After serving for a decade Mayor Dennis Kennedy will seek
another term
City Councilman Steve Tate announced this week he will take on incumbent Mayor Dennis Kennedy for the seat Kennedy has occupied since 1996.
“The honor of being elected to serve our very wonderful community is something I truly want and will work hard to achieve,” Tate said Thursday. “My ultimate goal is what I can do for Morgan Hill.”
Kennedy is the only elected mayor in Morgan Hill history. Prior to 1996, the office rotated among council members. Kennedy, who was first elected to the council in 1990, said he intends to seek another term and is confident he will win.
“There’s a lot of work that is yet to be done,” Kennedy said. “The current council, though we’ve had our differences, I believe is a very effective council. We’re facing challenges now, but I’m confident we will solve our budget issues.”
Tate said he doesn’t think the city needs to go “in a whole different direction,” but said Kennedy has failed to protect Morgan Hill’s interests in regional issues such as development and transportation in Coyote Valley. Tate believes Kennedy’s leadership style is too autocratic.
“My style is more collaborative,” Tate, 62, said, “more trying to find out what we can give in return for consideration for what we think are our issues.”
Tate’s comments were echoed by councilmen Larry Carr and Greg Sellers, who lost decisively to Kennedy in 2004. Carr credited Tate with the ability to draw many disparate resources together in the name of the common good and accused Kennedy of having too much interest in his own political fortune. Tate, he said, would be more inclusive of other council members in forging the city’s future.
“There’s a lack of effectiveness in dealing with regional issues,” Sellers said, mentioning Coyote Valley and the recent political wrangling over BART and other projects managed by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, where Kennedy is a director . “We see very little progress except Morgan Hill continues to be kept out of the loop. If Steve was mayor, we’d be able to look at the whole council and say, ‘where are our strengths on this issue?'”
Tate has also picked up the endorsement of another former Kennedy opponent, Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage, who defeated Kennedy in 2002.
“I’ve worked with Steve on and off the political arena,” Gage said. “He’s a smart guy. He knows his city and is very cooperative and has a community spirit. I think he’s the best man for the job. I don’t hold anything against Dennis. I just think it’s time for a change.”
Kennedy described criticisms that he’s too much of a lone wolf mayor as meaningless campaign rhetoric.
“When there is a campaign and a council member runs against you, they are going to attack your leadership and find fault,” he said. “They have to generate reasons to run against you. The reality is, is that not only have I invested an incredible amount of time in building relationships with other VTA board members, I have reputation for delivering projects to South County. More than any other council member, I’ve done that.”
Kennedy, 67, listed the 2000 widening of U.S. Route 101 and the new median on the highway as one of his proudest accomplishments. He said also that he’s proud of the new public facilities the city has built with redevelopment money, even though some of them – The Community and Cultural Center and the Aquatics Center – have been a drain on the city’s budget. Projects like those and the new library and community playhouse, he said, are proof of his collaborative spirit.
“I won’t take credit for those,” Kennedy said. “We did all of those projects as a council. They are the result of a lot of people working incredibly hard together.”
Kennedy may still decide not to run. He said professional or personal concerns, or perhaps thoughts of other public offices, could change his mind.
“I have to evaluate all my options,” he said. “It is my intention run, but I’m not going to make my final decision until, probably, July.”
Some of his colleagues hope he will ultimately decide to step down and save the city a potentially bruising campaign. Carr said he fears a contentious battle will interfere with Morgan Hill’s community conversation process and make suspect decisions about whether to put a new tax on the November ballot to help balance the budget.
“Dennis has served very capably,” Carr said. “The last thing I want to see happen is to see that end with a defeat in November. Instead, he could spend the summer doing significant work for the citizens of Morgan Hill without a contested election hanging over his head. He could really be the champion of solving some of the problems facing Morgan Hill.”
Carr and Tate supported Sellers in 2004. Sellers has not officially decided to run for re-election this year, but said Tate’s candidacy increases the likelihood that he will. Councilman Mark Grzan said he has not decided whom he will support. Candidates have until August to declare their candidacy for the Nov. 7 election.
“I haven’t endorsed anybody and I don’t know if I will,” Grzan said. “I don’t think you vote for people because it’s time for a change unless the change in directional. I need to see some distinguishing reasons.”
Matt King covers Morgan Hill and Santa Clara County for The Times. Reach him at 779-4106 ext. 201 or mk***@*************es.com.
