It may only be August, but Pasquale Greco is already out of the
gates, placing six campaign signs Wednesday throughout the Gilroy
area on the first day the city allowed them.
It may only be August, but Pasquale Greco is already out of the gates, placing six campaign signs Wednesday throughout the Gilroy area on the first day the city allowed them.
Although it is unusual for campaign signs to go up so early, the Gilroy City Council candidate said he actually had bought the signs two months ago.
“You’ve got to keep going and get your name out there, and that’s what the signs are for,” Greco said.
Political signs may go up 90 days prior to an election without a sign permit, and they may not be placed on any portion of a street, sidewalk or public right-of-way, according to City Clerk Shawna Freels.
Greco, a Gilroy native and retired city of Santa Clara employee, is in compliance with the city’s sign ordinance, Freels said.
Other council members said it is unusual to place signs out in August.
“If you put ’em up now, come November, nobody’s going to even remember your name,” said Councilman Dion Bracco, who is making another council run in November.
Council contender and former councilman Russ Valiquette laughed about the city’s political sign rules, saying he believes he may have inspired them. His father used to place campaign signs for him as early as Memorial Day during past elections.
This time around, he plans to hold off a bit.
“The field is still shaping up, and even though it doesn’t seem like it, we’ve got a lot of time,” he said.
Valiquette, Bracco, Greco former councilman Paul Kloecker and former planning commissioner Art Barron all have qualified as candidates for the November election, in which three council seats will become available.
Councilman Peter Arellano and Peter Leroe-Munoz, a San Benito deputy district attorney, both have pulled official papers to seek office, but have yet to qualify by turning in the necessary paperwork. The nomination deadline for the upcoming council race is Friday.
