Posted: 10/14/2009 08:00:00 PM PDT
With a stroke of the governor's pen this week, good-government reforms long overdue at the Santa Clara Valley Water District have become law, thanks to the foresight and tenacity of San Jose Assemblyman Joe Coto.
The district's elected board could have established better practices on its own - policies as simple as posting meeting agendas early enough for the public to see what was happening. But its entrenched leaders, several of whom have been there more than 20 years, did not. So when Coto was asked to carry a bill for them on another matter, he said sure, as long as reform was part of the deal.
In recent years, the Mercury News and the county civil grand jury have shone a light on problems at the district, which is in charge of flood control and supplying drinking water for most of the county.
One particular outrage, when a board member was hired for a highly paid staff job, finally got the public's attention.
Coto's reforms include new rules on hiring and on lobbyist activity - and they give the public a better shot at serious oversight, which is badly needed..
