Meet Kathye
Kathye Armitage is running for a seat on the Board of Directors for the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency to be a voice for customers and ratepayers. Decisions that affect the quality, reliability, and cost of the water we count on in our homes and businesses are made by the Board of Directors at multiple meetings each month. Who you elect to make decisions on your behalf during these meetings matters since water is one of our most important natural resources. Get Kathye a seat at the table, and she'll ask the right questions: how do these decisions affect our health and well-being, our environment, and our wallets?
Kathye has been a lifelong resident of Los Angeles County, and is proud to have shared 18 of those years with her husband who has served the community of Los Angeles as a firefighter for two decades. Together they have been raising their three children in the Santa Clarita Valley for the past 17 years. Kathye enjoys the family-friendly feel of Santa Clarita, and appreciates the multitude of parks and open natural spaces that provide residents a place to enjoy the natural elements.
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Kathye has been advocating for the health, safety, and wellness of the public over the past 20 years both professionally and in various volunteer roles. She is ready to apply her advocacy for the long-term well-being of her fellow community members by ensuring that we continue to have water that is safe to drink and our supplies are reliable for our children, grandchildren, and subsequent generations.
Education
Certificate in Water Systems Technology
College of the Canyons
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Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Natural Resources
Oregon State University
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Master of Public Health (MPH)
University of California, Los Angeles
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Bachelors of Science (BS) Degree in Health Administration
California State University, Northridge
Career
Kathye began the first part of her career path at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health as an intern while finishing her coursework at UCLA. She remained there for a decade where she worked on various programs aimed at improving the health and well-being of the residents of Los Angeles County, with a special focus on vulnerable populations. Blessed with a great supervisor, Kathye gained a wide range of experience in all aspects of program management: needs assessment, planning, program implementation, data analysis, process and outcome evaluation, grant funding distribution, grant writing and management, financial reporting, tracking interagency collaborative work, overseeing research projects, writing policy briefs, and preparing packets for the Board of Supervisors. Kathye is extremely proud of the work she accomplished in serving the residents of LA County during this time.
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Kathye paused her career to focus on raising her children, and during this time she pivoted to beginning the second phase of her education and career in the management of our natural resources.
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Kathye studied how to work towards sustainable natural resources as a graduate student at Oregon State University and focused her work on water policy and management in California. Having gained a valuable high-level perspective on water management, Kathye wanted to also better understand the on-the-ground issues, and has been learning about our water treatment and distribution systems through the Water Systems Technology Program at College of the Canyons. She will complete the program this fall.
Community
Kathye has dedicated herself to volunteering in many parts of our community and credits the connections built through her volunteer work with valuable long-term friendships and networks.
Currently, Kathye is serving as a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Committee to the Santa Clarita Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency, and her role is to represent the residents as a plan is developed to ensure that our community's groundwater is clean and sustainable. She does this by learning about the complex and intersecting issues between meetings, asking questions and providing input at the meetings, and helping to get public participation.
Additional volunteer activities have included the following:
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Leader for Boy Scouts of America
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Leader for Girls Scouts of Greater Los Angeles
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Santa Clarita Sheriff's Department Community Academy, Graduate
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Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Trained Member
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Public Safety Advisory Committee Member for California Assembly District 38
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Whittaker-Bermite Citizen Advisory Group, Recent Member
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Local Homeowner's Association, Board Member
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American Youth Soccer Association, Coach/Team Parent
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Santa Clarita Valley Moms Demand Action, Local Legislative Lead
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