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The Santa Clara Valley Water District issues simply maintain mounting.
Initiatives overbudget. The district’s largest reservoir drained due to earthquake threat. About $100 million of flood harm due to failed preparations for heavy rains. Delayed water-conservation measures in the midst of a drought.
In the meantime, district administrators signal on to a misguided Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta tunnels venture. They efficiently deceive voters with a dishonest poll measure extending time period limits. And one director now up for reelection faces allegations of sexual harassment and bullying workers members.
Sufficient. It’s time for management change.
4 of the seven board seats are up this 12 months. Sadly, incumbent John Varela is working unopposed in District 1. Former state Sen. Jim Beall has no opposition in District 4, the place he’ll change retiring Director Linda LeZotte.
Within the two contested races on the Nov. 8 poll, voters ought to oust Tony Estremera in District 6 and Gary Kremen, the director who faces sexual harassment and bullying allegations, in District 7. We advocate newcomers Chuck Cantrell within the former race and Rebecca Eisenberg within the latter.
A troubled report
Based in 1929, Valley Water has a $917 million price range to supply protected, clear water for two million folks. It is usually accountable for flood safety and stewardship of the county’s streams.
In 2017, the district, conscious of particles and sediment blocking Coyote Creek, took little motion to forestall or scale back flooding dangers. Heavy rains contributed to Coyote Creek flooding South San Jose, forcing 14,000 folks to evacuate and inflicting about $100 million in harm.
In 2018, the board voted to assist the $19 billion Delta tunnels venture. This regardless of realizing it wouldn’t add a drop to California’s water provide and has by no means penciled out.
In 2020, the Federal Vitality Regulatory Fee, which regulates dams, ordered Valley Water to fully drain Santa Clara County’s largest reservoir behind Anderson Dam on account of earthquake threat. The board’s failure to behave earlier places the Valley’s water provide in danger throughout certainly one of California’s worst droughts. The reservoir gained’t be out there to retailer water till at the very least 2030. And the venture’s value has doubled to $1.2 billion.
In the meantime, overbudget and behind-schedule initiatives have contributed to the necessity for the district to buy water from Sacramento Valley farmers at excessive costs. And the board is badly divided, together with the choice as CEO of Rick Callender.
The ultimate straw was the self-serving poll measure, backed by Estremera, Kremen, Varela and Richard Santos, to increase their phrases in workplace by an extra 4 years. The wording of Measure A, which value $3.2 million to placed on the poll, implied it was extra restrictive than what was already in place. The other was true.
District 6
Estremera was a key beneficiary of the term-limit extension. He has served two stints on the board, totaling 26 years. His most up-to-date string of three phrases made him the prime beneficiary of Measure A. Voters shouldn’t be fooled once more. They need to oust Estremera.
Particularly after they have such a superb substitute possibility. Cantrell is improvement director for the San Jose Conservation Corps, a San Jose planning commissioner and a former board member of Inexperienced Foothills, the nonprofit working to guard open areas of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.
His background as an economist and understanding of monetary points could be a welcome addition to the board. He opposes Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Delta tunnel venture and the Pacheco Dam venture, which has doubled in worth to $2.5 billion prior to now 12 months. He’s a serious advocate for better board transparency.
The third candidate, Diego Barragan, a Santa Clara County Airport Land Use Commissioner, needs to maintain water charges manageable and scale back the unlawful dumping in county streams. However he lacks Cantrell’s information of the district’s funds.
District 7
Eisenberg is a Palo Alto tech sector lawyer with a Harvard Regulation diploma and powerful dedication to environmental points. She opposes the Delta tunnel and Pacheco Dam initiatives and advocates dramatically ramping up the district’s water-recycling effort.
We didn’t assist Eisenberg when she ran for Palo Alto Metropolis Council in 2020 towards a discipline of robust candidates. However she is well-suited for the Valley Water board and could be a refreshing substitute for Kremen.
Kremen, ending his second time period, supported the deceitful Measure A time period restrict extension and would profit from it if have been to win this 12 months. However his issues go a lot deeper than that.
The sexual harassment allegations, which he has denied, induced him in February to withdraw his candidacy for county assessor. He then voluntarily stepped down from presidency of the water district board for six months and requested the water district board to research whether or not he had sexually harassed anybody there. The board widened the probe, which is pending, to additionally embody accusations that he bullied workers members.
In March, the Sierra Membership complained in a letter to the board of Kremen’s “disrespectful remedy” of environmental advocates.” The letter accused him of “repeatedly making unfavourable feedback in response to our participation” at conferences and “making private assaults” that made advocates reluctant to remark at conferences.
It’s one other instance of why Valley Water wants new management because it faces a few of its greatest challenges since its founding almost a century in the past. Voters ought to elect Cantrell and Eisenberg.
