The choice was between two dissimilar Santa Clara County jobs –
the board of education and the water district board of directors –
but Sahib
”
Cy
”
Mann chose the school board.
The choice was between two dissimilar Santa Clara County jobs – the board of education and the water district board of directors – but Sahib “Cy” Mann chose the school board.
By 11 a.m. Wednesday, the SCVWD at-large director had filed and qualified to run in the county school board race, according to Elm Roses, media officer for the county Registrar of Voters. He has not returned several phone calls.
Mann said in an e-mailed statement “after discussion with my family and evaluation of my passion for public service, I have decided to file papers to run for the Santa Clara County Board of Education which will allow more time for family and to serve my constituents.”
Now, Mann will begin campaigning as potential trustee for area 7 that covers the school districts: Alum Rock Union, Mount Pleasant, Morgan Hill Unified and Gilroy Unified and corresponding portion of East Side Union High school districts.
He has a ranch on Hale Avenue in Morgan Hill and a home in the Evergreen area of South San Jose.
Shortly after Mann decided to run for a position on the county school board, two candidates with experience in education qualified to run for the seat.
At 3 p.m. Wednesday – with two hours to spare before the Registrar of Voters’ deadline – Julia Hover-Smoot, Morgan Hill Unified School District trustee, entered the race for county school board along with Adam Escoto, assistant superintendent for the Ravenswood City School District in East Palo Alto.
Hover-Smoot said she realized no candidate had qualified to run at Tuesday’s MHUSD meeting after talking with fellow trustee Kathy Sullivan.
“We both agreed that it was too important a seat to leave to chance,” Hover-Smoot said.
Smoot said she does not know Mann or Escoto, but looks forward to meeting them during the election process.
Before Mann changed paths, he and would-be opponent Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage went tit for tat publicly over the results of the water district’s redistricting process in April.
Before dropping out of the water district race, Mann had said on several occasions that he was adamant about running “and running hard” against termed-out Supervisor Gage.
“Would he have been a strong candidate? Sure, but I assess everyone and I run my campaign,” Gage said Thursday.
“You never know what the voters will do and you have to work hard to get elected. I run a full-blown campaign. I don’t know why (Mann) did it or didn’t do it. I look at the candidates, but I still run my campaign,” Gage said.
An 11th-hour decision by the board included a yes vote by Mann to split South County and link Gilroy to Palo Alto. It was called a gerrymandered attempt to secure a seat for Mann on the board by some mayors of the district with Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro said the change would make it impossible to elect a Gilroyan to the new seat, leaving Gage to face a likely strong Palo Alto candidate.
The move was reversed after outcry from Morgan Hill Mayor Steve Tate and Pinheiro claiming Mann delivered not what they were promised, which was to create two districts to secure two South County representatives.
Mann said he and Gage met before the split map was drawn. Mann has reported Gage and former longtime director Sig Sanchez, whose position Mann filled, encouraged two districts in South County since that’s what it had been historically.
The results fell flat, and eventually a new map was drawn that includes a large portion of South San Jose with South County, on the heels of the city councils of Gilroy and Palo Alto threatening legal action against the board.
Mann’s role in controversy doesn’t end at the water district’s dais.
For the first time in nine years, Mann paid his SCVWD bill on time for his Hale Avenue property but was dinged with late fees.
“It hasn’t (prohibited) my ability to serve and it won’t,” Mann said Aug. 5. ” My work speaks for itself. I still think I’m one of the stronger, one of the better working directors out there.”
