Date: Jan. 7, 2004

Water district board elects Joe Judge 2004 chairman

SAN JOSE – Joe Judge, an 18-year veteran of the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors, has been elected chairman for the 2004 calendar year.

Judge was elected on a unanimous vote of directors during a board meeting today in San Jose. The board also selected Director Richard Santos to serve as vice chairman.

Judge, who first joined the board in 1986, said he hopes to focus on the completion of capital improvement projects, such as the Guadalupe River project, and retrofit of the water treatment plants.

"I want to aggressively push for the completion of these projects and fulfill our commitments to the residents of Santa Clara County," Judge said. "Our community expects their water officials to continue efforts for improved water quality and the retrofit of the treatment plants, transitioning from chlorine to ozone treatment, will achieve that,” Judge said.

Judge began his service to the district in 1986 when the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors appointed him as an at-large director, representing North County interests. In 1996, voters elected Judge to the board to represent District 2, which includes the City of San Jose.

He served as chairman in 1989 – during the height of a seven-year drought -- and in 1996, and as vice chairman in 1995 and 2003.

Judge, owner of a construction management firm, graduated from San Jose State University with a bachelor’s degree in business.

Santos, who was elected to the board in 2000, retired as a captain with the San Jose Fire Department after 33 years of service. The Alviso native represents District 3, which includes his hometown as well as Sunnyvale, and the Berryessa, Alum Rock and Evergreen areas of San Jose.

The Santa Clara Valley Water District manages Santa Clara County's wholesale drinking water resources, coordinates flood protection for its 1.7 million residents and provides stewardship for the county's 10 reservoirs and more than 700 miles of streams.