Frequently Asked Questions
Questions voters, editorial boards, and community forums are likely to ask — and where Sean stands.
What is Zone 7, and what does the board actually do?
Zone 7 Water Agency is the wholesale water supplier, groundwater manager, and flood-control authority for roughly 265,000 Tri-Valley residents in Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, and parts of San Ramon. The seven-member Board of Directors sets water rates, approves capital budgets, votes on participation in statewide projects, and oversees a groundwater basin that took decades to restore from overdraft. Four of seven seats are on the ballot in June 2026.
Why are you running for Zone 7?
The next board will make decisions that affect the Tri-Valley for decades: continuing PFAS treatment buildout through the Mocho plant, diversifying a water supply that depends on a single import corridor for 80 to 90 percent of its water, funding flood resilience for a climate that no longer matches what our channels were designed for, and stewarding Zone 7’s estimated $350 million share of the Delta Conveyance Project through the funding votes still ahead. Those decisions need board members who can read a budget, ask hard questions, and plan past the next election cycle. That is exactly what I have spent 25 years doing.
What qualifies you to serve on a water agency board?
I have 25 years of large-scale infrastructure leadership — from SLAC National Lab to GE Digital, where I led an effort that delivered $14 million in cost reductions. I was elected three times to the OpenStack Foundation Board of Directors and chaired its Finance and Tax Affairs Committee, reviewing monthly financials, leading the response to a clean external audit, and managing the foundation’s 501(c)(6) IRS filing. I have managed public-sector projects for the City and County of San Francisco, including the Elections Commission’s open-source election system. Zone 7’s board is a governance body that oversees rates, budgets, and billion-dollar capital commitments. That is the skill set I bring.
You are an engineer, not a hydrologist. How will you evaluate technical water issues?
The board’s job is governance, not hydrology. Board members do not design treatment plants or drill wells — they approve budgets, set policy, and oversee staff performance. My engineering background means I can read the technical reports, ask the right questions, and tell the difference between a sound analysis and a sales pitch. When I chaired the OpenStack Foundation’s Finance Committee, the product was technology I understood deeply. At Zone 7, the product is water infrastructure — and the governance discipline is the same: verify the data, read the budget, and ask for audit trails.
What is your position on PFAS contamination in the Tri-Valley?
Zone 7 has built ion exchange treatment plants ahead of the federal regulatory deadline — the Stoneridge Well plant came online in September 2023, the Chain of Lakes plant in March 2025, and the Mocho plant is in design. That is real execution. The next board’s job is to continue the program on schedule, monitor downstream of every facility, and publish the math behind rate decisions tied to PFAS capital work. When a test well turns up a compound the groundwater model did not simulate, the right response from a board member is: run it again, publish the re-run, and make sure the community can read the math. That is what good board governance looks like.
Where do you stand on the Delta Conveyance Project?
The seismic case for protecting Zone 7’s import supply is real — a single pumping plant is a genuine vulnerability. But so are the freshwater, ecological, and cost questions raised by communities downstream of the proposed intakes. Zone 7’s estimated share is roughly $350 million, paid through water rates across a series of funding votes over the life of the project. Before the next vote, the board owes ratepayers a written comparison of what that sum could accomplish if invested locally in groundwater banking, PFAS-cleared well capacity, and stormwater capture. I also want a Zone 7 Delta resilience plan that works whether the tunnel is built or not. Responsible stewardship means weighing seismic resilience and ecological resilience on the same page.
Are you for or against the tunnel?
I am for doing the homework before the next funding vote. The seismic risk is real. The cost, ecological, and freshwater-flow questions are also real. I want an independent cost estimate, a written comparison of local alternatives, and a resilience plan that does not depend on a single project. If the numbers support the tunnel after that analysis, the case will be stronger for it. If they do not, the board needs to know that before committing more ratepayer dollars.
What will you do about water reliability?
Zone 7 imports 80 to 90 percent of its water from the State Water Project through a single corridor. That is an unacceptable single point of failure. I will push for stronger groundwater banking from the Livermore Valley Basin, modernized stormwater capture through the Chain of Lakes and flood-control channels, continued support for Sites Reservoir, and a rigorous comparison of local diversification against the Delta Conveyance investment. I also believe Zone 7 should actively benchmark its reliability strategy against peer water agencies across Northern California.
What is your plan for flood management?
Zone 7 manages 37 miles of streams and flood channels. Recent atmospheric rivers have caused widespread damage. The agency completed Phase 1 of its Flood Management Plan in 2022 and is developing Phase 2. The next board must move it from a planning document into a funded, multi-year capital program with public milestones and audit trails ratepayers can read. Design standards need to reflect twenty-first century rainfall patterns. And capital upgrades should incorporate habitat-compatible design where feasible — Zone 7’s stream corridors support riparian habitat and seasonal wetlands that benefit the broader Tri-Valley ecosystem.
You received the ACGOP endorsement. Are you running as a partisan candidate?
Zone 7 races are non-partisan by law, and clean water, fiscal accountability, and flood protection are not partisan issues. I pursued the ACGOP endorsement because it helps mobilize a voter base in the district, but my platform is built on three priorities — PFAS remediation, water reliability, and flood management — that every Tri-Valley resident cares about regardless of party. My board governance experience was at a technology foundation with contributors from dozens of countries and no political affiliation whatsoever.
