But total number of registered voters remains a mystery
San Martin – In what appears to be a “Catch-22,” the town of San Martin can’t incorporate until it collects 25 percent of registered voters’ signatures. However, no one knows the exact number of registered voters, and that number could remain a mystery until the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters’ office certifies a signature-gathering petition to take the small town into cityhood.
Further confounding matters is that some residents with “San Martin” mailing addresses live outside of the proposed town’s boundaries, which could change during negotiations with the Local Agency Formation Commission and the cities of Gilroy and Morgan Hill after the petition is circulated.
Already some residents fear they could be left out of the proposed jurisdiction because of how the lines are drawn.Â
“We’d like to be in San Martin” if it becomes a town, said Kathi Brums.Â
Brums lives on Lesley Lane in unincorporated Morgan Hill, a stone’s throw from the proposed San Martin border. Like a number of unincorporated county residents, Brums enjoys keeping horses in her backyard. “I don’t want to see that change if Morgan Hill gobbles up that land,” she said.
After the petition is circulated, and before San Martin can incorporate, the community must work with consultants on a fiscal study that could cost $150,000. The final step toward becoming a legally recognized town is a majority-wins vote, which could take place in March 2008.
More than 120 residents signed the petition to incorporate, celebrating the next big step in the 7,000-person community’s quest for independence.
The official petition was introduced and circulated at a community barbecue attended by about 250 people who packed the Lions Club Hall on Murphy Avenue. Of the roughly 3,500 registered voters in San Martin – estimated by the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance – 25 percent, or roughly 850, must sign the petition before further steps can be taken.
“Everyone in our community should be excited about this,” said Rick van’t Rood, chairman of the incorporation committee for the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance.
A group of 40 San Martin volunteers will soon begin collecting signatures door-to-door.
State law grants the petitioners six months to gather the required signatures, but San Martin incorporation proponents say they expect an “easy victory” as early as February.
Most residents on hand for the barbecue were receptive to the idea of San Martin forming a Town Council to ensure new and expanded land uses are in harmony with the rural nature of the community. Urban services such as sewage, water and streetlights are opposed by Neighborhood Alliance members, but some San Martin residents wonder about “hidden costs” and finding money to make capital improvements.
“Maybe getting rid of some of the riff-raff by the intersection of Monterey Road and San Martin Avenue would be good,” said Carol Swartz, adding that “countrified, rural thinking” should be balanced with upscale ambitions.
Other San Martin residents said they are tired of fighting county officials “tooth and nail” on issues that threaten peace and tranquility, such as expanding the county’s garbage facility or putting a fish-processing plant downtown – two proposals that were axed after local uproar in recent years. The proposed San Martin Airport expansion is another hot-button issue for residents.
While many people already see San Martin as a “town” with true community spirit and pride, residents know the prospect of organizing a local government won’t be easy.
“I kind of have mixed feelings about it,” said Gilroy Fire Marshal Jackie Bretschneider, a San Martin resident. “It’s certainly going to mean responsibilities for the people who live here, but on the other hand it’s going to give people a voice.”
