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About
Rosemary: Rosemary Kamei was appointed to the Santa Clara Valley
Water District Board of Directors in 1993 following the resignation of
Joe Pandit. In 1994 she was formally elected to the board to represent
District 1: the southern portion of Santa Clara County and the cities of
Morgan Hill , Gilroy , the town of Los Gatos , and the southern area of
San Jose . The
first woman elected to the board, she was the chairperson in 2002 and
in 1995, and represented the district during a period of emergency with
two flood disasters.
Water industry leadership: Rosemary has served as chair of the Bay Delta Ad Hoc Committee and the Santa Clara County Pollution Prevention Program (formerly the Hazardous Materials Advisory Committee). She currently serves as district representative on both the Environmental Advisory Committee and the Uvas/Llagas Flood Control Advisory Committee.
Professional and community activities:
Recently Rosemary was promoted to Vice President of Development for
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte (PPMM), overseeing fundraising for Planned Parenthood
Mar Monte Advocates throughout its service area in California and northern
Nevada . Previously she was Associate Vice President of Development for
PPMM in Santa Clara/San Benito Counties. She
is a former businesswoman and general manager for Kamei Nursery, Inc. She is
the founding member and president of Asians for a Better Community, a board
member of Economic and Social Opportunities, former board member of Girl Scouts
of Santa Clara County, and currently a member of the Latina Coalition, Association
of California Water Agencies, Democratic Activist for Women Now, and the League
of Women Voters.
Education: Rosemary holds a masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning from San Jose State University, and received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She is fluent in Spanish and has studied Mandarin.
On the issues: Rosemary has extensive experience in dealing with critical water resource policy issues, including:
- water quality
- MTBE contamination and perchlorate issues
- underground storage tank challenges
- non-point source pollution prevention
- flood management , awareness and preparation issues
- environmental protection with watershed and stream management , and
- water use efficiency - conservation and water reuse