My love of open space and the outdoors led me to service on the MidPeninsula Regional Open Space District Board of Directors. I have represented Ward 7 (El Granada, Half Moon Bay, Montara, Moss Beach, Redwood City, San Carlos, and Woodside) since 1996. The MidPeninsula Regional Open Space District is a regional greenbelt system in the San Francisco Bay area. It is includes 57,000 acres of land in 26 open space preserves protected for public enjoyment and use. During my tenure, over 16,000 acres have been added to the District.

I am an avid hiker and devoted nature photographer (I took most of the photos on this web site). I was the guardian of Belle and Molly, who were rescued racing greyhounds.

I am a passionate environmentalist and have volunteered at:

• Gorilla Foundation
• Earth Day 1990
• MROSD events
• Wildlife Rescue

In my day job, I am a Senior Software Engineer.  For over 30 years, I have worked on such exciting problems as computer learning, vision, cognition, computer security, and human computer interaction, recommendation engines, and machine learning.

I have lived in Redwood City for over 20 years. I was born in Chicago, Illinois and was raised in Southern California. I studied Atmospheric Science at the University of California at Davis and Linear Programming at Stanford University. My long-time partner is also a Redwood City resident, and an environmental activist.  She is a university administrator and academic researcher.

Ken Nitz in the News

Endorsement of Ken Nitz in the Palo Alto Post, October 9, 2008
Profile of MROSD's new general manager in the Examiner, Aug. 14, 2008
Redwood City's Fourth of July celebration in the Redwood City Daily News, July 5, 2007

Ken Nitz elected president of the MROSD Board of Directors in the Coastsider, January 11, 2007