The experienced board member drops out of the GUSD race to
replace TJ Owens
Gilroy – And then there were five.
David Stiffler, one of the six candidates vying to fill the vacant Gilroy Unified School District board seat, has dropped out.
Stiffler, 59, called the district office last week and said he had decided to withdraw his name.
“I felt that they had a good pool of candidates and that was my major concern,” he said Tuesday, explaining that he had seen situations when few people volunteered to fill a vacant seat and he wanted to make sure that didn’t happen in Gilroy.
“I decided that it would be the best thing right now to withdraw.”
But fortunately that dearth of candidates didn’t occur, said Stiffler, who served on a school board in Indiana and moved to Gilroy two years ago.
Instead, five locals with good resumes applied.
“Six was a significant number and they were all qualified for the position,” he said.
The Chevrolet Cadillac salesman and former president of two vocational schools in San Jose, said “it’s encouraging to know that people are getting involved” and that he “very well might” run for the board next year.
TJ Owens was serving as GUSD board president when he died in October. He had one year left on his term. Since his death five other locals have stepped up to fill his seat.
TJ’s widow, Brenda Jordan-Owens and former board members Kai Lai and Bill Paterson applied.
Bob Heisey, who ran for the board in 2004 and Javier Aguirre, who currently serves on the El Portal Charter School board, also applied.
The five remaining candidates will be interviewed beginning at 6pm Monday by the board. At the end of the meeting the board will select a candidate to fill the vacancy.
