James Gunther

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James Gunther

Nonpartisan

Alameda County Water District board of directors Zone 1

Tenure

2024 - Present

Term ends

2028

Years in position

0

Prior offices

Alameda County Water District board of directors

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Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

U.S. Coast Guard Academy, 1981

Military

Service / branch

U.S. Coast Guard

Years of service

1977 - 1993

Personal

Birthplace

New Britain, Conn.

Religion

Catholic

Profession

Railroad supervisor and rules instructor

James Gunther is a member of the Alameda County Water District board of directors in California, representing Zone 1. He assumed office on December 6, 2024. His current term ends on December 1, 2028.

Gunther won re-election to the Alameda County Water District board of directors to represent Zone 1 in California outright after the general election on November 5, 2024, was canceled.

Biography

James Gunther was born in New Britain, Connecticut. He earned a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in 1981. His professional experience includes working as a railroad supervisor and rules instructor for Class I engineers and conductors. Gunther served in the U.S. Coast Guard from 1977 to 1993. He is a former professional engineer through the State of Maryland, and he earned a Hazardous Materials Management Certificate from the U.C. Berkeley Extension Program in 1993. He has been affiliated with the Association of California Water Agencies.

Elections

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Alameda County, California (2024)

General election

The general election was canceled. James Gunther (Nonpartisan) won without appearing on the ballot.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Gunther in this election.

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Alameda County, California (2020)

General election

General election for Alameda County Water District board of directors (3 seats)

Incumbent Aziz Akbari, incumbent James Gunther, and incumbent John Weed defeated Martin Koller and Ramesh Gopalan in the general election for Alameda County Water District board of directors on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Aziz Akbari (Nonpartisan)	23.9	65,531
✔		James Gunther (Nonpartisan)	20.8	57,029
✔	Submit photo	John Weed (Nonpartisan)	20.7	56,800
	Submit photo	Martin Koller (Nonpartisan)	18.9	51,899
	Submit photo	Ramesh Gopalan (Nonpartisan)	15.5	42,523
		Other/Write-in votes	0.2	501

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 274,283
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

James Gunther did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

James Gunther completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Gunther's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

For the past years I have had the honor of serving as one of the five Directors at the Alameda County Water District and I commit to you that I will continue my promise to provide a safe, reliable, water supply at a fair price. Serving on the Board, I am ready to continue working for the water needs of our future. My background as a graduate from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy with a degree in Ocean Engineering, twelve years as a Coast Guard engineering officer and my present job as a supervisor/trainer with Transit America Services Inc. provide me the skills, knowledge, experience, and foresight, necessary for this position. We face many challenges ahead. Bay Delta problems regarding water diversions, aging levies, fish habitat, aging infrastructure, attempts for dramatic service charge increases, and seismic vulnerability are issues now. The present dry and economic conditions make these issues even more difficult. We have planned for our future and must continue on that path. We must not mortgage our water needs and environment for little benefits today. Working together we can succeed.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• We must continue to provide a Safe, Reliable, water supply at a fair price.
• We must maintain and be strong environmental stewards when working towards our water needs, working with our environment to ensure we leave a better future for those who will follow us.
• We must continue to repair, upgrade, and maintain our infrastructure to ensure our District remains operational both during normal times of wear and during disasters, particularly with regards to earthquakes.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I believe we must work together, regulators, environmental groups, governments, and businesses to meet our future water needs. We can no longer ignore our environment when pursuing our water needs, but we must also recognize that impacts may and can occur. Working together and putting faith and trust in each other will let us accomplish this. At my District, twenty years ago we faced a challenge with 40% of our water supply diversions impacting a Steelhead Trout fishery. We could have chosen to fight the issue, but we chose to work together and today we have one dam removed, one fish ladder operational, and a second larger fish ladder one year from completion, along with several fish screed diversions. By working together, we have achieved great results and also have secured over 22 million dollars in Grant monies to assist the payments for our rate payers and are steps away from securing 40% our water needs. We must continue this in our future, only working together can we succeed.

What qualities does this office possess that makes it a unique and important part of the state government and legal system?

The Water District maintains and controls the water supply for the cities of Fremont, Union City, and Newark California. If we fail, the cities economies fail, businesses fail, and property values fail.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My first Engineering Officer (boss) LCDR Johnson and my ships Commanding Officer Captain Daniel, both were fair, great quick leaders, and had great integrity while leading from the front.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

We must listen to our constituents. Far to often, elected officials will hear what people will request and say and then just go on and do what they were going to do in the first place. It is our job to listen and sometimes that might be a difficult task.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I believe that I have the honesty, and integrity and ability to listen that will benefit the community.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Honesty and Integrity, and an ability to listen to others.

What legacy would you like to leave?

I would like to be remembered as leaving the District with a secure reliable water supply and a better environment.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I can remember the funeral for President Kennedy in 1963, I was 4years old and the tv was a black and white unit.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

After graduating from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in May of 1981, I served in the U.S. Coast Guard as an Engineering Officer in various commands until my final position serving in the Naval Engineering office as the first Environmental Engineer for the West Coast Cutter fleet at the Pacific Area Maintenance and Logistics command., Pacific. I left the Coast Guard as a Lieutenant in June of 1993.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Aragorn Lord of the Rings

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Queen We are the Champions

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

I am actually quite shy and always need to work on that.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

The interaction of the multiple water agencies and cities through out the State of California. It is a fascinating complex system that works incredibly well given its size and scope.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

No it only takes a passion to do right and personal commitment.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

The Office holder must have Integrity and be able to listen to others, including other government officials, agencies, and organization and then be able compromise, trust, and collaborate to reach solutions.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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