Still waters run deep

Controversy and lawsuits rage in wake of Measure B

By Kevin Fayle

Measure B, which seeks to improve flood control and water quality in local creeks, might not look controversial, but so far it's contested enough to have inspired a lawsuit.

The controversy revolves around Measure B, a Santa Clara County measure placed on the ballot by the Santa Clara Valley Water (SCVW) District. The measure proposes to improve flood protection for local homes, schools, businesses, and roads. In addition, the measure also proposes to restore local creek and bay ecosystems, add open space trails and parks along creeks, and ensure the cleanliness and safety of creek and bay water for the next 15 years.

Four days after opponents of the measure submitted their ballot arguments, one of the co-signers of the measure arrived home to find a process server waiting to deliver papers announcing a suit filed against all of the signers of the argument.

Greg Zlotnick, a Santa Clara Valley Water District board member, filed a suit against the co-signers of the opposing ballot argument for Measure B, Zlotnick found fault with two points in the opponents' argument, and the suit constituted what Tom Schaeffer, a co-signer of the opposing viewpoint, considered an attempt to have the entire argument stricken from the ballot.

Zlotnick stated in the suit that one co-signer had included the name of her organization with her signature, which readers of the argument could interpret as a negative endorsement of the measure by the organization. He also wanted claims made by the opponents concerning the county's veto power over the water district stricken, as he felt they did not accurately portray the relationship between the county and the water district. Schaeffer, also a member of the Friends of Calabazas Creek, says the opposition's claims "were true in a way, because the county doesn't take an active role in approving the water district's budget."

Nonetheless, the court decided the argument should not include the inflammatory statement, but as regards other aspects of the complaint, "we just stood our ground and that was all they got out of us," Schaeffer says.

"We were pretty shocked that they went to the length of filing a lawsuit," he continues. "I've seen much more flagrant language used in past ballot arguments."

Schaeffer credits the tight schedule of an election year for the co-signers' ability to keep their argument on the ballot. He thinks the county could not pursue it's position for long enough to remove the argument, as they need to print up the ballots before the November elections.

The measure attempts to accomplish these ends by replacing an old program assessment, which expired on June 30 of this year, with a special parcel tax that would take effect from July 1, 2001 to June 30, 2016.

Mike Di Marco, public information representative for the water district, says the tax will take "about $39 per homeowner, resulting in $25.4 million a year" for the district.

This money would go toward a number of projects. Besides plans for flood protection, the water district also wants to establish programs that would increase responsiveness to hazardous material spills that threaten the quality of local creek water, and, ultimately, the quality of bay water. The district has also come up with a "good neighbor" program, which would have the responsibility of cleaning out trash and other obstructions from the creeks, as well as eliminating graffiti from the creek beds.

Both the cities of Cupertino and Sunnyvale stand to receive a good chunk of the estimated $328 million if the measure passes. SCVW General Manager Kay Whitlock says, "both communities are situated in a place where a lot of money will come to them because flooding is still a major problem." Both communities are labeled "major flood zones" because of their relative flatness to neighboring towns, which are located closer to the surrounding foothills.

Regarding trail improvement, Whitlock says, "we haven't designated specific trails for improvement yet--that depends on the cities and their people." She speculated, however, that Stevens Creek Trail in Cupertino and either the Saratoga Creek Trail or the San Tomas Aquino Trail in Sunnyvale would receive the most attention.

Money will be allocated for the Sunnyvale East Project. This project is focused at cleaning the water in Sunnyvale East Creek. It will affect both Cupertino and Sunnyvale because the Sunnyvale East Creek runs through both towns. Other creeks that will be cleaned up are Stevens, Calabasas, and Permanente Creeks in Cupertino and Calabasas and Saratoga Creeks in Sunnyvale.

Schaeffer, however, says the Friends of Calabazas Creek believes the measure will do more harm than good. The group thinks the district's budget of $35 million for the 3.3-mile stretch of creek signifies a large project that could have a disastrous effect on the environment around the creek. They also think many of the flood control projects are superfluous, since they trace most of the flooding problems to the bridge at Bollinger Road. The Friends believe that increasing flow capacity under the bridge will solve many of the flooding concerns in the area. "There is a certain amount of flood control needed on the creek, and we want to see it occur," says Schaeffer.

Schaeffer sees the large budget for local projects as a threat to the natural beauty of the area's creeks.

"It's hard to imagine that a project of that size will not affect the trees and the environment that we enjoy," he says.

Furthermore, Schaeffer is concerned the district has not yet drawn up specific plans for Calabazas creek; he worries that the district replace the natural creek bed with concrete gabiens, blocks which replace earth creek beds to provide unobstructed flow of creek water.

Di Marco plays down concerns like these: "that's the opposite of what we're trying to do," he says.

Di Marco points out that, besides protecting 2,270 homes from flooding, the projects that will receive funding through Measure B will attempt to preserve and, in some cases, restore the natural creek bed. "Our goal is to improve the watershed--not only for humans," he states.

He also says the use of gabiens has not been practiced in the area for nearly 15 years. "That's no longer the way anyone does things, especially us," he says.

The Audubon Society, Streams for Tomorrow, and Conservation League of Voters organizations have all come out in favor of the measure.

However, Schaeffer's trepidation remains. "The water district is complaining about us having false statements," he says. "But I think that if anyone is making false statements, it's the water district."

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Daniel Hindin contributed to this story.

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