After all the candidates rested from their election viewing parties throughout downtown Morgan Hill, final vote tallies show political newcomer Rene Spring besting the field of five candidates for two city council seats.
Incumbent Larry Carr, vying for his fourth four-year term on the council, came in second place with 26 percent, or 4,546 votes cast, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. Spring topped the field with about 31 percent, or 5,441 votes. These top two vote getters won the available seats.
In the race for mayor, incumbent Steve Tate won election to his sixth term in office, which he has said will be his last. Tate received about 63 percent of the total votes, compared to 24 percent for Kirk Bertolet and 13 percent for Joseph Carrillo. Tate was the top vote getter among all candidates for city offices, with a total of 6,882 ballots cast in his favor.
Spring, a city planning commissioner since 2012, thinks the results placing him in the lead for the council race are a referendum on the current administration, while Tate and Carr naturally see the election as a validation of their many years in local office.
“I really think people wanted some change,” Spring said the night of Nov. 8, while drinking pints of beer and eating pizza with his supporters at The Running Shop and Hops. “A large segment of our city feels (the council) doesn’t represent them anymore. I want to bring in a different perspective to the council that has been missing at times, and it looks like many residents of Morgan Hill like that.”
Carr said he’s ready to continue to work on some “big regional issues” that will have an impact on Morgan Hill in the next four years—namely the state’s High Speed Rail project and “how the growth of Silicon Valley and housing to the south of us have greatly impacted transportation in Morgan Hill.”
“I’m glad the mayor was re-elected so I can continue to work with him on regional issues,” Carr added.
Incumbent Marilyn Librers, seeking her third term on the council, came in third place in the voting with 18 percent or 3,182 votes. She was followed by candidates Armando Benavides (13 percent) and Mario Banuelos (12 percent).
Carr and Tate joined dozens of supporters at Rosy’s At The Beach restaurant in downtown Morgan Hill to watch the returns roll in the night of Nov. 8.
“I think I have a lot of experience, a lot of networking capability, and I’m familiar with the issues,” Tate said while surrounded by supporters and eating bruschetta from a smorgasbord of hors d’oeuvres displayed at a nearby table. “And I don’t think I’ve done anything to screw up.”
The race for council and mayor, at times, played out like a referendum on the growth of Morgan Hill, with Spring, Benavides and Bertolet advocating substantially lower growth rates than currently in place and proposed in Measure S, which also won at the polls Nov. 8.
Carr, Librers, Tate and Banuelos agreed the city needs to slow down the growth, but they felt existing policies, and those proposed under Measure S, were appropriate.
One of Tate and Carr’s supporters at Rosy’s was Laura Gonzales Escoto, who took the opportunity to emphasize the importance of local politics shortly after she lamented the televised national results that showed Donald J. Trump in the lead for the presidential race.
“We can have the most impact in our daily lives by being involved in local government,” Gonzales Escoto said. “That’s what builds community: involvement, engagement and connection.”
Varela keeps water district seat
Also at Rosy’s the night of Nov. 8 was Santa Clara Valley Water District John Varela, who won his race against challenger Tom Cruz. Varela received 58 percent of the vote, or 31,393 votes.
“It’s always good when your message resonates with the voters,” Varela said.
Varela was appointed to the district’s board of directors December 2015, after former Director Dennis Kennedy resigned due to health reasons. Varela was appointed to complete Kennedy’s unfinished term, which expires after the November election.
