Bound by local election rules limiting county officeholders to a
maximum of two four-year terms, Supervisor Don Gage will leave
office at the end of 2010. So far, four candidates have begun
campaigning for his District 1 seat, which represents the
geographic area spanning from South San Jose and Los Gatos down to
Morgan Hill and Gilroy.
Bound by local election rules limiting county officeholders to a maximum of two four-year terms, Supervisor Don Gage will leave office at the end of 2010. So far, four candidates have begun campaigning for his District 1 seat, which represents the geographic area spanning from South San Jose and Los Gatos down to Morgan Hill and Gilroy.
And all four – Teresa Alvarado, Rosemary Kamei, Forrest Williams and Peter Arellano – say they look forward to the job whose primary responsibilities include allocating tax dollars for social safety net programs, public health care services, the sheriff’s office, fire department, court-related services and parks and recreation programs.
The deadline to file a candidacy for the election is March 12. The race will be decided in the June 8, 2010 primary election, so more candidates may enter the race in the coming months.
For his part, Gage said he will run for a seat on the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s board of directors in 2010, and as of this week is considering a run for mayor of Gilroy in 2012. He has not indicated which candidate he will support to take his supervisor’s post, and said he will probably wait until after the filing deadline to announce his endorsement.
Teresa Alvarado was born and raised in South San Jose. She has never served in an elected public office, but her mother, Blanca Alvarado, served on the Santa Clara County board of supervisors for two terms. Her last term ended in January.
The younger Alvarado says she has come to know the South County area well throughout her years working for PG&E, and more recently as executive director of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley.
“I’m very familiar with the needs of the community and how the government can be a partner,” Alvarado said.
She noted her previous interface with residents of South County is important for the supervisor’s job, as most of the county’s unincorporated areas are in the district and residents there are more likely to be directly served by the county.
Despite the challenge of likely budget difficulties in future after the current board had to cut $273 million this year, Alvarado pointed out some of the “really exciting” projects on tap. Those include the expansion of the South County airport in San Martin, and development of Marshall Cottle Park in San Jose.
Because of the current economic situation, Alvarado says an important task will be to conjure up new revenue sources such as increased fees or levying new ones for county health care services.
Morgan Hill resident Rosemary Kamei has served on the Santa Clara Valley Water District board of directors, an elected position, since 1993. She recently resigned from her part-time position as a faculty member teaching land use subjects, and her full-time job at Planned Parenthood Mar Monte in order to focus on the 2010 campaign.
She said her “cultural and professional” background as a former business owner, an executive in the nonprofit sector, a public official and a teacher make her “uniquely positioned” for the supervisor’s seat.
“One of the things I realize is the needs of the county and of District 1 are really unique,” Kamei said. “I bring my experience and knowledge as a business person and a mom in the area for the last 26 years.”
She hopes to meet the challenges related to the economy and expected revenue shortages by “finding ways to deliver service with less funds.” That will include “creative” funding sources instead of continuing to find one-time funds as the supervisors have done to close recent deficits.
Forrest Williams has lived in San Jose for 45 years, and for eight of those he served on the city council. A retired IBM engineer, Williams has also served on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority board of directors, and headed an economic development team in San Jose.
Williams stressed that Santa Clara County is in the midst of a difficult transition that will require changes in governing strategies.
“What we’ve done in the past is not consistent with what we need to do in the future,” Williams said. Specifically, he said there is a need for changes in the county health care system, education priorities, and environmental and energy policies.
As health care will continue to be “extremely costly” as long as the current economic crisis continues, Williams wants the county to work with the state to find ways to bring costs down. He also suggested that Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, which currently provides free health care to all patients how need it, should be transformed into a “self-sustaining HMO type of thing” with fees charged to patients. That way the public health system would be able to compete with private providers.
He added that transportation needs will have to be addressed in the coming years as the county continues to grow. And Williams wants to help the county adopt an “aggressive green vision” for energy efficiency and environmentally friendly technology.
Gilroy city Councilmember Peter Arellano has not formally announced his intent to run for district one county supervisor, but his spokesman said such an announcement can be expected sometime in the next few days.
“Dr. Arellano has been approached by many folks in the community to consider running for supervisor of District 1, primarily due to his experience as a council member, in addition to his health care experience,” said Ross Gomez, spokesman for Arellano’s exploratory committee.
Arellano is a family practice physician in Gilroy, and is currently serving his fourth term on the city council.
