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<DIV>I believe Director Kennedy is in favor of the Delta Tunnel project.
Director Schmidt says he hasn’t decided yet.</DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=wrolley@charter.net
href="mailto:wrolley@charter.net">Wes Rolley</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Monday, July 28, 2014 2:20 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=sosfbay-discuss@cagreens.org
href="mailto:sosfbay-discuss@cagreens.org">Post South SF Bay discuss</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> [GPSCC-chat] Water, water nowhere.</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none; DISPLAY: inline">One
of the more important local elections this fall will be fore Directors of the
Santa Clara Valley Water District. This is all the more critical as we are
in the 3rd year of what appears to be an extended drought... maybe even the
establishment of a new normal climate for our area. <BR><BR>The
following Director terms end in December, 2014:<BR>
<UL>
<LI>District 1. Dennis Kennedy
<LI>District 4. Linda J. Lazotte
<LI>District 6. Tony Estremera
<LI>District 7. Brian A Schmidt </LI></UL>If you don't know what district you
are in, check the maps on this page: <A class=moz-txt-link-freetext
href="http://www.valleywater.org/About/Board_of_Directors/District_Boundaries.aspx">http://www.valleywater.org/About/Board_of_Directors/District_Boundaries.aspx</A><BR><BR>I
live in District 1, the most rural of all the districts and know Kennedy since
he was Mayor of Morgan Hill. I will publicly endorse him
this time, in particular after reading these commenst about his role as an
elected official: <BR><BR>From one email:
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d">We,
as water wholesalers, are limited by the enforcement measures available. We
must rely on the retailers; cities and water companies to enforce our
goals.<o:p></o:p></SPAN>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d">I
am angered by the careless disregard of some water waisters and will do my
best to get them to stop.</SPAN></P></BLOCKQUOTE>and from another:
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d">One
of the toughest challenges for elected officials is changing the mind set of
some bureaucrats who have been “hunkered down” for a
while.</SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>I have seen this tendency to "hunker down"
before. I have also seen bureaucrats who will trust the consultants that
they hired to justify a project before they listen to the public when it is
critical of their efforts. If for no other reason than this, I would not
consider that a Director's experience working for the District to be a
plus. It is not necessarily a detriment but voters should consider whether
the long time associations might be like blinder keep them from seeing the real
problems. <BR><BR>I don't know the other Directors all that well. But if
they are your director, you should. You should also begin to pay attention
to such issues as the planned water bond that will give the state NO NEW
WATER. <BR><BR>We also need to pay close attention to ground water
use. The State of CA has no system to inform planners as to how much
ground water is being pumped nor how much is left. As a result, we have
some areas in the Central Valley that are experiencing nearly a foot of
subsidence per year. Santa Clara County's experience with ground
water pumping is very evident in Alviso. This community was not always
below sea level, even without the sea level rise we know is coming.
<BR><BR>Finally, we also need to be sure that the District Board is up front
considering the impact of sustained drought on their financial status. As
Kennedy wrote, they are wholesalers. That means they get revenue by
selling water to retailers (cities, water companies). When usage drops
there is less revenue and so rates will necessarily have to rise just to cover
the real expenses of supplying water. Droughts of short duration can
be handled by incurring more debt. However, that can not be
sustained. District long term financial plans must be transparent.
<BR><BR>You know what to look for. Challenge the candidates in your
districts to do the right things. <BR><BR>
<DIV class=moz-signature>-- <BR>"Anytime you have an opportunity to make things
better and you don't, then you are wasting your time on this Earth" - <I>Roberto
Clemente</I></DIV>
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