Biography
County Supervisor Liz Kniss represents the Fifth District which includes the cities and communities of Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Saratoga, Sunnyvale, West San Jose, as well as Stanford and unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County.
Prior to her election to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in November 2000, Liz dedicated 15 years to elected public service, including the Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Trustees and 12 years as a member of the City Council, where she served as Mayor in 1994 and in 2000. On the Council, she led efforts to make government more accountable to taxpayers, created new affordable housing and developed a citywide shuttle service to reduce traffic. As Mayor in 1994, Kniss made Palo Alto the first city in the U.S. with a presence on the Internet and initiated Family Resources, a public-private partnership that provides on-line and on-site social services, job training information and other resources for families.
Re-elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2004, Kniss served as Chair of the Board during 2005 where she promoted a healthy, vibrant community by initiating environmental policies, supporting access to health care, and recommending fiscal practices to ensure the County's excellent credit rating. She also rallied and coordinated local support for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Liz has served on multiple Board Committees in which policy is shaped. As Chair of the Health and Hospital Committee for the past 6 years she has secured a comprehensive network of community based clinics and services, preserved vital services in the Mental Health, Public Health, and Department of Drug and Alcohol Services and initiated multiple policy directives to protect the health of the individual and the community in which we live. Liz will again Chair this committee in 2008.
As Chair of the Public Safety and Justice Committee in 2001 and Vice Chair from 2002-2005, Kniss supported the transfer of Probation functions from the Courts to the County and changes brought about by Juvenile Detention Reform efforts. Additionally, launching a Task Force to work specifically on jail population and systems needs related to adult justice has created a team approach to improvements in this area.
In addition to continuing as Chair of the Health and Hospital Committee, in 2006, 2007 and again in 2008, Liz was elected by her colleagues on the Board to Chair the Legislative Committee, and serve as Vice-Chair of the Finance and Government Operations Committee.
Liz also enjoys representing Santa Clara County at the Regional, State and National levels on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board of Directors, the California State Association of Counties Board of Directors and Health and Human Services Committee, as well as the National Association of Counties, Large Urban Counties Caucus and Health Committee.
As a Registered Nurse, Liz worked in hospital based care, as a public health nurse for San Mateo County and as a school nurse for Cupertino Union School District. Kniss then applied her skills as a Marketing and Communications Manager at Sun Microsystems, Inc. until 1999. Her many years of community service include the League of Women Voters Board of Directors, the United Way Board of Directors, and numerous advisory boards dedicated to community betterment such as the Association for Senior Day Health, and Girls for a Change.
Liz received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Simmons College in Boston and a Master of Public Administration in Public and Health Care Policy from California State University. She has also completed graduate work in Health Policy and Economics at the University of California, Berkeley. She and her husband Rick have two daughters, Liza and Johanna, and four granddaughters.
