The San Martin Neighborhood Alliance has decided to postpone a
political rally in San Jose to lobby for the incorporation of the
rural community because the county’s border-drawing body that will
ultimately decide on the matter needs a new lawyer.
The San Martin Neighborhood Alliance has decided to postpone a political rally in San Jose to lobby for the incorporation of the rural community because the county’s border-drawing body that will ultimately decide on the matter needs a new lawyer.
For the first time in her 10-year career, County Counselor Ann Ravel said she recused her office from providing representation for the Local Agency Formation Commission ahead of LAFCO’s April 16 meeting. That afternoon the board will hear public comment on whether San Martin should become an official town in light of a non-binding vote against such by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors Tuesday.
The board voted 4-1, with Supervisor Don Gage opposing, to express disfavor toward San Martin’s potential cityhood due to financial concerns: The county claims it will lose $872,000 a year by allowing incorporation and wants about $10 million over 25 years in exchange; but proponents of San Martin’s independence claim the county will actually net nearly $600,000 a year because it will no longer maintain the agrestic roads.
Not so, said County Executive Pete Kutras.
“San Martin proponents have proposed that savings from the road fund also be used to offset the annual deficit,” Kutras said in a statement Tuesday. “However, gas taxes and other restricted revenues finance the road fund and legally must be used for roads and related expenses, not general fund expenses.”
While the pro-township crowd acknowledges that state law requires that a county should not suffer financial losses at the expense of an incorporation, they have also indicated that they may sue the county for its false financial claims: Money is money, they say, and the county will save more of it if San Martin stands on its own.
Either way, Ravel does not want to be in the middle of the argument.
“When it got to the point that we understood that there was no agreement on the issue of revenue neutrality – when we recognized the contentiousness of this issue and that there could be litigation – we concluded that since LAFCO is an independent body, there is a conflict we can ameliorate,” Ravel said.
The five-member LAFCO board also includes Supervisor Blanca Alvarado, who voted against incorporation Tuesday, and she and Gage will again air their concerns April 16. In the meantime, Gage said the body is finding its own legal counsel and will have a decision by May 16. The April meeting is just to hear public input on the financial issue and a separate environmental report, Gage said. The real fight will come later, SMNA President Sylvia Hamilton said.
“This postpones things, but it’s the right thing to do because of the conflict of interest,” Hamilton said. After the supervisors’ 4-1 decision Tuesday – when Gage lobbied for more negotiating time between the county and San Martin before casting his lone vote – Hamilton said, “Thank God Don Gage was the voice of reason. The supervisors knew we had the legal authority, it was right there in front of them, but they did not take the time to review it.”
While the idea of new counsel seems promising to other San Martin residents because its an immediate departure from the county’s anti-incorporation opinion, Hamilton acknowledged and Gage cautioned that LAFCO’s new counsel could end up siding with the county.
“Our new counsel may agree with the county counsel. If they do that, then people in San Martin won’t be happy,” said Gage, adding that he had not been lobbying fellow LAFCO members to support San Martin.
Alvarado did not return calls for comment Thursday, and neither did LAFCO Commissioner and San Jose Councilman Pete Constant, but the councilman’s office said Constant thinks the county’s splitting hairs on the money issue. Whether money saved from not having to repair San Martin roads ends up in the county’s left pocket or its right pocket, it will still save money – period.
The neighborhood alliance also hired a lawyer who has experience with incorporation to create a document for the supervisors and LAFCO that will give a legal analysis of how the revenue neutrality law affects the current calculations.
“According to this document, to the law, all income and all expenses of the new town are included, and the difference between those determines whether you are revenue neutral or not,” Hamilton said.
Both the Morgan Hill City Council and LAFCO have agreed on San Martin’s potential borders. The Gilroy City Council met on the border issue last month, and city council members expressed concerns about some of the proposed boundaries, but there has never been a formal vote opposing the incorporation.
“We have given some indication some of the concerns we have,” Mayor Al Pinheiro said. “But there has been no official vote against it, none of the council members has taken the position of opposing it.”
Now it’s time to see what the lawyers say.
LAFCO Meeting
â– When: Wednesday, April 16, 1:15 p.m.
â– Where: 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose
â– What: Public comment on proposed township
