2025 ACWA Elections

Key Election Dates

ACWA President and Vice President Candidates

Below are the official candidates for ACWA President and Vice President.

ACWA President

Ernesto (Ernie) Avila, PE, Board President, Contra Costa Water District View Statement of Qualifications

ACWA Vice President

Carol Lee Gonzales-Brady, Director, Rancho California Water District View Statement of Qualifications

Region Board Candidates

View the region board candidates here.

View the region rules and regulations using the links below.

Candidates' Town Hall

A recording of the July 23 ACWA President and Vice President Candidates’ Town Hall is available to watch below. Official candidates running for the 2026-’27 term shared their statements and participated in a Q&A session.

How to Vote

1.  Get Ready: Each member agency designated one voting representative by June 20. This voting representative represents your agency for both the Board Officers’ Election and the Region Board Election. If you did not designate a representative to vote by the deadline, your agency’s General Manager is the authorized voter by default.

2. Vote: Each authorized voter will receive an electronic ballot on July 21 that will include the names of all qualified candidates for both the Board Officers’ Election and your Region Board Election. There will also be a space to write in the name of an eligible candidate. This ballot must be used to cast your vote – there will be no voting by mail or at fall conference.

3. Submit your Ballot: All ballots must be submitted electronically by 5 p.m., Sept. 19. 

Election Committee for President, Vice President

The Election Committee — consisting of 11 representatives — reviews the candidates for President and Vice President to determine whether the eligibility criteria has been met. The committee will endorse preferred candidates for President and Vice President, but all qualifying candidates will be listed on the ballot.

The Election Committee includes one representative appointed by the ACWA President and 10 region representatives appointed by the region boards. The committee representatives were appointed Feb. 28 and will continue to meet as needed throughout the election cycle to facilitate the election of the board officers.

The 2025 Election Committee members are:

Nominating Committees for Region Boards

The Nominating Committee’s role is to pursue qualified member candidates within the region to run for the Region Board. The Nominating Committee is appointed by the region chair in concurrence with the Region Board during odd-numbered years. The Nominating Committee will select a recommended slate for each region. The 2025 nominating committees are below.

Region 1

Region 2

Region 3

Region 4

Region 5

Region 6

Region 7

Region 8

Region 9

Region 10

Ballot Counting

Following the election deadline, Simply Voting will provide ACWA with certified election results that have been securely processed and accurately tabulated by their independently managed service. The Election Committee Chair or his designee will oversee staff’s opening of the election results.

A nominee is elected to President or Vice President if at least 50 ballots are cast from the membership (meeting the required quorum) and the nominee receives a majority of the votes cast. A nominee is elected to the Region Board if at least 5 ballots are cast from that region (meeting the required quorum for the region), and the nominee and/or slate receives a majority of votes cast.

Questions

For questions about the Board officers’ election, contact Senior Clerk of the Board Donna Pangborn at 916-669-2425.

For questions about the region elections, please contact your ACWA regional affairs representative.

• Regions 1, 3, & 5: Jennifer Rotz at 916-669-2373
• Regions 2, 6 & 7: Matt Overton at 916-669-2380
• Regions 8, 9 & 10: Michael Cervantes at 916-669-2384
• Region 4: Ana Javaid at 916-669-2442