San Jose’s Ron Gonzales relinquishes positions with the Coyote
Valley Specific Plan Task Force and the Valley Transportation
Authority board
Gilroy – As he traveled north Wednesday to meet his San Jose counterpart, Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy wondered if he was simply wasting gas.
Embattled San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales had announced the day before that he would relinquish his appointments to the Coyote Valley Specific Plan Task Force and the board of directors for the Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority. As a member of those groups, the mayor has been a driving force behind plans to bring 25,000 homes and 50,000 jobs to Coyote Valley and to spend $4.7-billion expanding BART service to San Jose.
Gonzales stepped down just hours before the San Jose City Council was scheduled to vote on rescinding his appointments in the wake of the NorCal Waste disposal scandal, in which the mayor admitted to striking back-room deals that cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
His absence from the Coyote task force and VTA has left some asking if San Jose’s big-ticket efforts would lose focus or momentum.
“I wondered the same thing going into this meeting – or if we should even have this meeting,” said Kennedy, who was scheduled to meet with Gonzales and his staff about Coyote Valley plans. “What I saw at the meeting was a continuation of our working relationship. My sense is that he will continue to play a role in (the planning) process, providing his knowledge and advice.”
David Vossbrink, a spokesman for Gonzales, reinforced the perception that the mayor will remain a strong force in shaping the city’s priorities.
“You don’t have to be a member of the VTA board to be a transportation advocate,” he said. “On the Coyote Valley and VTA Issues, the mayor recognizes that these are both long-term projects that will be before our community for a number of years. They will be on the agenda for this mayor and the mayor after that before we see trains running down here to San Jose or homes in Coyote Valley. The mayor would not have taken the step he did (Tuesday) if he had any sense it would cause harm to the issues important to the people of San Jose.”
Later that night, the city council signed off on Gonzales’ picks to succeed him on the task force and VTA.
Councilwoman Nancy Pyle, who represents Almaden Valley and Blossom Valley, the two areas of San Jose that lie closest to Coyote Valley, will take the mayor’s position on the task force. Newly elected Councilwoman Madison Nguyen will replace Gonzales as the fifth San Jose representative on the VTA board.
South County officials and other stakeholders did not expect the appointments to diminish San Jose’s zeal to develop Coyote Valley or extend BART.
The Coyote Valley task force “is still highly biased in favor of development,” said Brian Schmidt, the Santa Clara County advocate for Green Foothills. The nonprofit has fought development plans for Coyote Valley for three decades, but the battle heated up in recent months as Gonzales pushed to lower threshold “triggers” to jump-start construction.
Schmidt expressed hope that Pyle would bring a fresh perspective to the task force.
“The fact that her district is to be adversely affected by Coyote Valley suggests that she might take a cautious approach to it,” he said.
Pyle was traveling and could not be reached for comment. Her chief of staff, Leland Wilcox, acknowledged the traffic concerns of her district, but said Pyle “is committed to moving forward” with the city’s development plans.
“There’s no reason to stop or delay it at this point,” he said.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage, who is also a VTA appointee, did not expect Nguyen’s presence on the board to shift the balance of power. In February, the agency will vote on a ballot proposal for a quarter-cent sales tax increase, largely intended to help finance the $4.7-billion BART extension.
“Every vote that’s been taken that had anything to do with anything important to San Jose was a unanimous vote on their part,” he said. “Just taking one member from San Jose off and replacing him with another won’t change that. … As for Coyote Valley, I have the same opinion there. It’s moved far enough along that they’re not going to put this project on the back burner now just because Gonzales isn’t there.”
