Gilroy’s City Council voted unanimously to have the City
Attorney initiate legal action against the Santa Clara Valley Water
District in the wake of the district’s decision to split Gilroy and
Morgan Hill on an electoral map.
Gilroy’s City Council voted unanimously to have the City Attorney initiate legal action against the Santa Clara Valley Water District in the wake of the district’s decision to split Gilroy and Morgan Hill on an electoral map.
“We need to make sure that our interests are heard and represented,” Mayor Al Pinheiro said Tuesday.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District is the largest water resources manager in Santa Clara County. It sells water to the county’s various cities and offers flood protection services countywide.
The water district’s new map, approved 5-1 April 29 by the water district’s board, divides Morgan Hill and San Martin into District 1, while Gilroy is linked to Palo Alto and Mountain View in District 7.
Pinheiro and Morgan Hill Mayor Steve Tate initially sought to have two districts in the South County as a way to increase the region’s influence on the board. However, the new split diminishes South County’s influence, opponents said, as Morgan Hill and San Martin now account for only about 15 percent of District 1’s population, and Gilroy accounts for less than 20 percent of the population in District 7.
The move is counter to a several month-long redistricting process that yielded three maps, all of which water district directors rejected.
The split could have devastating consequences for South County, Councilman Craig Gartman said.
“There is a possibility, and maybe a good one, that we may not have a seat on the water district,” he said. “Essentially, we could be 100 percent shut out.”
The nature of the water board’s vote, which came at the last minute, appears questionable from a legal standpoint, Gartman said.
“It smells funny,” he said.
Gartman, who serves on the district’s water commission, has said that North County representatives for some time have sought to have South County residents pay the same water rates that they do. South County residents pay $275 per acre foot – enough to provide water for a family of five for two years – for municipal and industrial use and $16.50 per acre foot of agricultural use. North County residents pay $520 per acre foot of municipal and industrial use.
Pinheiro said the South County is an agricultural area and whoever represents the region should be sensitive to those needs. The cities of Gilroy and Morgan Hill have much in common, he said. Both share oversight of the joint South County Regional WasteWater Authority, and councils in both cities have a good working relationship, he said.
Mayor Steve Tate said the Morgan Hill City Council has not ruled out litigation, though it is not something the city is eager to jump into.
“We want to do everything we can to turn the situation around for the water district,” he said. “We’re certainly open to any means of doing that.”
Cy Mann, who represents South County on the water district board, wrote a letter to the Morgan Hill council before a Wednesday closed session urging it not to pursue legal action.
“I find it amazing that in this time of budget shortfalls, which is forcing cities to rethink their staffing of Police, Fire and other critical services, as well as Morgan Hill Residents losing jobs and homes, that Morgan Hill would even consider joining a legal action for an outcome which Morgan requested in writing, which I am assuming was with Council’s approval,” he wrote.
However, while Tate acknowledged the city’s initial request to have two districts, he said Mann ignored that Tate and Pinheiro sent sent letters after the vote asking that the board rescind their vote to split South County.
Meanwhile, at least one water district director said he would vote differently if given another chance.
“It was a decision that was wrong,” director Joe Judge said. “I made a poorly informed decision.”
After talking to former director Sig Sanchez about the matter, he said he fears South County will not receive proper representation. He also said he wants to avoid wasting money on lawsuits.
“Let’s straighten it out if at all possible,” he said.
Judge believes the vote may be different if it were taken today. Specifically, he believes directors Rosemary Kamei, Patrick Kwok and Larry Wilson would join him in standing against splitting South County.
Wilson would not comment Thursday on the matter, saying he believed it could constitute a violation of the Brown Act – California’s law on open government – because it could be perceived that a director was trying to assess the amount of support for changing the map by way of media. However, he said he would be happy to talk about the matter if it were addressed at a board meeting.
Judge said he has urged board chair Richard Santos to have a special meeting to discuss a revote, but Santos refused. Judge and Kwok also expressed interest during the April 27 board meeting in receiving more time to make a decision, but that was shot down by the rest of the directors.
Both of the water district’s legal counsels said the revised map was legally sound, Santos said. Water board directors were only acting on the requests of South County leaders to have two districts in South County rather than one.
“I didn’t make some decision based on a popularity contest,” Santos said.
Santos, a lifelong resident of Alviso, said he knows what it feels like to live in a small community whose interests are often ignored by larger communities. He said he has defended lower water rates for the South County in the past, and said both he and Mann have agricultural backgrounds.
Lots of money already has been spent on consultants for the redistricting process. If people are not happy with those districts, they can change them next year after the Census recount, he said.
In the meantime, one thing that everyone seems to agree upon is that the controversy over the electoral map is about more than just population or geography.
“It’s become political,” Santos said.
Reporter Lindsay Bryant contributed to this story.
