GILROY
– The deadline to file for school board and Gavilan College
trustee elections is today at 5 p.m. As of press time all
incumbents will seek another term and only one new candidate has
filed for each of the two elections.
GILROY – The deadline to file for school board and Gavilan College trustee elections is today at 5 p.m. As of press time all incumbents will seek another term and only one new candidate has filed for each of the two elections.
Three seats on the Gavilan College Board of Trustees are up for grabs, one each in the Gilroy, Morgan Hill and San Benito County areas. Gilroy Trustee Mark Dover, Morgan Hill Trustee Leonard Washington and San Benito County Trustee Tom Breen all filed. Manly Willis will run for the Gilroy-area seat on the board.
“We just passed a bond measure and I’d like to see it put into practice,” Washington said. “When you put that kind of work into something you hate to get up and leave.”
GUSD School Board Trustees John Gurich, Bob Kraemer and Jaime Rosso will also seek another term.
“I’m excited about the direction the school board is going. I feel we’ve made some big in-roads to improve the schools and I want to continue to support the improvement for the district,” Rosso said.
Kraemer feels the board has accomplished a lot but believes there is a more work to come.
“I believe I’ve had a positive impact on the board and the district and I also know the job is not done,” he said.
GUSD parent Rhoda Bress filed both a declaration of candidacy and a candidate statement last week.
“I very much understand the parent and student perspective on issues and I feel they want and deserve strong representation on the board,” she said. Bress has one student in the district and put three others through Gilroy’s schools.
“I think our district can do better and I feel very committed to making that happen,” she said.
GUSD parent Art Silva is interested in running for school board but wanted to attend Thursday’s meeting before making a final decision.
Both races have a steep candidate statement filing fee: $1,710 for GUSD and $3,030 for Gavilan. Many candidates say the cost deterred them from submitting the 200-word statement in the Santa Clara and/or San Benito county ballots.
Rosso chose not to file a candidate statement because he believes the cost is excessive. He did file a statement the first time he ran for school board.
“Anything that will help inform the voters will be better,” he said.
While Bress does not approve of the statement fee, she felt compelled to file one.
“If the idea is to get more people involved in the system then the fee does not serve democracy well. I am not an incumbent and I have to inform the public of what my message is,” Bress said.
