Incorporation Signature Gathering Begins in SM

But total number of registered voters in town remains a mystery,
some residents worry they live outside proposed boundary
San Martin – In what appears to be a “Catch-22,” the town of San Martin can’t incorporate until it collects 25 percent of registered voters’ signatures whose number is unknown.

The exact number of San Martin registered voters could remain a mystery until the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters’ office certifies a signature-gathering petition to take the small town into cityhood.

Further confounding matters is that some residents with “San Martin” mailing addresses live outside of the proposed town’s boundaries, which could change during negotiations with the Local Agency Formation Commission and the cities of Gilroy and Morgan Hill after the petition is circulated.

Already some residents fear they could be left out of the proposed jurisdiction because of how the lines are drawn. 

“We’d like to be in San Martin” if it becomes a town, said Kathi Brums during a Saturday morning barbecue to gather petitions for the effort. 

Brums lives on Lesley Lane in unincorporated Morgan Hill, a stone’s throw from the proposed San Martin border. Like a number of unincorporated county residents, Brums enjoys keeping horses in her backyard. “I don’t want to see that change if Morgan Hill gobbles up that land,” she said, noting the established city’s stricter animal control ordinance.

After the petition is circulated, and before San Martin can incorporate, the community must work with consultants on a fiscal study that could cost $150,000. The final step toward becoming a legally recognized town is majority-wins vote, which could take place in March 2008.

More than 120 residents signed the petition to incorporate, celebrating the next big step in the 7,000-person community’s quest for independence.

“We moved here for the small-town atmosphere,” said Ronda Mahoney, a Roosevelt Avenue resident for 13 years who’s gung-ho about protecting the town’s charms with a local government. “You can’t go anywhere without knowing someone. And if you don’t know them, everyone’s so friendly that it doesn’t matter.”

The official petition was introduced and circulated at a community barbecue attended by about 250 people who packed the Lions Club Hall on Murphy Avenue. Of the roughly 3,500 registered voters in San Martin, 25 percent – or roughly 850 – must sign the petition before further steps toward creating a locally accountable governing body can be taken.

“Everyone in our community should be excited about this,” said Rick van’t Rood, chairman of the incorporation committee for the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance, which started in 2000 to give residents a bigger say in county planning issues.

A group of 40 San Martin volunteers will soon begin collecting signatures door-to-door.

State law grants the petitioners six months to gather the required signatures, but San Martin incorporation proponents say they expect an “easy victory” as early as February.

Most residents on hand for the barbecue were receptive to the idea of San Martin forming a Town Council to ensure new and expanded land uses are in harmony with the rural nature of the community. Urban services such as sewage, water and streetlights are opposed by Neighborhood Alliance members, but some San Martin residents wonder about “hidden costs” and finding money to make capital improvements.

“Maybe getting rid of some of the riff-raff by the intersection of Monterey Road and San Martin Avenue would be good,” said Carol Swartz, adding that “countrified, rural thinking” should be balanced with upscale ambitions. “The town is charming in its rural sense, but I think it could be very much like Woodside. It would definitely be a plus for the South County area.”

Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tburchyns@morganhilltimes.