Application Deadline Looms for Vacant Water District Seat

The Santa Clara Valley Water District has a variety of issues to address—we’ll have more to come this week—but top of the list, for now, is finding temporary replacement for Dennis Kennedy, the 77-year-old South County board member who resigned earlier this month due to health concerns.

Kennedy, the longtime mayor of Morgan Hill until 2006, has a brain tumor.

The Water District will accept applications for the interim appointment until 4pm Wednesday.

Kennedy represented Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin and surrounding unincorporated areas as the District 1 director. The person selected to succeed him would serve through November 2016, before a special election is called.

Among the names being floated as possible appointees are Erin Gil, president of the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau, and Rich Constantine, a Morgan Hill councilman. One surprise possibility making the rounds is Jeff Cristina, current mayor of Campbell. To even be considered for the post he would likely need to relocate and give up his current position, which seems unlikely. Jonathan Padilla, a senior advisor for San Jose Councilman Manh Nguyen, considered running but bowed out due to potential conflicts it could cause his boss.

Whoever does run for the position will have no shortage of issues to deal with, as California continues its fourth year of drought. And then there’s that pesky role of overseeing how public dollars are spent.

Josh Koehn is a former managing editor for San Jose Inside and Metro Silicon Valley.

One Comment

  1. C’Mon all you arm chair critics… Josh, Jen , Herhold. .. sign up, get the job… right all wrongs… get paid!

    Probably not..

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *