Mahurin Seeks Seat on Water Board

Candidate is running against Johne Baird and incumbent Rosemary
Kamei
 
Morgan Hill – His fliers finally ready, Terry Mahurin wanted to get a jump on the campaign, but his wife, Peggy, had other plans – a weekend trip to Mendocino County to celebrate her cousin’s wedding anniversary. So Mahurin’s plan to knock on doors all over South County was put on hold for a few days – precious time for a political neophyte with little money and no name recognition hoping to fight his way on to the board of the Santa Clara Valley Water District.

“All you can do is show up and talk to the people who invite you to speak before them, get out an hand out fliers and get a few signs scattered around,” Mahurin said.

So far, Mahurin’s biggest investment has been in a painted sign in the bed of his pickup truck. Morgan Hill resident Mahurin wants to freeze the district’s budget and water rates, refinance its debt and limit its activities. Mahurin is on a reform mission.

“Two years ago … I was set on a journey that I never would have dreamed would bring me where I am today,” he said, referring to his first investigation into rising water rates. “It was more of curiosity at that point, but I began to wonder why rates were increasing. When I finally understood, I became severely annoyed.”

His interest was piqued when he met San Martin resident Bob Cerruti at a water district meeting in 2004. Cerruti has railed against the district for years, and Mahurin was intrigued when Cerruti made a presentation on the history of rate increases.

The two quickly learned they were of one mind in believing that the district needs reform in budgeting and operations, and decided that Mahurin is the best public face for that argument.

Mahurin is a retired engineer with an impressive resume. As an employee with North American Aviation in Los Angeles, he worked on the heat shield for the Apollo Command Module. And he’s received several patents, including a method of using ultraviolet light to cure silicon rubber.

His gripes against the district are no mere boilerplate rants about higher prices and bad service. Mahurin does research – a lot of research.

“He used a lot of the information I collected going back all the way to 1995,” Cerruti said, “but he’s gone way beyond what I looked into.”

And for the last two years, Mahurin has devoted himself to parsing the district’s $264 million budget and devising ways to arrest the agency’s steady stream of rate increases. South County rates have nearly doubled since 2000.

In Mahurin’s view, rates have been rising in concert with the district’s expanding staff. In recent years, the agency payroll has grown to include about 900 employees. It has stretched its purview to include more creek and stream maintenance and is investing heavily in recycled water programs.

Mahurin thinks the district should purvey water and prevent flooding only. He doesn’t believe the agency needs to import water from the Central Valley Project through the San Felipe pipeline and wants the water in Anderson Lake to be reserved for South County. 

Mahurin is up against Morgan Hill rancher Johne Baird and incumbent Rosemary Kamei, also a Morgan Hill resident.

Mahurin said he’s running against Kamei as much as he’s trying to get a seat on the district board, and he acknowledges that, as one of seven directors, he would have limited power.

“If I lived in San Jose and knew what I know today, I would run for whichever seat was available,” he said. “The only thing I can do is speak out and talk about things that are not being talked about.”