Supervisors will no longer appoint at-large members to Water
Board
Morgan Hill – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill that parts the Santa Clara Valley Water District from the county’s oversight, shrinking the board from seven members to five.
Under AB 2435, authored by Assemblyman Joe Coto, D-San Jose, the county will remove its two at-large members as of Jan. 1, 2010.
The board’s remaining five members, who are elected by voters to four-year terms, will continue to serve districts mirroring those of the five county supervisors.
The water district is responsible for water conservation projects throughout the county. It is funded by property taxes, water sales to local municipalities and a 15-year parcel tax approved by voters in 2000. It’s budget this year is $314 million.
Officials say the reason for the bill is twofold. The county no longer wants to spend hard-to-find cash on reviewing the water district’s yearly budget, and the water board feels its accountability to voters was diluted because of the county’s involvement in the board’s decision-making process.
Truth be told, the latter reason is philosophical, insiders say. There is no rift between the county’s two appointed board members and the voter-picked majority.
“It emphasizes the board’s accountability to voters,” said board member Rosemary Kamei, who is up for reelection in November.
Kamei said she thinks the new bill could save taxpayers money.
“One of the reasons we’re doing this in the first place is to avoid the redundancy between the county and water district board in the review of the budget,” Kamei said.
Ram Singh, Kamei’s competitor in the district one race, also supports the rearrangement.
“If the county is not exercising its oversight, why have it?” Singh said.
Supervisor Don Gage was among those who last year asked Coto to carry the legislation. Cities and chambers of commerce all over the county have endorsed it.
“The problem is, (the water district’s) budget review happens every year at the same time as the county’s,” Gage said. “Because it’s such a huge budget … I don’t have the staff to review it.”
That means budgets are often “rubber stamped,” Gage said, which could leave the county open to lawsuits in the event of financial mistakes over multimillion dollar water district projects.
“They have five board members just like we do,” Gage said. “They should be able to handle their own problems” when they arise.
The water district’s staff currently prepares its own budget, which is reviewed by outside auditors hired by the district.
The county has maintained oversight of the district since 1968, when the Santa Clara County Flood Control and Water District and the Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District merged to form the present-day Santa Clara Valley Water District.
Sig Sanchez, an at-large member of the Water Board since 1980, was on the board of supervisors at the time.
“The only reason we have seven members instead of five is because some (supervisors) didn’t want the merger to happen,” Sanchez, a Gilroy resident, said. “There’s no question in my mind that five members can run the board as well as seven members.”
The board’s other at-large member is Tony Estremera.
Tony Burchyns covers the county for the Dispatch. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tb*******@*************es.com.
