The election of Mike Wasserman to the Santa Clara County Board
of Supervisors mirrored the June 8 primary race.
The election of Mike Wasserman to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors mirrored the June 8 primary race.
Wasserman again came out with the most votes. He beat former San Jose city Councilman Forrest Williams with 57.8 percent of 36,441 votes, while Williams, 73, trailed with 42.2 percent or 26,622 votes.
The two politicians were the victors from the summer primary election that weeded out three candidates from a field of five.
Wasserman, 52, most recently served on the Los Gatos City Council and as rotating mayor. He said his first priority is to curtail the county’s spending, which has has faced hundred-million dollar deficits for several years.
“I’m a big believer in prioritizing needs … I would do the same thing,” Wasserman said. “No entity can do everything for everyone.”
Wasserman replaces Don Gage, who Tuesday was elected to represent South County on the Santa Clara Valley Water District board of directors. Gage’s term expired this year. Gage also endorsed Wasserman in his bid to win the supervisor seat.
Williams was elected to the San Jose City Council in 2001 and 2008 and appointed to the San Jose Planning Commission for 12 years. In June, Williams said the fact that he dealt with a big budgets in San Jose gave him the experience needed to deal with the county’s budget. Williams lives in San Jose and formerly worked as a civil engineer at IBM.
Before entering politics, Wasserman managed several businesses including a small sports memorabilia store in Los Gatos. He is also a registered tax preparer and certified financial planner. Wasserman has lived in the county for 50 years and resides in Los Gatos with his wife Kim Currie. They have two adult children.
District 1, which has a population of more than 330,000 and encompasses about 800,000 acres – or 70 percent of the county’s land area – is the largest geographical district. It includes Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin, Los Gatos, Almaden Valley, Santa Teresa and Blossom Valley, as well as the Mt. Hamilton Range and the Santa Cruz Mountains.
