The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s Board of Directors unanimously voted last night to appoint a new Director to the Board seat left vacant by Deane Little’s resignation on August 11, 2006. The appointment to Ward 4, which includes Mountain View and Los Altos, will have to be made by October 10, 2006, 60 days from the effective date of the vacancy.
The District’s Board has a statutory duty to fill the vacant Board seat either by calling a special election or by making an appointment. �At last night’s public meeting, Directors cited the high cost of a special election as their main reason for choosing the appointment process. �Based upon 50,271 projected registered voters, the Santa Clara County Elections Office had provided an estimated cost of $770,378 to call a special election for District Ward 4.
The appointee will hold office until the next regular election date in November 2008. �Candidates must submit their applications by 5:00 p.m. on Monday, September 18, 2006, to the District’s Clerk (330 Distel Circle, Los Altos, CA 94022). �All documents and deadlines are also available on the District’s Web site: [url=http://www.openspace.org]http://www.openspace.org[/url]
Deane Little, who had been on the District’s Board of Directors since 1998, resigned his seat in order to move to Colorado to pursue new professional opportunities and to be closer to his family and his parents who are in their eighties. Because Little had made his decision to move to Colorado only in recent weeks, his seat could not be filled at the next regularly scheduled election in November 2006. Little would have had to resign by late June 2006 in order for the Board to have been able to call a November election for his seat. �Therefore, the other six Board members last night had to consider whether to hold a special election or whether to appoint a replacement for the next two years.
At last night’s meeting the Directors also approved the application form to be used, reaffirmed use of the general criteria for appointment to the Board of Directors as well as the use of procedures for interviews.
First, let me say that I am a HUGE supporter of MROSD and their preservation activities. That being said, however, this announcement is really disappointing.
It continues a pattern that the District has established in recent years. Every time a Board member decides to quit, they do so mid-term. This lets the rest of the Board choose a successor who fits their mold for a good Board member and then that successor gets to run as an incumbent in the next election, assuring themselves of a win. An incumbent who has sought re-election to the MROSD Board has never lost.
When a candidate for the successor is chosen, the Board applies certain litmus tests to make sure that the new Board member will maintain the status quo on the Board. Candidates who support mountain cycling or other non-hiking activities are routinely rejected out of hand, even when they are the well-qualified candidates.
It is practices such as this that have allowed the District to reclassify numerous preserves as off-limits to anyone on a horse or a bike. it is practices such as this that has allowed the MROSD Board to leave some preserves closed to public use for decades after they have been acquired.
Frankly, I think it's time for some fresh ideas at MROSD and this decision is the best way to make sure that fresh ideas are never heard.