The Santa Clara Valley Water District’s governing board voted
4-3 against giving themselves a 5 percent raise for the 2008
calendar year, which would have bumped their stipends up to about
$248 per meeting.
Morgan Hill
The Santa Clara Valley Water District’s governing board voted 4-3 against giving themselves a 5 percent raise for the 2008 calendar year, which would have bumped their stipends up to about $248 per meeting.
Board members Rosemary Kamei, Sig Sanchez, Larry Wilson and Patrick Kwok voted against the measure, saying their $236 a day stipends were adequate for the job. Board members Joe Judge, Richard Santos and Tony Estremera disagreed, arguing that compensation should stay level with high-paying Silicon Valley companies.
The proposed raise would have followed a 5 percent raise the board gave themselves last year, allowing them to earn up to about $28,000 a year.
In what’s been a year of controversy for the $364-million agency that provides water services to Santa Clara County, the deciding “no” vote came down to the board’s newest member, Kwok.
Kwok replaced Gregory Zlotnick on the seven-member board two and a half months ago after Zlotnick was quietly recruited by water district CEO Stan Williams for a high paying district job. The hiring led to the board publicly criticizing Williams and stripping him of his power to hire executives working directly under him.
Last year, Zlotnick voted in favor of a wage increase for directors, but Kwok did not follow suit.
“We are being held accountable,” Kwok said during the board’s meeting Tuesday morning at district headquarters in San Jose. “We need to lead by example, and be really cautious with our expenditures.”
Director Rosemary Kamei, who represents South County, voted against the measure just as she did last year.
Kamei has long said she doesn’t do the “job” for the money.
“I have a full-time job,” Kamei told her colleagues at the meeting, referring to her position as vice president of development at Planned Parenthood. “I do agree we work hard, but as always, I don’t do it for the compensation.”
Board members are paid for their civil service because, in part, the job requires missing work several days a month.
But members of the water district’s board already receive more money than peers in other counties, according to a survey by district staff.
Contra Costa water district board members are paid $100 a meeting and a maximum of $1,000 a month. San Diego County’s water district pays board members $150 a meeting or $180 for officers. Orange County’s agency pays $201 a meeting with a $2,010 a month maximum.
“When you look at that, they’re already making more than what other boards are paying,” said San Martin resident Bob Cerruti, a longtime critic of water district spending, who attended the meeting Tuesday. “I take my hat off to (Kwok) for doing the right thing.”
Among the many things for which board members may claim compensation are regular and special meetings, visits with local, state and federal legislators and officials, time spent reading books, taking classes and attending conferences and media appearances to discuss district issues. Expenses incurred by board members in connection with their jobs also are reimbursable, according to the board’s policy.
No citizens spoke during the public hearing, but board members weighed in on both sides of the issue.
Director Joe Judge moved to approve the wage increase based on the board’s “Herculean efforts on behalf of the citizens of Santa Clara County.”
“I think we’ve done a fantastic job,” said Judge, who represents parts of San Jose and Willow Glen. “And I think you can make a case for us being the best water district in the state.”
Director Richard Santos voted in favor of the increase to keep compensation level with Silicon Valley’s high-paying jobs.
Board president Tony Estremera cast the other vote in favor of a raise, and took a sarcastic tone when the measure failed.
“I guess all our critics can be happy,” he said. “That $12 dollars really makes a big difference.”
