Twenty-one candidates have submitted applications to take over the District 1 seat on the Santa Clara Valley Water District board of directors.
The applicants are vying for the seat formerly occupied by SCVWD Director Dennis Kennedy, who resigned in November due to health reasons.
The remaining six board members on the seven-seat board will interview the applicants in an effort to narrow down the field to a single candidate, who will sit in Kennedy’s former director’s seat until November 2016. At that time, the board will call an election to ask the voters to fill the seat through the remainder of Kennedy’s term, which would have expired in November 2018.
The board has until Jan. 4, 2016 to make the appointment.
District 1 encompasses the area of the SCVWD service boundary that includes all South County, plus unincorporated areas in eastern Santa Clara County. The SCVWD provides wholesale water and flood protection to the county’s 1.8 million residents.
Some of the names on the list of 21 applicants—such as Morgan Hill City Councilmember Rich Constantine and former San Jose Councilmember Forrest Williams—are familiar to those versed in South County politics and agriculture.
Below is the list of applicants, as posted on the district website at valleywater.org. More information on the applicants will be published as it is available.
• Rolando R. Alvarado
• Charlie Andrews
• Joseph Carrillo, media production professional and former candidate for Morgan Hill City Council
• Joe Cassibba
• Rich Constantine, City of Morgan Hill Councilmember
• Jeffrey R. Cristina, City of Campbell Councilmember
• Tom Cruz, a Santa Clara County employee who ran against Kennedy in the November 2014 election for the District 1 seat
• Jenny Derry, former Executive Director of the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau
• James Dill, Morgan Hill training and education consultant
• Joe Eisenman
• Carol Fredrickson
• Erin Gil, owner of Grass Farm, a sod growing company based in Morgan Hill
• John Haniotis
• Trina Hineser, President of the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance
• Fernando Huerta, Sr., Morgan Hill Realtor
• John B. Perez, D.D.S., dentist with a practice in Gilroy
• Laura F. Quemada
• Ken Ragghanti
• Glenn Stansbury
• John L. Varela, former mayor of Morgan Hill and Chamber of Commerce board member
• Forrest Williams, former San Jose City Councilmember, Oak Grove School District Trustee, candidate for Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors.
