Published in the June 22 – July 5, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
Caballero, Cervantez-Alejo to square off in November
Anna Caballero, the former Salinas mayor running for the California State District 30 Assembly office (which includes Morgan Hill and Gilroy), received the most votes of all the candidate in the June 7 primary election, but voters gave her less than 50 percent so she is expected to face Watsonville City Councilmember Karina Cervantez-Alejo in the November general election.
Both candidates belong to the Democratic Party. Caballero outpaced Karina Cervantez-Alejo by 20 percent district-wide. With all of the precincts reporting as of June 10, Caballero received 45.2 percent of the district-wide vote, while Cervantez-Alejo came in second at 24.9 percent. In Santa Clara County, Caballero received 7,992 votes (or 34.97 percent), Cervantez-Alejo received 6,357 votes (or 27.82 percent), Georgia Acosta, a Republican candidate, received 4,796 votes (or 21 percent), and John M. Nevill, a Republican candidate, received 3,706 votes (or 16.22 percent). This information is based on 97 percent of the ballots counted as of June 16.
Caballero previously served in the 28th District State Assembly in 2006 and ran uncontested in 2008. Cervantez-Alejo is the wife of District 30 Assemblyman Luis Alejo, who is being termed out.
MHCF doles out $13K to 11 nonprofit organizations
Eleven nonprofit organizations will be recipients this month of local grant money totaling $13,000 from the Morgan Hill Community Foundation. The foundation also $5,500 in high school scholarships. The MHCF and community partners operating under its fiscal sponsorship have awarded about $575,000 since its 2002 inception.
MHCF offers grants every year to qualifying local nonprofits that successfully complete an application and independent review process. This year’s spring grant winners are:
• Child Advocates of Silicon Valley
• Discovery Counseling
• Edward Boss Prado Foundation
• Friends of the San Martin Animal Shelter
• Health Trust Meals on Wheels for Seniors
• Leadership Morgan Hill Class of 2016 Project
• One Step Closer Ranch
• Pine Ridge Association
• South Valley Civic Theater
• Valley Medical Center Foundation
• Morgan Hill Historical Society, funded through El Toro Culture & Arts, a MHCF community partner.
Through its donor advised fund program, the MHCF granted invested funds both to the Morgan Hill Historical Society’s “Centennial History Trail Maintenance” program and the Morgan Hill Senior Support Endowment Fund.
The MHCF also awarded two grants at the June Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce’s “Good Morning Morgan Hill Breakfast” to the Edward Boss Prado Foundation and TeenForce.
In addition to its own grants and scholarship programs, the MHCF serves as a fiscal sponsor several local nonprofit partners, each with its own mission and community outreach goals. A fiscal sponsorship through the MHCF offers benefits including tax-exempt status, insurance coverage, and tax preparation and reporting.
More information about the program is available at www.morganhillcf.org.
District board calls for 20 percent conservation
The Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors lowered its water use reduction target to 20 percent at its meeting earlier this month, but emphasized that residents should continue their efforts to conserve in this ongoing drought.
In 2015, the fourth year of drought, the water district board of directors called for residents to reduce water use by 30 percent over the amount they used in 2013. In November 2015, the board extended that call to June 2016.
This past winter’s rains were beneficial, helping fill some surface water reservoirs, increase the allocation of imported water and improve local groundwater conditions. However, there is still a way to go before normal conditions are reached, particularly in relation to groundwater supplies. While water saving measures must continue for water supplies to recover fully, the board has set a lower water use reduction target in light of the improvements this winter.
“We are still in a drought. We don’t know if next year is going to be another dry year. Four years of drought is not erased by one year of decent rain,” Board Chair Barbara Keegan said.
“Sometimes the public can feel a certain sense of conservation fatigue,” added Keegan. “The public recognizes we’re still in the drought. We’re talking about a relatively modest reduction.”
The target is based on local water conditions, including groundwater storage, as well as expected imported water supplies, which will be larger this year than last. If county water users achieve a savings of 20 percent in 2016, it is estimated that groundwater storage will improve but still fall short of a “normal range.”
Last year, Santa Clara County water users achieved 27 percent savings over the course of the year. In 2016, water savings have continued at the same rate, with cumulative savings of 27 percent through April.
