Liccardo and other elected leaders criticized the water district for not sending board members or experts to the March 9 public meeting held to examine the events leading to the Coyote Creek overspilling its banks and flooding three neighborhoods Feb. 21.
The water district sent Rick Callender, a government relations manager, to provide a statement — but the district’s seven elected board members, including Chairman John Varela, were noticeably absent. Liccardo said it was because their attorney told them not to come — and he said it robbed the city and flood victims of answers.
“I was disappointed that, despite repeated requests from our city manager and myself more than a week prior to the hearing, the Santa Clara Valley Water District declined to send any engineers, hydrologists or managers with relevant expertise to our March 9 City Council hearing on the recent Coyote Creek flooding,” Liccardo wrote. “We need answers to many important questions to prevent this kind of damage from happening again.”
City officials have been under fire for failing to warn residents about the rising creek, but they have said they relied on information from the water district that indicated the creek could handle the runoff after a major storm.
What district officials said Monday was that board members and other staff decided not to attend the meeting after a memo from Liccardo and other elected officials recommended the city invoke Section 416 of the city charter “to obtain relevant information.”
That section gives the City Council the authority to act as an investigator and to “subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony, and require the production of evidence” — potentially placing the water district in a position of being the liable party.
Varela said Monday he asked Liccardo to host a “joint meeting” with himself, his water district board members and San Jose council members — but Liccardo declined and instead invited him to sit in the audience for the March 9 hearing.
Varela said the water district is working closely with the city to “improve the situation” and is interested in “facts, not blame,” which only dishonors flood victims.
“Some of the statements made by city officials at the city hearing, as well as Mayor Liccardo’s letter today, about what led to the flooding were made in good-faith, but without full knowledge or facts of how procedures, protocols, and data about water flow, creek maintenance, Anderson Dam, and other factors that led to their delay in notifying residents that these flood waters were going to impact the residents and neighborhoods,” Varela said in a statement.
The Coyote Creek flood — the city’s worst in 20 years — forced 14,000 evacuations and caused at least $100 million in damage. City and water district officials have squabbled over which agency is responsible for cleaning and maintaining the creek, though it’s unclear if trash and debris contributed to the quickly rising water.
Meanwhile, about 500 flood victims remain displaced. The City Council on Tuesday will consider declaring a shelter crisis, which allows San Jose to use city facilities like libraries and community centers to house victims.
San Jose declared a shelter crisis in 2015 to use four sites — the Bascom Community Center, Tully Community Library, Washington United Youth Center and Biblioteca Branch Library — as overnight warming centers for the homeless.
A shelter crisis declaration allows the city to bypass some housing regulations.
Following the Feb. 21 flood, the city set up a temporary shelter at the Seven Trees Community Center and a relief fund for victims, which has issued more than 200 checks to help pay for housing and belongings, including flooded cars.
The council Tuesday also will consider hiring the nonprofit HomeFirst to run the temporary shelter until April 5 at a cost of $247,200 per month. The agreement can be extended for two months, if victims are still displaced.
City officials said between 120 and 180 individuals, including 20 children, have been staying at the shelter each night since it opened. The agreement with HomeFirst includes 24-hour staff supervision, costing $5,000 per day, and around-the-clock security at $3,240 per day.
The City Council will meet at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday inside the council chamber at San Jose City Hall, 200 East Santa Clara Street in San Jose.
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