You live in Livermore. Several other strong candidates also live in Livermore. Why should Livermore voters pick you over Palmer or Burnham?
Palmer has 20 years of institutional knowledge, and Burnham has deep scientific credentials. Both are strong candidates. But voters pick four names, not one. If a Livermore voter values fresh board-level financial oversight, a specific plan for every major issue Zone 7 faces, and the engineering discipline to verify the data before signing off on each Delta Conveyance funding vote, I am the candidate who adds that to their ballot alongside whoever else they choose.
What about Dublin and Pleasanton residents? You do not live in their cities.
Zone 7 is a countywide special district, not a city council. The water that flows through Livermore taps, Dublin taps, and Pleasanton taps all comes from the same wholesale supplier and the same groundwater basin. PFAS contamination does not stop at city lines. Flood channels cross jurisdictions. The Delta Conveyance commitment affects every ratepayer equally. I am running to represent all 265,000 Tri-Valley residents the agency serves.
What is your view on water rates?
Rates should reflect the actual cost of delivering safe, reliable water — no more, no less. That means the board should distinguish between capital investments that deliver long-term reliability, operational costs that ratepayers should expect, and cleanup work that has outside funding sources available. Every rate increase should come with a clear explanation of what the money is buying and public milestones ratepayers can track.
How will you approach board oversight of Zone 7 staff?
The same way I approached it as Finance Committee chair of the OpenStack Foundation: read the reports before the meeting, ask substantive questions in public session, request written explanations for variances, and make sure every capital project has milestones and audit trails ratepayers can read. Board service is a job, not a title.
What is your position on the Sites Reservoir project?
California needs new water storage in Northern California, closer to where precipitation actually falls. Zone 7 is already a participant in the Sites Reservoir project, and I support continued participation. Sites captures wet-year surplus for dry-year use and keeps Northern California water in Northern California. It is part of the diversified portfolio Zone 7 needs.
Do you think Zone 7 has handled PFAS well so far?
Zone 7 has built two treatment facilities ahead of the federal deadline — the Stoneridge Well plant was the first of its kind in Northern California — and a third, the Mocho plant, is in design. That is real execution and the engineering team deserves credit. The question going forward is whether the monitoring and modeling are keeping pace with what we are finding in the field. When test-well data surprises the model, the board should ask for a published re-run. That is not criticism; it is the verification discipline that any good engineering program requires.
What experience do you have with public-sector governance specifically?
I managed public-sector projects for the City and County of San Francisco, including the Elections Commission’s open-source election system. I served as Director of Engineering for the Foundation for American Innovation’s Open Data Initiative, advancing government financial transparency. I chaired the Open Source Initiative’s Public Policy Working Group. And as the second employee of the Open Mobility Foundation — formed by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation — I built collaboration structures across roughly 50 contributors from public agencies and private companies. I understand open-meeting law, conflict of interest compliance, and the Brown Act standards that govern Zone 7.
If elected, what is the first thing you will do on the board?
Read the full agency budget, the current PFAS monitoring data, the Flood Management Plan Phase 2 status, and the Delta Conveyance cost projections — before the first meeting. Then ask Zone 7 staff for a single written document that explains how the seismic, cost, and environmental tradeoffs of the tunnel are being weighed against each other. That document should exist already. If it does not, that tells you something about the homework the current board is doing.
Data centers use huge amounts of water for cooling. The Tri-Valley has data center development. What is your position?
Any major commercial water user in the Tri-Valley should be on Zone 7’s demand planning ledger — data centers included. The board’s job is to make sure the supply portfolio can handle the load and that commercial users pay rates that reflect the actual cost of the water they are consuming. Nationally, data center water consumption is projected to double or quadruple by 2028. I would want to see the demand projections before taking a position on any specific project. As an engineer who has spent 25 years in the technology industry, I can give a real answer on what data centers actually draw versus residential use — and I will not dodge the question.
Dublin and Livermore are growing fast. Where is the water for all the new housing going to come from?
Zone 7 does not approve housing — cities do. But Zone 7 does issue water supply assessments that tell cities whether water supply exists for proposed developments. The board should make sure those assessments are based on real supply projections, not optimistic assumptions. If the supply portfolio cannot support the growth, the board has a responsibility to say so — before entitlements are approved, not after. That is part of why the reliability portfolio matters: stronger groundwater banking, modernized stormwater capture, and reduced dependence on a single import corridor all increase the headroom the Tri-Valley has for responsible growth.
Zone 7 is technically a dependent special district under Alameda County. Should it become fully independent?
Zone 7’s Administrative Committee is currently overseeing an independent district study, and I think that study matters. Zone 7 gained significant operational autonomy through AB 1125 in 2003, but it is still formally a dependent zone of the Alameda County Flood Control and Water Conservation District. Past legislation to fully separate Zone 7 was introduced but did not pass. Full independence would give the agency complete control over its own governance — potentially including the ability to serve Dougherty Valley residents in Contra Costa County who currently receive Zone 7 water but cannot vote for Zone 7 board members. I want to read the study’s findings before taking a final position, but the governance question is real and the board should address it transparently.