Morgan Hill Mayor Steve Tate and Councilman Larry Carr will run for re-election when both their seats appear on the Nov. 6 ballot.
Both incumbents’ current terms expire in December, but both see some important public issues and projects coming up that will benefit from their 20-years-plus combined experience and continued service on the dais.
“I’m looking forward to continue serving with Steve, who is willing to continue leading the agenda,” Carr said. “I enjoy what I’ve done (on the council). Morgan Hill is home to me. It’s where I grew up.”
Tate added that as mayor for at least another two years he hopes to help complete the city’s effort to guide the community toward the “light at the end of the tunnel” and fully out of the financial difficulties that started in 2008.
“Larry and I were the only two council members who were there when things really started going south,” said Tate, who added that the “sustainable budget strategy” the council developed with city staff in response to the financial crisis should stay in practice, and they want to make sure it does.
The office holders jointly made the announcement at a meeting with Times staff Friday morning.
Also up for re-election on the council is Marilyn Librers, who will be finishing her first term in December and announced earlier this year that she plans to run for re-election.
No contenders have announced their intention to vie for any of the three seats. Morgan Hill Realtor Rob Malech pulled application papers to run for a seat a few weeks ago, but has since decided not to seek the local office.
One of the key issues coming up is the re-negotiation of employment contracts with the three labor unions that represent most city employees. All three contracts expire in June 2013, and the council will try to ensure the new contracts result in long-term cost savings for the city’s taxpayers.
Employee salaries and benefits are the largest cost category of the city’s general fund, which is financed by sales, property and hotel taxes. In the proposed 2012-2013 city budget, salaries and benefits count for about 50 percent, or $14.4 million out of $29 million in general fund expenditures.
During the past couple of years, city staff and council members have talked numerous times about the need to reduce those costs the next time contracts with the three unions – Police Officers Association, Community Service Officers Association and AFSCME – are up for negotiation. All three have given up some of their scheduled raises since 2009 through mid-contract re-negotiations with the city, but the council is looking for bigger, longer lasting savings.
Options include a multi-tiered retirement system, requiring employees to contribute more of their own salaries to their benefits, or even lower salaries.
Carr noted that he and the mayor are the only current council members who have sat through previous negotiations for contracts for all three unions.
“Having experience going through that is really important,” Carr said.
Another key issue will be the wind-down of the city’s redevelopment agency, which was eliminated by the state as of Feb. 1.
“The ripple effect of the elimination of the redevelopment agency is going to go on for years,” Carr said. “They eliminated the single best economic development tool in the state of California.”
The city, as the redevelopment successor entity, still plans to try to hold onto at least some of the money they received through the RDA, which was designated for specific public projects but which the state might try to redirect back to debt payments through the dissolution process.
And the work of the private nonprofit Economic Development Corporation, which was created by the city last year as a manager of previously public funds and overseer of future downtown development, will complement that process, noted Carr, who is also the chair of the EDC board of directors.
Another key issue to Tate is the needed cleanup of the city’s unique and complicated growth control ordinance, which requires builders to compete for housing construction allotments by proposing project features that best benefit the public as a whole, or at least reduce the strain on public services.
The point of the system is to keep Morgan Hill’s population in check and prevent runaway sprawl. The mayor supports that idea, but since the housing market collapsed the ordinance itself has become so bogged down with lengthy amendments that it has become confusing to navigate.
Tate has lived in Morgan Hill since 1977, and as a former planning commissioner has spent a lot of time processing growth control applications. He wants to stay on as mayor to help return the system to a more efficient one that still achieves its original goals.
The mayor also wants to advance his goal to approach problems and solutions in a more regional way, in cooperation perhaps with neighboring cities and counties who have common interests.
One example of how this was started this year is with the council’s decision to contract with Calfire for fire and emergency medical services, Tate said.
The city should also join forces with other cities in Santa Clara County when it comes to lobbying for state assistance, for example, for new economic development or development projects, Tate said.
“Regional efforts are very important. If you advocate for just one thing, for yourself, they’re not going to listen to you,” Tate said.
He added that after serving on the council since 1998, and with Carr having served since 2000, they have amassed a catalog of “regional contacts” that will help the city and other council members approach issues in such a way.
Plus, both officials said they enjoy working with the other current council members and want to continue to do so.
“We’re in a good place to deal with significant issues. We have a talented staff, and an engaged council,” Carr said.
Carr, 43, has two children and has lived in Morgan Hill for most of his life. “I’ve known the Tate family for half my life,” he laughed. The associate vice president of public affairs at San Jose State University, Carr is serving in his third term as council member. He has two children.
Tate, 68, is in his third two-year term as mayor. He is also a former council member, and was first elected to serve in that position in 1998. He is married to Jennifer Tate, and he retired from IBM in 1996.
The mayor serves a two-year term, and the four council members serve four-year terms. One other seat on the dais – that occupied by councilwoman Marilyn Librers – will also appear on the November ballot. Librers announced in January that she will seek re-election for her seat in November.
Those interested in running can pull applications starting July 16, and file before the deadline of Aug. 10 (or Aug. 15 if no incumbents file). There is no filing fee to run for city offices. Interested residents can inquire at City Hall, 17575 Peak Ave., Morgan Hill.
