Voters extend leaders' terms
A controversial ballot measure to extend the terms of board members at Silicon Valley's largest water district, but which told voters that it would limit their terms, has won a narrow victory.
Measure A increases the number of years that board members of the Santa Clara Valley Water District can remain in office — allowing them to serve four 4-year terms rather than the current limit of three 4-year terms. It passed 50.56% to 49.44%.
The secretary of state's office certified election results after every county in California reported that all ballots from the June 7 election had been counted.
John Varela, acting chairman of the water district, declined to be interviewed about the results of the election. Varela, a former Morgan Hill mayor who is running for re-election to the water district board in November, voted to place Measure A on the ballot.
Linda LeZotte, one of three water district board members who voted against placing Measure A on the ballot, along with board members Barbara Keegan and Nai Hsueh, called the results unfortunate.
“It's a sad day when you have to cheat in order to get your way in an election,” said LeZotte, a former San Jose city councilwoman. “I was pleased at how close it was but disappointed it passed. I think a lot of people were confused and thought they were voting for term limits. People called me. They were really confused.”
In February, the water
district, a government agency based in San Jose that provides water and flood protection to 2 million people, voted 4-3 to spend $3.2 million to place Measure A on the Santa Clara County ballot.
After the district spent $60,000 for two internal polls that found likely voters opposed an extension of the term limits, the board approved ballot language that critics said was deliberately misleading and omitted crucial information.
The ballot language failed to note that in 2010, Santa Clara County voters already had voted to limit board members to three successive four-year terms. It only asked instead if they wanted to “limit” the board to four 4-year terms.
In an unusual move, the San Jose City Council voted 7-3 in April to formally oppose the measure. San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo
called it “self-serving dishonesty” and said the $3.2 million spent to place the measure on the ballot should have instead been spent to reduce residents' water bills or expand drought programs.
Tony Estremera, who has served 26 years on the water district board and is up for re-election in November, voted to put the measure on the ballot.
He would have been termed out this year. Dick Santos, who has served 22 years and would have been termed out in 2024, and Gary Kremen, who has served eight years and is up for re-election in November, also voted to place it on the ballot.
Larry Gerston, a professor emeritus of political science at San Jose State University, said the ballot measure probably cannot be overturned by a lawsuit, as some opponents have considered, but that
it likely confused and misled many voters.
“I can't say it is deceitful,” Gerston said, “but it really skirts the edge. It's right at the edge. It raises ethical issues.”
LeZotte, Liccardo, Hsueh, former county Supervisor Blanca Alvarado and Mark Hinkle, president of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association, signed ballot language in opposition.
Signing the ballot language in favor of Measure A were David Bini, executive director of the Santa Clara and San Benito Counties Building and Construction Trades Council; Sammuel Washington, president of the Silicon Valley Black Chamber of Commerce; Victor Garza, president of La Raza Roundtable of California; and Dennis Murphy, an adviser to Sustainable Silicon Valley, a Sunnyvale nonprofit organization.