Four Valley Water board members begin terms

Valley Water will hold a ceremonial swearing-in at the board meeting on Dec. 13, 2022, for newly-elected directors Jim Beall and Rebecca Eisenberg and re-elected directors John L. Varela and Tony Estremera.

Directors Beall and Varela officially took the oath of office on Dec. 2, and Directors Eisenberg and Estremera were sworn in on Dec. 9. The board meeting on Dec. 13 will be the first meeting for the newly-elected directors.

Jim Beall will represent District 4, which encompasses the City of Campbell and parts of west and south San José. Communities and neighborhoods include San José’s San Tomas, Cambrian Park, Parkview, Branham, Blossom Hill, and the northern portions of Almaden Valley and Santa Teresa. 

Director Beall is embarking on his fifth decade of public service. He entered public office at age 28 and served as a San José councilmember (1980-1994), Santa Clara County supervisor (1994-2006), and as a Legislator in the state Assembly and Senate (2006-2020).

Director Beall graduated from Bellarmine College Preparatory and earned a degree in Political Science from San José State University with a focus on Urban Planning and Public Finance.

Rebecca Eisenberg will represent District 7, which encompasses the cities of Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Monte Sereno, the towns of Los Altos Hills and Los Gatos, and parts of South San José. Communities and neighborhoods include the unincorporated community of Redwood Estates along Highway 17 in Los Gatos and the southern portions of Almaden Valley in San Jose.

Director Eisenberg has 30 years of experience as a Silicon Valley attorney, social activist and entrepreneur. Most of her career has been with Silicon Valley startups where she has served as an early employee and executive including PayPal, Trulia and Reddit. Director Eisenberg majored in Decision Science at Stanford University and attended Harvard Law School, which spurred a career in legal justice and social change.

In addition to the two new board members, John L. Varela and Tony Estremera were re-elected to represent Districts 1 and 6, respectively.

Director Varela, currently serving as Board Chair Pro Tem, was appointed to the Board of Directors in December 2015 to represent District 1.  He was elected by the voters in November 2016 and re-elected in 2018 and 2022.

District 1 encompasses the cities of Gilroy, Morgan Hill, the unincorporated community of San Martin and parts of East and South San Jose.

Director Varela is a former Morgan Hill city mayor and councilmember. He serves on the Board of Directors for Joint Venture Silicon Valley, Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, and the Pajaro River Watershed Flood Protection Authority. He is also involved in the South County Regional Wastewater Authority and Safe Clean Water Independent Monitoring Committee. 

Director Estremera began his tenure on the board in 1996, when he was appointed to fill out a term after the District 2 representative resigned. The following year, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors appointed him to serve as an at-large member. He was elected by voters in 2010 to represent District 6, and re-elected in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

Director Estremera served as the Board’s chairperson in 2001, 2007, 2014 and 2021. District 6 encompasses parts of Central and East San Jose.

Director Estremera has extensive government experience in both appointed and elected positions serving on the Santa Clara County Grand Jury, Santa Clara County Housing Task Force, Valley Medical Center Advisory Board, Santa Clara County Personnel Board, San Jose Municipal Stadium Task Force, (San Jose) Mayor's Committee on Minority Affairs and the San Jose/Evergreen Community College District Board of Trustees.