South County residents hope the new member of the water
district’s board of directors will be someone from the region that
longtime board member and recent retiree Sig Sanchez hails
from.
South County residents hope the new member of the water district’s board of directors will be someone from the region that longtime board member and recent retiree Sig Sanchez hails from.
But some sound like they’re ready to accept that other projects underway at the Santa Clara Valley Water District, especially an ongoing redistricting effort, will dilute South County’s influence on water issues unique to the area.
The board’s six members are scheduled to vote today on who will sit next to them until the end of this year. Sanchez created the vacancy on the seven-member body when he retired in January, and current directors have expressed a desire to replace him with someone from the sprawling South County district.
“I would like someone who has some knowledge of the water district,” said Director Rosemary Kamei. “I also think it would be important to have South County representation.”
Since Friday, the directors have interviewed about 14 candidates who had about two weeks to submit resumes and cover letters. About half of those are from South County, and they include retired public officials, farmers and a winery owner.
Kamei’s new colleague will be faced with a number of hot-button issues until the end of the year, including the setting of groundwater charges and responding to potentially crippling litigation that challenges those charges.
One question the board will grapple with until June is that of state-mandated redistricting. As part of a state law sponsored by Assemblyman Joe Coto (D-San Jose), the directors have to redivide the county into seven electoral districts.
Currently, the water district contains five electoral districts identical to those of the Santa Clara County board of supervisors. The water board contains five members elected from each district, plus two directors traditionally appointed by the county.
Because one of the appointed members had to be from South County, the area has always had two representatives on the board. Since 1990, those have been Kamei, who is elected, and Sanchez.
Starting in November, all seven water district directors will be elected from separate districts. That means South County could end up with one voice to represent the part of the county that contains the most undeveloped land, and where agricultural production remains an influential industry.
“I personally understand the uniqueness of South County and the importance that water plays in the agricultural vitality of South County,” said Roland Velasco, who sits on an advisory committee assigned by the water district to study redistricting. “But the problem you have is you still have to get to a population of 240,000 (per district), and South County just does not have that population number.”
Supervisor Don Gage, who plans to run for the board’s South County seat in November, said one representative might be enough. He noted that two seats on a seven-member board still wouldn’t be enough to form a majority on key votes.
“We’ll just have to make due with what we’ve got. But I feel it needs to be a strong representative,” said Gage, who favored an earlier proposal to reduce the board to only five elected members.
South County’s district is the largest of the five districts in terms of acreage. Based on the county’s population of about 1.6 million as reported in the 2000 Census, each of the seven new districts would have about 240,000 residents. The water district has hired a consultant to assist in the redistricting.
Last year, the directors appointed seven members to a citizens’ advisory committee to feel out the county’s many communities. That committee has a series of public meetings scheduled until the June redistricting deadline, including a March 2 meeting in Morgan Hill.
South County has two members on the advisory committee – Velasco, who currently works in Gage’s office, and Jeff Moore.
Moore was appointed to the citizens’ committee by Director Richard Santos, who represents the northern central part of the county.
Kamei’s appointee to the board is Bill Baron, who she said lives “just outside” her district in San Jose.
Baron, a real estate investor and a member of the San Jose Chamber of Commerce, has done business in South County, Kamei said.
“Bill has a lot of knowledge in terms of resources, knowledge of the water district, and he’s been involved in the community for many years,” she said.
Residency within a director’s district was not part of the criteria to be a committee member, according to water district spokeswoman Susan Siravo.
To further the effort to attract more public input, the water district also offers worksheets on its Web site for individual voters to draw their own proposed new electoral districts.
Based on official and public information gathered over the next few months, the consultant will present recommended districts to directors in June.
One of the rules for redistricting is that the new districts cannot divide communities along ethnic or socioeconomic lines.
An applicant for the empty seat, Karen Anderson of Morgan Hill said concerns about ethnic and economic diversity have little to do with the activities of the water district, which manages the wholesale water supplies and provides flood protection for the entire county. She said a key redistricting criteria should be shared geographic interests.
“All these issues tie people together geographically – if two cities share a flood zone, for example. The cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy get their water from wells – that’s a completely different situation than anyone else in the county,” said Anderson, a former Saratoga mayor.
Another applicant – Gilroy cherry farmer Ralph Santos – said even if South County loses a seat on the board, he is encouraged by the water district’s past support for agriculture – his “livelihood.” That support includes keeping groundwater charges for farmers below 10 percent of the municipal rate of $275 per acre foot.
“They have maintained support for agriculture in the past,” said Ralph Santos, who is not related to Director Richard Santos. “They haven’t done anything to give me any idea they wouldn’t remain supportive.”
Applicants interviewed for empty board of directors seat
Rameshwar Singh, San Jose
Jon M. Elson, Morgan Hill
Robert W. Goss, San Jose
Ralph Santos, Gilroy
A. Curtis Wright, Monte Sereno
Steven R. Hubbard, Santa Clara
Linda J. LeZotte, San Jose
Thomas Kruse, Gilroy
Carla J. Ruigh, Gilroy
David S. Wall, San Jose
Leon Yengoyan, San Jose
Sahib “Cy” Mann, Morgan Hill
Karen P. Anderson, Morgan Hill
Patricia M. Baggesse, Gilroy
Paul V. Kloecker, Gilroy
