UPDATE: Silicon Valley water officials approve pay raises

The elected leaders of Silicon Valley’s largest water supplier granted themselves pay raises, arguing more compensation would entice younger people to run for elected office.

Valley Water’s board of directors unanimously approved a 5% raise from $365.87 to $384.16 per meeting on Tuesday. The board members are paid per meeting and can only get paid for up to 15 meetings per month under state law. While the board has regular meetings twice a month, the law also applies to community and committee meetings.

Board directors said the raises will help remove barriers that discourage young people from going into public service, because elected officials don’t earn a living wage working at government positions in high-priced Silicon Valley.

“It’s obvious to me that young people in this region who are more than qualified are not qualified because they cannot afford to live in the district. If this was their dominant source of revenue or income, they’d be living in poverty,” Board Director John Varela said at the meeting. “To recruit a young person to replace me — money talks.”

He and other board directors said the district should study further compensation increases.

“Not for me – but for others in the future,” Varela said.

Board members paid for 15 meetings every month could see a total compensation of nearly $70,000 annually if the 5% raise is approved. A possible reduction to the elected board’s pay is also on the table, after the board instituted a hiring freeze last February due to a $222 million budget deficit for the last fiscal year.

The high price tags for projects like the Anderson Dam and Pacheco Reservoir expansion — and the rising cost of cleaning waterways polluted by homeless residents — have caused a ballooning shortfall expected to increase to $300 million this fiscal year. It could grow to $350 million next fiscal year. Fifty positions remain empty out of  72 jobs frozen last year, and they will remain so through fiscal year 2025-26.

Board directors received a total $356,000 and attended 977 meetings last year, but went to 110 meetings without pay after exceeding the maximum number of meeting days allowed for the stated month.

Monte Sereno Councilmember Bryan Mekechuk, who’s spoken out against utility bill increases in Silicon Valley, said costs are going up for local ratepayers. He said any pay raise for the elected leaders raising those costs should align with the cost of living increases awarded to people on federal fixed income.

“I think the maximum increase should be what the cost of living increase is for Social Security,” Mekechuk told San José Spotlight.

The Social Security Administration adjustment set its cost of living adjustment for beneficiaries at 2.5% this year.

Director Jim Beall — who’s been on the board for two years — said he puts about $10,000 to $12,000 of his compensation every year into a public service internship scholarship program at San Jose State University. He thinks the 5% increase is reasonable.

“I think I run probably about 13 or 14 meetings per month. Last year, the total compensation I filed was around $50,000,” Beall told San José Spotlight. “However, $50,000 for that kind of work is probably a little light.”

Beall said meetings often demand sturdy piles of homework and preparation research — work that doesn’t get factored into board directors’ pay.

“To prepare for a meeting, you might have to read hundreds of pages of audit reports. The meeting itself might not be tenuous. Just sitting there and reading the materials, that doesn’t count as a meeting,” Beall said. “Some days a meeting might be an hour or less or some meetings might be seven or eight hours — and you get paid the same.”

Valley Water board directors are required to set their pay every year. A prior board of directors successfully pushed for the ability to serve more terms despite opposition from Silicon Valley leaders such as San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who was a councilmember at the time. Voters narrowly approved the longer term limits in 2022.

Contact Brandon Pho at [email protected] or @brandonphooo on X.