South County’s seat on the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s board of directors must be filled by Feb. 5, 2013, and the agency’s staff is seeking letters of interest from anyone who is interested.
The six board members who remain after former District 1 Director Don Gage resigned Dec. 7 decided at a meeting last week to appoint a new director to replace Gage, rather than hold a special election.
Gage resigned from the board two years into his four-year term to take his new post as Mayor of Gilroy. Gage won election to that seat Nov. 6.
District 1 includes the South County communities of Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy, as well as unincorporated areas east of San Jose.
The unexpired term ends Dec. 5, 2014, according to District staff.
Gilroy resident and owner of El Camino Packing Ralph Santos has already expressed interest in the open seat. Former Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy, an engineer, has also shown interest.
Letters of interest from those interested in taking the seat left vacant by Gage should be sent to the district headquarters by Jan. 11, District staff said. Interviews of candidates are anticipated to take place Jan. 28, 2013 and, if necessary, Jan. 29, 2013.
Information packets on how to apply for the director’s position can be found at www.valleywater.org/About/DistrictOne.aspx.
Sworn in at last week’s board meeting were new directors Nau Hsueh and Barbara Keegan, who won election to the board in the Nov. 6 election. Incumbent Richard P. Santos won reelection, and was also sworn in Tuesday.
Santos represents District 3, which includes Milpitas, north San Jose, Berryessa, north Sunnyvale and north Santa Clara. Santos, a retired fire captain, is beginning his third term as an SCVWD director.
Hsueh, a civil engineer, represents District 5 on the board, which includes the cities of Cupertino and Saratoga, as well as parts of Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and west San Jose. Hsueh has worked for the water district for 30 years on large construction projects.
Keegan, also a civil engineer, represents District 2, which includes central and downtown San Jose, parts of east San Jose and Willow Glen. Keegan worked for the city of San Jose’s public works department for 19 years.
Also on the board, in the middle of their current four-year terms, are Linda J. LeZotte, Tony Estremera and Brian A. Schmidt.
