Bramfitt leaves Water board to seek GM spot

After 12 years as a member of the Valley of the Moon Water District board of directors, Mark Bramfitt has resigned to pursue the agency’s general manager job. Current General Manager Krishna Kumar will be leaving the post in December.

Bramfitt announced his resignation soon after Kumar told the board he had taken the same post for the Marin Municipal Water District. Kumar held the Sonoma job for eight years, heading the agency that serves about 23,000 people throughout the Valley’s unincorporated areas. The district’s operating and capital budgets total about $5 million.

“It has been my honor and privilege to serve the district, and I am especially proud of our investments in infrastructure that serves our 6,800 customers,” Kumar said. During his tenure the district has added storage capacity, replaced water lines, commissioned a new well, and has entered into an innovative partnership with IBM.

Board Vice President Ron Prushko praised Kumar for his sense of energy, enthusiasm, and financial acumen. “He always cared for the customers, and was instrumental in keeping our water rates one of the lowest among comparable entities, while maintaining financial integrity,” Prushko said.

Bramfitt, an energy consultant, chairs the Sonoma Valley Groundwater Basin Advisory Panel, and is a member of the Sonoma Valley Citizens Advisory Committee. He ran in the First District Supervisor campaign, with Valerie Brown’s endorsement, but did not emerge from the June primary.

Bramfitt was set to begin his fourth term on the water board but resigned to avoid any appearance of impropriety when he applied for the top post. “It was the appropriate thing to do,” he told The Sun. “I have not talked to the other members. I have no idea of what the process will be.”

As Bramfitt’s seat became empty, another was filled. Jon Foreman has been named to the board position recently vacated when Russ Townsend moved out of the Valley.

“I have worked closely with district staff during my tenure at Pac Bell, and am honored to be associated with VOMWD as a director,” said Foreman. “It’s a top-notch shop.”

A longtime resident of the Valley, Foreman will serve out the remainder of Townsend’s term, ending in December 2014. “(Townsend) helped the board tremendously,” said Bramfitt, who had been serving as the board president. “He will be missed.”

The Valley of the Moon Water District serves domestic water to about 23,000 persons in unincorporated areas of the Sonoma Valley through 6,800 service connections. The district’s operating and capital budgets for the current fiscal year total approximately $5 million.