Gilroy’s City Council unanimously decided Monday not to pursue a
lawsuit against the Santa Clara Valley Water District over a former
electoral map after the district approved a new map last week.
Gilroy’s City Council decided Monday not to pursue a lawsuit against the Santa Clara Valley Water District over a former electoral map after the district approved a new map last week.
“At this time, we’re not considering litigation,” Mayor Al Pinheiro said Tuesday.
The closed-session decision came after the water district voted 5-2 on Friday to approve a new redistricting map to replace an old one that had been contested by the cities of Gilroy and Morgan Hill. The previous map had been drawn up at the last minute before it was approved April 27 and was not one of the three maps that a water district redistricting committee had recommended on April 13.
Gilroy and Morgan Hill city leaders still are not enthused about the new map, dubbed Map S, which would group 107,000 people in South County with 145,000 people in southern San Jose – effectively reducing South County’s representation, opponents said. However, unlike the previous map, the new map does not violate a district resolution that states that communities of interest should be grouped together, council members say.
“Even though it’s not what we wanted, it’s one of the three maps that the committee proposed,” Pinheiro said.
Cy Mann, the South County water district director, said he was glad to see that the council was no longer pursuing litigation, although he contended that the district never did anything wrong in the first place.
“I’m hoping that the council’s decision was based on the reality of the situation – that the district is and always was acting within the guidelines that have been set,” he said.
Map S actually had been rejected at the committee level in the past, and only Map Q – which directors modified into a map they then adopted, setting off a wave of opposition – had received approval, he said.
Mann also questioned the agenda of the Pinheiro and Mayor Steve Tate of Morgan Hill, saying they had changed their recommendations to the board regarding the redistricting maps on different occasions.
Still, he said that he hoped directors could put the matter behind them.
“I figure whatever is done now is done,” Mann said. “Let’s move forward and work on water (issues).”
