Board’s controversial map selection may give election advantage to candidates Rossi, Constantine

The 90195 Map, introduced by Supervisor Cindy Chavez, was approved by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors for redistricting at the Dec. 7, 2021 meeting. Courtesy Santa Clara County.

By Marty Cheek

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors approved by a 3-2 vote a controversial map that relocates to District 5 two of the four candidates seeking to fill the District 1 seat in the 2022 election.

The map selected at the Dec. 7 board meeting is known as the Draft 90195 map. It is a variation of the Yellow Map — also known as the Unity Map. Supervisors Otto Lee, Susan Ellenberg and Cindy Chavez voted in favor of it. Supervisors Joe Simitian and Mike Wassermann voted against it.

Wasserman pushed for map version EE2.0, which would have kept more rural areas together — thus giving South Valley communities a more united voice on the board, he said.

“I voted against the final map because it had a much higher population deviation between the five districts, wasn’t as geographically compact or contiguous, added more urban areas to District 1, and put too many small (less than 40,000) cities in District 5,” he said.  “I felt EE 2.0 was the perfect ‘tweak’ to make at this time.”

Critics of the approved map argue it unfairly makes former San Jose City Councilman Johnny Khamis, who lives in Almaden Valley, and Los Gatos Town Council Vice Mayor Rob Rennie ineligible to run for the District 1 seat. The change potentially advances the candidacy of Morgan Hill Mayor Rich Constantine and Santa Clara County Board of Education President Claudia Rossi, a Morgan Hill resident.

Rossi declined to provide comment. Constantine responded by email that if elected he would “represent the concerns of every resident of District 1, wherever the new district borders happen to be.”

Draft 90195 was introduced the evening of Dec. 6 by Supervisor Cindy Chavez hours before the board meeting. Created by local labor and civil rights organizations, it takes Almaden Valley and Los Gatos out of District 1 (where South Valley communities are located) and adds them to District 5 (where they will join Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Cupertino, Palo Alto and part of San Jose.) The map boundaries add east San Jose’s Evergreen and Silver Creek regions to District 1.

The county is required by law to redraw district boundaries every decade so each district is close to equal in population based on census data. These boundaries must define the neighborhoods and communities that are grouped together based on “common interest.”

Khamis has lived in District 1 for 45 years since he moved as a child to San Jose as an immigrant from Beirut, Lebanon.

“I am clearly disappointed that South County is being disenfranchised in this manner,” he said. “Politically, gerrymandered lines won the day, but I still look forward to representing our community. I’ve lived in the district all my life, whether it was in Almaden Valley or Blossom Valley or South San Jose  and I’m looking forward to serving our community.”

Khamis’s campaign has hired a lawyer who is looking into the legalities of the board’s selection of the map and several “irregularities” including a possible Brown Act violation by Supervisor Otto.

The District 1 candidate also  expressed his concern that Chavez should have recused herself from voting because she has publicly given her support to Constantine in next year’s race. During the debate over the map selection, conservative critics expressed that Chavez, a Democrat, should have been barred from voting on the map selection because she previously worked for South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council and Working Partnerships USA.

So that he can stay in the race for District 1, Khamis and his wife recently started looking to rent a home in the South Valley region

“The more I spend time in Morgan Hill and Gilroy, the more I like the area, frankly,” he said. “It’s quieter than San Jose and the people are very friendly and I’ve felt welcomed every time I come.”

Rennie said he is also disappointed in the process of selecting the county’s new districting map, but he accepts the supervisors’ decision and will move on. He plans to run in the 2024 election for District 5 when the current supervisor, Joe Simitian, is termed-out.

“It doesn’t really feel like it was an independent democratic process of drawing these maps,” he said. “I’m looking to see what other doors open. I might have to wait another two years to run for supervisor in a different district.”

Rennie speculated, with the new District 1 boundaries, other candidates might run for Wasserman’s seat.

“Some people from South Valley thought this meant they have a better chance of getting someone from South Valley to represent them,” he said. “They’ve added a lot more San Jose, so I actually think you have more of a chance that a San Jose council member might jump in. I don’t think it’s just going to end with Rich and Claudia.”