Rose Garden Resident

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Supervisor candidates debate land use, BART

By Stephanie Condon

Voters pressed the three candidates running for the Santa Clara County District 4 supervisor seat about land development issues and BART at a recent community forum.

The May 1 forum gave voters another chance to ask questions of Linda LeZotte and Ken Yeager, current San Jose city council members, and Pat Mahan, mayor of Santa Clara. The winner of the June 6 election will replace Jim Beall, who has termed out, and represent the cities of Campbell, Santa Clara, West San Jose, some unincorporated county pockets and a section of Willow Glen and the Rose Garden.

Residents had concerns about development issues such as annexation, the development of the county fairgrounds and preserving hillsides and open space. They also repeatedly questioned the future of BART. All candidates responded with comments in favor of extending the transportation system in the West Valley.

However, LeZotte said she was not in favor of the "draconian" cuts that have been made to senior centers to fund BART. She does favor Measure A, the proposed half-cent sales tax on the June ballot, as a way to support a variety of county needs including BART.

Mahan is also was in favor of BART but said Measure A may not necessarily be used to fund it. She acknowledged the county doesn't have dedicated revenue sources, but said it would be up to the voters to decide on Measure A.

Yeager said he will follow the proposed distribution of Measure A funds because the county should have a safety net for public health programs. Measure A is a general tax that could be slated for any number of programs including public health and transportation.

When the issue of annexation arose, Mahan said, "I don't think you should be annexed if you don't want to be."

It is typically considered inefficient for the county to serve citizens directly, but she said some residents have told her they prefer county services.

"It's shameful the county doesn't take care of you," she said.

Yeager told voters San Jose has not been "aggressive" enough in this area. He said the city and county need to connect with the people in those neighborhoods.

"They need to understand the tradeoffs," he said.