With 12 years experience, Kamei seeks term on water district
board
Gilroy – Rosemary Kamei has served 12 years as a board member for the Santa Clara Valley Water District, and she’s still trying to demystify the agency for her constituents.
“When I first went on the water board, it had been very isolated – no community programs and the (public) was not involved,” she said. “You think now people don’t know what the water district does – back then it was even more of a mystery.”
Kamei has served on the board since 1993, when it began transforming from an agency focused on water supply and flood control to one increasingly involved in major environmental and planning efforts.
At the moment, Kamei is working with county officials to craft a plan that will help identify and protect critical habitat and species threatened by encroaching development. That’s just one of many hats she wears as representative for District 1, a sprawling region that stretches from Los Gatos through South Valley.
“While water rates are an issue in Gilroy, in Almaden it’s mercury, in Evergreen it’s Silver Creek, in Morgan Hill it’s perchlorate,” Kamei said, also pointing to pro-active roles the agency plays in communities.
In Gilroy, for instance, the water district is working with nonprofit developer South County Housing to seal old wells and remove any toxic materials at the defunct cannery site, a linchpin of downtown revitalization that is slated to become a mixed community of businesses and homes.
“There are things that happen that nobody knows about,” said Kamei, who is taking that message on the road this year as she goes door to door in cities across the district.
Such public education, she says, is critical to helping constituents understand the factors behind continually increasing water rates. The pump tax has doubled since 2000, and many residents criticize the water district’s $264-million budget as top-heavy with personnel and perks.
Kamei is hard pressed to single out a program she would cut from the district’s budget, and defended against calls to cut spending on such programs as importing water from the Central Valley.
“I think it’s unfortunate that people don’t remember we live in a semi-arid zone,” she said. “Do you want to not invest in an insurance policy for times of drought?”
When she’s not shuttling between cities for the water district, Kamei works as a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood in San Jose. Last year, she also earned a master’s degree in land-use planning and hopes to marry that knowledge with efforts to help cities and counties plan around water resources.
Kamei was appointed to the water district board in 1993 to represent South County and re-elected the following year. In this June’s election, she will face rancher Johne Baird and Terry Mahurin, a retired engineer and long-time critic of water district spending.
Kamei does not see the district’s spending as excess, but rather as an investment in the future. The challenge, she says, is helping residents see water rate increases in that light.
“There are reasons why the area is thriving as we continue to grow,” she said.
