Michael Fischer, former Executive Officer, California Coastal Conservancy
Jane Rogers, former Environmental Program Officer, San Fransisco Foundation

"We have known Cynthia for more than a decade in various capacities: Jane as the leader of the San Francisco Foundation's environment program for 20 years, much of it dealing with water and restoration issues around the Bay, and Michael from his six years at the Sierra Club, three years at the Coastal Conservancy (she and I made the Sonoma Baylands project happen during that period, and we're damn' proud of it!) and six years at the Hewlett Foundation. Cynthia and we have worked together in small and large meetings, calm and contentious. But she was never on the back benches--always in a leadership role.  Always prepared, always articulate, always a respected professional, sometime THE dealmaker. She knows her water stuff.

Cynthia  is a long time leader in the environmental community and an extremely able and articulate advocate on behalf of sound environmental policy. She has considerable and broad experience working in coalitions of fractious environmental groups, and with opposing interests such as water developers, farmers and ranchers. She also has an impressive record of success. For example, dumping of dredged sediment into the Bay is much reduced and reuse of dredged sediment when possible is now standard policy due in considerable part to Cynthia‚s work on this issue. She played a major role in crafting the state bill establishing the current Bay-Delta Authority.

We also support Cynthia because her level of experience, not only on water issues, but in working with a wide variety of state, local and federal agencies is quite unusual in local officials. She has a deep understanding of how these various levels of government work together and how to work with them. Increasingly, Marin County will require expertise of this nature. Cynthia Koehler would be a true asset on the MMWD Board."