When people are in the voting booth, they may not question whether their tap ran that morning. But one local race – for a seat on the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors – may prompt them to think about where their water comes from.
Two candidates, incumbent board member Gary Kremen and challenger Rebecca Eisenberg, are vying in the Nov. 8 election to represent District 7, which covers Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Mountain View, on the Valley Water board.
Valley Water supplies water to utility companies in Santa Clara County, including San Jose Water and California Water Service Co., which deliver water to homes. In addition to securing water supply for the county, Valley Water manages local creeks and is responsible for flood protection.
With a budget of more than $900 million, the board has sometimes been called “the golden spigot,” as a series of high-profile expenditures drew negative attention. Most recently, federal regulators ordered Valley Water to drain its largest reservoir in 2020 due to concerns that Anderson Dam could fail in an earthquake. The board also supported the controversial and now-stalled Delta Conveyance Project, which would move water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
The board’s credibility suffered after Measure A passed in the June primary election. The ballot measure asked voters if Valley Water should “limit board members to four successive four-year terms,” when the rules in place already limited board members to three consecutive terms; in effect, rather than limiting terms, the measure extended them. Some, including San Jose mayoral candidate Matt Mahan, called Measure A deceptive, as the ballot wording said board members would be “limited to four terms.”
The Town Crier spoke with Kremen and Eisenberg about their respective visions for the board and their approaches to water policy.
Rebecca Eisenberg
Eisenberg said the Valley Water board needs to change – both in terms of culture and its approach to water policy.
Eisenberg, a Palo Alto resident, is an attorney-turned-sustainable-investor who launched an unsuccessful bid for Palo Alto City Council in 2020.
She told the Town Crier her friend and mentor Judge LaDoris Cordell encouraged her to consider running for a seat on what Eisenberg and allies consider a “dysfunctional” board.
“There’s mismanagement, there’s lack of transparency,” Eisenberg said. “I am the person to fix it. And because I already have allies on the board, it’s going to happen. It’s not going to be just me.”
Eisenberg has secured endorsements from two members of the seven-member board, Barbara Keegan and Linda LeZotte.
According to Eisenberg, her background as a financial lawyer, her understanding of business operations and her experience building coalitions have given her the skills needed to manage Valley Water’s budgetary and water resources.
She said she’s in favor of shaking up the approach to water policy and opposes many of the board’s current projects, including its involvement in the Delta tunnels project and the Pacheco Dam construction project.
Eisenberg’s philosophy of water management focuses on sustainability and protecting existing water resources, as well as ensuring that all county residents have access to clean water. She said she generally opposes using dams and reservoirs to maintain water resources, preferring instead to direct more resources toward water recycling.
“We, the wealthiest county in the country, are among the very worst at water recycling,” Eisenberg said.
Currently, only 5% of water supply in the county is recycled, 50% is imported from outside the county and 30% comes from inside the county.
For more information on Eisenberg’s campaign, visit rebecca4water2.com.
Gary Kremen
Kremen, a Los Altos Hills resident, told the Town Crier that his interest in sustainability and the complexity of water projects drew him to water policy. He first dipped his toe into the field when he ran for the Purissima Hills Water District Board and was elected in 2010. Kremen first joined the Valley Water Board in 2014 and was re-elected in 2018.
A former businessman, best known for his involvement in founding Match.com, Kremen said his financial acumen is an important asset to the board.
“I’m the only person (on the board) who can read a balance sheet and income statement and cash-flow statement,” he said.
As evidence of his financial savvy, Kremen pointed to a $30 million fund he discovered missing from the board’s audited financial statements.
Kremen initially mounted a campaign for county assessor early in the year, seeking to unseat longtime incumbent Larry Stone, but he withdrew from the race in February amid allegations of harassment and the subsequent heavy media scrutiny. He also stepped down from his position as Valley Water board chairperson and called for an independent ethics investigation into his conduct as a board member, which is still underway.
Kremen said the controversy, over breastfeeding photos of him and his partner, Essy Stone, was an act of “retribution” on the part of a campaign staffer he had fought with over the Israel and Palestine conflict.
“I did lose my temper,” Kremen said, “and I did apologize many times, but they did not accept the apology.”
If elected to a third term, Kremen said his top priorities are addressing the drought, water affordability and water quality.
For more information on Kremen’s campaign, visit gary2022.com.
For recordings of League of Women Voters of the Los Altos-Mountain View Area candidate forums for all local races, visit lwvlamv.org.
The next LWV forum, an analysis of state ballot measures, is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday.
