and hiring of a permanent City Manager, Police Chief and Finance Director as well as bringing new focus to our Park resulting in increased spending, which today is close to $600,000 annually. Bill also pushed for technology improvements at City Hall including City-funded taping of the public meetings to improve transparency and resident participation in their government.

In addition to his direct Council duties, Bill is the Chairman of the Board for the South Bay Waste Management Authority where he is focused on cost reductions in waste collection as well as driving development of a new strategic plan for the County's future waste management needs. He has also served a member of the Atherton Audit & Finance Committee (3 years), and the New Town Center Task Force, the Rail Committee and the Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief Authority. He is currently in his second year on the Environmental Programs Committee. Additionally, Bill is a member of the Holbrook Palmer Park Foundation, a member of the Friends of the Library and serves on the Town's Technology Steering Committee, the Trash-rate Committee, as well as serving as the Council representative on the Town's Bike/Pedestrian Master Plan Team and the liaison to the Fire District. He has also served on the campaign committee for Measures S&T, which was the successful drive for the 2009 Parcel Tax renewal.

Giving back to the community in other ways, Bill has served as a coach for various youth sports in the area, including MALL and AYSO. He also served as a Board member for AYSO for several years. Bill also has served as an Assistant Scoutmaster for a local BSA troop. He is an active member of the Church of Nativity and a Knight in the Order of Malta, which serves the poor and the sick in our area as well as around the world.

Professionally, Bill has forged a 30-year track record at high technology organizations while establishing, growing, managing and turning around multiple international divisions for Fortune 150 companies. He has developed business and managed both large and small P&L operations in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Some of the companies Bill has served in executive positions include General Dynamics, CSC, Cadence Design Systems, Mentor Graphics, and France Telecom/Orange. He was also a founder and CEO of a private management consulting company. He has recently retired from FT to initiate a management consulting practice with a focus in the contract and risk management and outsourcing negotiations.

Bill earned a BS in Computer Sciences and an MBA from Texas Christian University where he was a two-sport student athlete. Additionally, he has completed an executive program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He has served as a committee member for the US Congress' Office of Technology Management defense diversification committee and has taught in both the Computer Sciences department and at the Neeley School of Business at TCU. He is a current member of the TCU National Alumni Board.