Liz Kniss



Liz Kniss (born October 11, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts) is currently the chair of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in San Jose, CA.

Kniss received a BS degree in Nursing from Simmons College in Boston and a MPA 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.

During the 1970s Kniss worked as a public health nurse for San Mateo County and Cupertino Union School District. Later she was employed as a Marketing and Communications Manager at Sun Microsystems, Inc. until 1999. Her community service includes the League of Women Voters Board of Directors, the United Way Board of Directors and the Stanford Friends of Nursing.

Kniss began her public work when elected to the Palo Alto Unified School District Board in 1985. She was then elected to the Palo Alto City Council in 1989 where she served three terms and was chosen as Mayor of Palo Alto in 1994 and 2000. 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 in Palo Alto. 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.

In November 2000, Kniss was elected to represent Santa Clara County's Fifth District on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. The Fifth District includes the cities of Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Saratoga, Stanford, Sunnyvale, the West San Jose neighborhoods, and unincorporated areas of Santa Clara County.

2005 marks the twentieth year of Liz Kniss' public service in elected office. As a member of the Board, Kniss chairs the Health and Hospital Committee and serves as Vice Chair of the Public Safety and Justice Committee, Vice Chair of the Legislative Committee, and sits on the Board of Directors of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the Santa Clara Family Health Plan, and the Valley Transportation Agency. Liz is the Chair of the Board of Supervisors during 2005.

She and her husband Rick Kniss have two daughters, Liza and Johanna.