And the race is off
– somewhat. The first day to pull candidate papers was Monday
and so far, new names slightly outnumber incumbents who are
considering a run for political office.
And the race is off – somewhat. The first day to pull candidate papers was Monday and so far, new names slightly outnumber incumbents who are considering a run for political office.
The race for seats on the Santa Clara County of Supervisors and the Santa Clara Valley Water District will be decided Nov. 2. The deadline to submit the required forms is Aug. 6, but if an incumbent does not file by that date interested candidates get a five-day extension.
The race won’t actually begin until one of the curious could-be candidates file their paperwork. Until then, here’s a look at who is interested now.
Santa Clara Valley Water District
The newly constructed District 1 will elect its new Santa Clara Valley Water District board member this fall.
Wishing to remain in his seat on dais is Cy Mann, who was appointed in January to fill retired Sig Sanchez’s place as the at-large South County member.
Outgoing District 1 Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage is also running for the seat. Gage is leaving the county board due to term limits and has had a long career in politics from his time as mayor and city councilman in Gilroy to serving on dozens of committees affecting county land, transportation, health, flood protection and conservation.
Roberto Sepulveda of Gilroy has also pulled papers to run for the seat, but was unreachable by press time.
Currently, there are not term limits on the directors but by July 27 the board must make a decision whether or not to include a term-limit measure on the ballot.
The water district board will function in the same way in November but following the passage of Assembly bill AB 466, seven elected members for seven districts will vote on water district policies. After voter approval in 1987, the Gavilan Water District annexed with the SCVWD and while historically it had five elected members and two at-large appointed members who represented North County and South County – the board will enact a board of seven elected members.
In March, after throwing out the recommendation of the redistricting committee the board voted to split South County into two districts leading to Gilroy’s city council threatening to file a lawsuit to rectify the move that joined the region with urban Palo Alto.
The election of a new Santa Clara County supervisor will be a showdown between former San Jose city Councilman Forrest Williams and Los Gatos Councilman Mike Wasserman. Williams and Wasserman were the top two vote-getters in the June 8 special election. The winner will replace Gage.
