Trustees discuss ways to more fairly represent the residents of the district

By Rebecca Ray

Competition may get stiffer for candidates who want to represent the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District on the local junior college district board of trustees. West Valley-Mission Community College District board members are considering either changing trustee area boundaries or the number of seats allocated to each trustee area.

In a possible scenario, residents in the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District, one of three high school districts that feed into the junior college district, would vote for one trustee to represent their area, instead of two, in the November 2002 election.

Board members are considering redistricting because of a recent study conducted by Lapkoff and Gobalet Demographic Research Inc. The study showed that the Los Gatos-Saratoga district was overrepresented, while the other two feeder districts, the Campbell Union High and Santa Clara Unified School districts, were underrepresented.

Trustee Chris Constantin, who represents the Campbell district area, asked the board to commission the study at a June 2001 board meeting because he wants neighborhoods to be represented as equally as possible, he said.

Three trustees out of seven represent the Campbell district area, while two trustees represent each other area. If area populations were equally represented, only 0.9 trustees would represent the Los Gatos-Saratoga district area. According to the 2000 United States census, the area has only 13 percent of the district's population.

If area representation was ideal, the Campbell district area, which has 54 percent of the district's population, would have 3.8 trustee representatives. Slightly more than two trustees would represent voters in the Santa Clara district area, which make up 32 percent of the district.

Although district population has grown and shifted since West Valley College opened in 1964, representation has not been modified to reflect those changes, said Trustee Don Wolfe of the Los Gatos-Saratoga district area.

"As a board, we need to adequately represent all the voters," said Trustee Joy Atkins of the Campbell district area. She and Wolfe added that the study was long overdue.

After Jeanne Gobalet presented findings from the Lapkoff and Gobalet study at the Sept. 6 board meeting, trustees discussed various redistricting options at the Sept. 20 board meeting at Mission College. Board members will also talk about redistricting at the Oct. 18 meeting at West Valley College.

Trustees decided to hold a meeting in which they discussed alternatives at each college so that residents near both schools could provide input, said district Chancellor Linda Salter.

On Sept. 6, Gobalet presented two options that involved dividing the district into seven trustee areas, with one trustee representing each area. But so far, most board members prefer retaining the current trustee area boundaries and changing the number of trustees who represent each area. Atkins said three areas would be less complicated and that the district could accomplish equal representation just as well by readjusting its current areas.

On Sept. 20, Gobalet presented two scenarios that involved combining seven areas into three. But Constantin and Wolfe had another idea. They suggested keeping three areas and changing the boundaries so they were based on city boundaries. Under their scenario, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga would be one area; Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Cupertino would be another area; and San Jose and Campbell would be a third area. One trustee would represent Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga; two would represent Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Cupertino; and four would represent San Jose and Campbell. Trustees asked Gobalet to present a map of this scenario at the Oct. 18 meeting.

If the board does decide to vote on redistricting, which would occur after Oct. 18, the trustees could convert from an at-large election to separate elections for each area. In an at-large election, every voter in the district votes for all trustee seats. In separate elections, voters only vote for trustees to represent their areas.

Atkins, Wolfe, Trustee Frank Jewett of the Campbell district area and board President Nancy Rucker of the Santa Clara district area would like to retain the at-large election. Because trustees make decisions that affect all voters in the district, said Wolfe, they should have the opportunity to vote for all trustee seats. Also, in districts with at-large elections, trustees feel obligated to all voters, instead of a portion of them, Rucker said.

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