The findings of a new independent investigation showing that Gary Kremen overstepped his authority as a member of the Santa Clara Valley Water board and abusively treated district staff confirms why voters should replace him in the Nov. 8 election.
A report released this week concludes that Kremen violated board governance policies by bullying, verbally assaulting or threatening Valley Water employees. In other cases where Kremen did not violate board policies, he nevertheless acted in a manner unbecoming of a public official. The report also indicates that Kremen failed to alter his behavior despite being admonished by Valley Water CEO Rick Callender.
Investigators from the Renne Public Law Group interviewed more than 50 witnesses, including Kremen and Callender. After investigating 25 allegations, their report concluded that, in six instances based on a preponderance of evidence, Kremen broke board governance policies:
• In March 2020, Kremen called in financial planning and management division workers to tell them to place a subordinate on a personal improvement plan. When an employee disagreed that step was warranted, Kremen reportedly told the employee that he would rip the employee’s subordinate to shreds during the next Board appearance and the employee, too. Kremen allegedly also said that the subordinate would be the first to be fired if Valley Water suffered financial hardship as the result of the pandemic.
• In July 2020, Kremen used profanity in a hostile manner toward a finance employee that constituted abusive conduct. The employee said Kremen wanted a district financial statement to be presented in the manner of a private company’s report and told the employee “don’t tell me government GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) is the reason why you can’t do that because I don’t give a f—.”
• In a June 2021 board subcommittee meeting, Kremen bullied and threatened the job of an Integrated Water Management Division employee. Kremen criticized staff on the lack of progress on a Valley Water initiative. Investigators listened to an audio recording in which “Kremen’s tone is angry, exasperated and aggressive.”
Kremen was first elected to the District 7 seat on the board in 2014. He raised nearly $350,000 — most of it out of his own pocket — to defeat incumbent Brian Schmidt. That was at least five times more than had ever been spent by a candidate for the water district.
Since then, the Valley Water District’s problems keep getting worse. In September, we recommended that voters replace Kremen on the board with Rebecca Eisenberg.
We noted the district’s overbudget projects, support for the $19 billion Delta tunnels, failure to recognize the Coyote Creek flood threat that caused $100 million damages, and inaction on Anderson Dam that puts the valley’s water supply at risk during one of California’s worst droughts.
And there was the self-serving June ballot measure, backed by Kremen, Tony Estremera, John Varela and Richard Santos, to extend their terms in office by an additional four years. The wording of Measure A, which cost $3.2 million to put on the ballot, implied that it was more restrictive of how long a board member could serve than what was already in place. The opposite was true.
It’s bad enough that Kremen is wrong on policy issues and willing to mislead voters to extend how long he can serve. Now, the details of his abusive behavior and overstepping of authority further make clear to voters why he must go.
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