BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Two candidates for the Valley Water board fired shots at each other’s records at a debate.
Los Altos Councilman Pete Dailey called out incumbent Rebeca Eisenberg for getting in trouble arfer a 2,000-page report found she harassed and offended her colleagues.
For example, Eisenberg commented on board member Nai Hsuch’s English language ability after Hsueh said she didn’t know what “ad hominem” meant, the report said.
Eisenberg interrupted when Dailey brought up the report at a debate on Wednesday. “That’s not true. Fact check,” she said.
“She interrupts all the time,” Dailey responded.
Eisenberg said she was targeted by Valley Water’s former CEO Rick Callender and board members who supported him.
She said they were upset because she stopped an expensive dam project and exposed Callender’s 25-year history of harassing employees and creating a culture of fear.
“While they tried to disempower me, they didn’t succeed,” Eisenberg said at the debate, hosted by the League of Women Voters.
Eisenberg said she’s ushered in a new era of collaboration, respect and science-based solutions at Valley Water.
“I’ve been told that I’ve been one of the most effective water district directors in history … Despite some misstatements made by my opponent, who has nothing but criticisms of me to say, I’m so proud of these last four years,” Eisenberg said.
Dailey said he would be better than Eisenberg at working with others, pointing to his endorsements from his colleagues on council and regional leaders like Santa Clara County Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga, state Sen. Josh Becker and Assemblyman Marc Berman.
“On one hand you’ve got a divisive person with a questionable track record,” Dailey said. “And on the other hand you have a candidate who’s very well regarded and endorsed and supported almost ubiquitously.”
Valley Water doesn’t provide water to Palo Alto But Dailey and Eisenberg also went back and forth over who’s most impacted by floods.
Dailey’s hometown of Marysville flooded when he was in high school, washing away a chunk of the city and killing several people.
Eisenberg lives in a neighborhood of Palo Alto that was flooded in 1998 by water from the San Francsiquito Creek.
“Everything I own is at risk,” she said.
Eisenberg focused more on water affordability, while Dailey said flood protection is his top priority.
“Before the storms hit and culverts get blocked, we need to keep the creeks clean,” he said.
Eisenberg said preparation isn’t enough – people should be staged at bridges to remove debris during storms.
“We need to continually monitor and continue to be there to remove impediments,” she said.
Dailey and Eisenberg are running to represent northern Santa Clara County, including Palo Alto, Los Altos and Mountain View.
They’re both self-funding their campaigns: Eisenberg with $60,000, and Dailey with $80,000.
Eisenberg, 58, has worked as a corporate attorney for companies like PayPal.
Dailey, 57, founded a cable TV company in South Korea and then sold the company.
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