Dan Sullivan, Environmental Activist
"I am pleased to offer my personal endorsement of your candidacy for the MMWD Board of Directors. Based on my experience in working with you since 1996, I think you would be a very capable and effective member of the board, bringing an environmental perspective to the challenge of maintaining environmental values while also meeting Marin's water supply needs and preserving the MMWD lands, which are such an important recreational resource for the entire Bay area.

I worked directly with you on the Environmental Water Caucus Steering Committee through 2002. During that time I saw you in operation on a variety of projects relating to California water policy issues, particularly concerning the State Water Project, the federal Central Valley Project, and the CALFED Bay-Delta Program. When you asked me to support your candidacy for the MMWD Board, I thought about the skills and abilities that I saw during that time, as compared with the skills and abilities that I think would be necessary for an environmentalist to be effective on the MMWD Board. I can cite three general areas that led me to conclude that you would be a capable and effective member of the board.

First, I was always very impressed with the respect that you received from your environmental colleagues on the EWC Steering Committee, and with your ability to influence the collective decision-making process. The Steering Committee included high-level staff from several different environmental organizations who had their own independent opinions and organizational perspectives, so it was often a challenge for the group to be able to find a consensus. Many members were articulate and forceful in stating their opinions and positions; you were one of the few who could see a consensus position and lead the group to adopt it.

Second, I was also impressed with your ability to be effective and persuasive with state legislators and other public officials who were not necessarily environmental sympathizers. I saw this ability when I was the leader of the EWC working group on the proposed state legislation to set up the California Bay-Delta Authority, and you were the EWC's principal representative in meeting with Senator Costa and others in Sacramento to work out the details of the proposed legislation. You kept in close communication with the members of the EWC working group, you were very creative and constructive with us as we defined the specific details that we wanted to see in the legislation, and you were able to get many of our key wishes included in the final legislation.

Third, I was also impressed with your ability to be patient and persuasive with concerned laymen who do not have your expertise on water policy issues. I put myself into that category, and I always appreciated your willingness to listen to my concerns and answer my semi-informed questions. I was also very impressed with how you handled yourself at a meeting of the northern division of the Sierra Club's state conservation committee in July 2001, when you were seeking the Club's support for the ecosystem restoration approach outlined in the "Putting It Back Together" report just published by the Save San Francisco Bay Association. I thought you did quite well in describing the proposal, answering questions about it, and getting the group to support your proposal.

Feel free to relay this message to others who may be interested. I would be glad to talk further with anyone who would like to hear more about my experience in working with you."