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1. Name: Don Kanfer

2. Age: 58

3. Contact: PO Box 349 DeLand FL 32721

4. Phone: 386-738-2577

7.office sought: Volusia Soil & Water Conservation District seat 4

8. Education: B.S. in Agriculture Univ. of Nevada 1972, 1 year post-grad study towards Masters of Science in Wildlife Management, Univ. of Nevada 1972-73, DVM degree University of Parma 1983

9. Occupation, training, experience: Practicing farm animal veterinarian covering all of Volusia and surrounding counties since 1983.Graduate of Leadership Class III West Volusia Chamber of Commerce, Past President Volusia-Flagler Veterinary Medical Society, Charter member and past president of the Rotary Club of Four Townes-Orange City, Past District Governor of Rotary International 2001-02, former director American Heart Association of Volusia County, former two-time candidate for Volusia County Council district 1, current supervisor seat 4 for the Volusia Soil & Water Conservation District, current chairman executive committee Volusia-Flagler Sierra Club.

10 a. Two most important issues:

1) Revitalizing the Soil & Water District. This will begin with new offices to be built this year in DeLand, which will give us a location to operate from and begin reorganization.

2) Funding. This is "Catch-22": without staff to help write and research grants and conduct project work, we have no source of income. Without income, we have no staff or resources to research and write grant applications. Our current board of supervisors has many good ideas but we are handicapped by lack of funds to implement them.

10 b. Position on local taxation and funding: I am opposed to any unfunded mandate coming from the state or elsewhere. The position for the Soil & Water District is particularly difficult in that the state statute which grants us taxing authority is defective and therefore essentially unusable and unenforceable.

11. Updating goals: While the dustbowl conditions that spurred the creation of the districts no longer exist, other threats do. The need for educating landowners on use of and conservation of their land and water resources is still great. The issues that face us today in Florida are loss of wildlife habitat and agricultural land, stormwater runoff and pollution of groundwater, rapidly diminishing easily accessible potable water supplies and runaway development that compromises not only the land and water but our quality of life.

Our goals and mission are constantly changing to address these concerns.

12. Restoring financial vialbility: For years the county council provided funding for the district, as well as a significant income derived from various agricultural conservation contracts. Over time both of these sources were lost due to politics, mismanagement and budget-tightening. The current board of supervisors after the last election inherited a hollow shell of the former district, in addition to suffering the loss of our offices and equipment in the tornado that struck DeLand in early 2007. Rebuilding will take time, starting with staffing a new office with unpaid staff at first (volunteers and interns) and writing new grant and contract proposals. An attempt will be made to recapture some former contracts that might remain viable and to solicit new ones. We have already received one grant from the SJRWMD this year.

In addition, expenses have been trimmed by eliminating our accounting fees and consolidating storage space, leaving us with a minimum of costs.

13. Programs and Projects to implement: Agricultural consultations will make up a significant part of what we have to offer the public, particularly with the growth of smaller, niche-based enterprises that are often operated by people without an agricultural background. Services from monitoring water use to runoff containment to irrigation design. Cooperation and collaboration with other entities such as the USDA, the Cooperative Extension Service, state and local environmental agencies and partnering with private organizations will be a priority given our limited resources. Aiding landowners in determining highest and best use for agricultural lands while minimally impacting the environment becomes more important as we lose our large-scale agriculture here and development encroaches on our rural lands.

Converting agriculture to energy-producing uses will become ever more important, from solar arrays to fuel-producing plants and crops.

14. Additional issues: The district has been attempting to influence and gain input into land development. The state statute grants us authority to establish land use regulations within the flood plains and other areas prone to erosion but is technically unworkable by the county supervisors of elections due to defective language. Repairing the statute by the legislature should be a priority, although it is somewhat of a hot potato that no one is anxious to touch. Allowing the district to put proposals to the voters by referendum would permit us to best utilize our potential to protect and conserve land.