GILROY
– Mayoral candidate Lupe Arellano is reporting 35 of her
campaign signs stolen.
GILROY – Mayoral candidate Lupe Arellano is reporting 35 of her campaign signs stolen.
Fellow mayoral hopeful Mary Hohenbrink filed a report with police after 40 of her signs were stolen and her son’s car got egged.
And, City Council candidate Russ Valiquette – who said several of his signs have been stolen, too – is answering criticism pointed at his campaign mailers that annoyed one resident enough to complain to the city.
Yes, it’s clear, Election Day is just four days away and apparently issues other than Wal-Mart, downtown revitalization and agricultural preservation are on some Gilroyans’ minds.
“That’s probably typical. It happens in all campaigns not only in Gilroy and not only this year,” said Sig Sanchez, a longtime Gilroy politician and member of the Santa Clara Valley Water District board of directors, regarding the stolen signs. “I suspect a good percentage of the sign stealing is activity on the parts of kids. Political signs are attractive nuisances to some people.”
Arellano, who is in her fourth city election, says pranksters usually steal a few signs each campaign. However, she has never seen this many of her signs being taken down.
Arellano said she had signs in front of a location on Old Gilroy Street that had been taken down. The location was catty-corner from Portuguese Hall.
“I wonder if that might have something to do with it,” said Arellano, a reference to Portuguese mayoral candidate Al Pinheiro.
Arellano said residents have told her that Pinheiro supporters have been using negative campaign tactics when visiting homes instead of focusing on the merits of the candidate they support.
Pinheiro denied any connection to the incidents and said he had no knowledge of any of his supporters taking part in unfair campaigning.
“From day one all my supporters pledged they’d help me run a fair campaign and they’d do nothing that even smelled unfair,” Pinheiro said. “If anyone of my supporters is ever caught doing something like that, I will ask them to leave my campaign.”
As for Valiquette’s mailer, there have been complaints the Planning Commission chairman’s flyer is using city facilities for political gain and that the flyer gives a message of city endorsement. Valiquette received an endorsement from the police and firefighters unions, not the city.
On one of his mailers, Valiquette stands shoulder to shoulder with three city firefighters in uniform and in front of a city fire engine.
“I think people are going to see what they want to see. I spell it out on top of the picture that the endorsement is from the unions,” said Valiquette, a former paid-call firefighter. “I’m proud I got that endorsement. These are guys I used to go into fires with.”
