Politician Trashed For Pro-Water Reuse Stance, Loses Election
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
The contentious and close race to elect a Santa Clara Valley Water District board member went to Gary Kremen, the founder of Match.com.
Kremen won the seat "with 51.30 percent of the vote to incumbent Brian Schmidt's 48.70 percent, with all 212 precincts reporting. The seat represents the cities of Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Gatos," Palo Alto Online reported.
Wastewater reuse was a focal point in the race.
In a $30,500 mail ad financed by the Neighborhood Empowerment Coalition, the incumbent Schmidt was attacked for his views on wastewater reuse.
"Brian Schmidt wants my family to drink water from the toilet?" says a woman's voice that plays from the mail ad, according to the Mountain View Voice. "Say no to toilet water; say no to Brian Schmidt." The mail piece also says, "EWWW!"
Kremen stated on Facebook that he was not in support of the ad. "I disavow the mailing and people who mail it," Kremen wrote. "In fact it mistakes my clear position on reuse."
Why did the water district race get so much media focus?
"Campaigns for water board almost always struggle for attention, but Kremen's drive generated national buzz. The brash entrepreneur became an early Internet celebrity by registering sex.com and then flipping the name for $13 million," the San Jose Mercury News reported.
Schmidt, an environmental lawyer, questioned why Kremen would want the position.
"Kremen is chairman of WaterSmart Software, a tech company that creates water-meter software used by many city utilities. A leak-detection company he was involved in was recently bought by Badger Meter," according to a separate Mountain View Voice piece.
Kremen said he would resign from the WaterSmart position if he were elected.
"He promised to add more technology and innovation to the water district, clean up creeks by helping homeless people rent apartments, and increase rebates for gray-water systems and high-efficiency toilets and appliances," the news report said.
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