Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Steve Blanton: supervisorial hopeful

Blanton eyes supervisor race

Board has several options to choose from to fill seat

By Clarence Cromwell

Town Council member Steve Blanton last week confirmed that he will try for the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors seat being vacated by Supervisor Mike Honda.

Voters elected Honda to the 23rd Assembly District seat Nov. 5; he takes office in December.

Blanton is just one of at least eight interested in Honda's old seat in county District 1. District 1 encompasses parts of South San Jose and extends southward all the way to Gilroy; it includes Almaden Valley and surrounds Los Gatos.

The board of supervisors can either appoint Honda's replacement or call a special election to fill his seat. The board has discussed naming an interim supervisor until the election, to avoid 2-2 deadlocks. If an election is held, it may not come until March.

The board of supervisors was expected to set a special election for the post at its Nov. 19 meeting.

Blanton has letters of recommendation for the job from Assemblymember Jim Cunneen and U.S. Representative Tom Campbell. The politicians praise his record on balancing the Los Gatos budget, preserving government services and resisting tax increases (he was the only councilmember to oppose the controversial utility tax that voters rejected after a state Supreme Court decision placed it on the ballot).

"He's fiscally responsible," Campbell said. "I like the fact that he tries to find ways to cut costs."

The election is expected to be a hard-fought one, some candidates said, because the four members currently on the board are evenly divided into conservative and liberal camps. Whoever gets the seat may throw the majority in either direction, or could stabilize its balance near the middle of the spectrum if the fifth member proves moderate, they said.

The board will be handling important countywide issues, such as the welfare caseload thrown upon it by Congress and the question of how to implement the voters' mandate to spend a new half-cent sales tax improving transportation.

In addition to Blanton, four others confirmed that they're running for the seat:

* John Redding, a General Electric marketing manager, has served on San Jose infill housing commission and the county's Justice System Advisory Board;

* Don Gage, a retired IBM software-programming manager, has 15 total years in city government behind him and three years ahead as Gilroy's mayor, unless he becomes a county supervisor;

* Rosemary Kamei, a former Morgan Hill planning commissioner and Grand Jury member, has served on the Santa Clara Valley Water District's board of directors for three years (her district covers precisely the same area as Honda's);

* Keith Honda, an attorney and Mike's first cousin, has put in six years service with the county in Supervisor Honda's office.

Three politicos are rumored to be eyeing the job but had not verified stories of their interest as of press time: Morgan Hill Vice Mayor Dennis Kennedy, San Jose City Councilmember Charlotte Powers and former San Jose council candidate Meri Maben.