GILROY
– Campaigning may be stepping up locally and statewide, but the
last-minute glut of print, radio and television ads doesn’t seem to
be doing much to increase voter interest or turnout on Election
Day.
Only 45 to 50 percent of registered voters in Santa Clara County
are expected to show up at the polls Tuesday, the registrar’s
office said today. Those figures represent a 10 to 15 percent drop
from the last gubernatorial election held November 1998, when Gray
Davis defeated Dan Lungren.
GILROY – Campaigning may be stepping up locally and statewide, but the last-minute glut of print, radio and television ads doesn’t seem to be doing much to increase voter interest or turnout on Election Day.
Only 45 to 50 percent of registered voters in Santa Clara County are expected to show up at the polls Tuesday, the registrar’s office said today. Those figures represent a 10 to 15 percent drop from the last gubernatorial election held November 1998, when Gray Davis defeated Dan Lungren.
“You have to look at a number of factors. Last time both candidates for governor were new,” said Elma Rosas, spokesperson for the registrar’s office. “We also had a mayoral election in San Jose.”
Another reason for the apathetic turnout this time around is the estimated 25 percent of California voters who aren’t committing to either front-running gubernatorial candidate, Davis or Bill Simon. The potential for the low numbers to impact other campaigns is worrisome to supporters of the Gilroy Unified School District’s largest bond ever.
“I think the low turnout will hurt us,” said Jim McDonald of Better Schools for Gilroy Children.
McDonald’s group is backing Measure I, a $69-million bond to build a new high school and repair and upgrade a number of aging district campuses.
“People who oppose tax measures usually get out to vote,” McDonald observed. “If it’s not convenient, sometimes people who support tax measures don’t get to the polls.”
That’s why pro-Measure I campaigners are using the last days of the campaign to call the 4,700 ‘yes’ voters they have identified through telephone surveys over recent months.
“We’re calling all of them. It’s important to get them out,” McDonald said.
Even State Assemblymember Simon Salinas, who is vying to keep his District 28 seat, is using the telephone to drum up Measure-I support. In phone messages, the Salinas campaign is asking registered voters not only to choose the incumbent over small-business owner Jane Howard, but to vote ‘yes’ on Gilroy’s Measure I, too.
“I’m backing it because there is a need for additional space and modernization,” Salinas said today.
The phone calling comes amid a mailer blitz Better Schools for Gilroy Children launched last week which cost the campaign $5,000 to $8,000 per mailing. At least two mailers have gone out and more are expected.
The calls and the mailings also come amid a last-minute effort by Measure I opponents. Over the weekend, signs reading “No! on I” have sprouted over town, most notably at the vacant lot off First Street and Wren Avenue. The “No! on I” signs also read “Save our kids future.”
McDonald finds irony in the straightforward red- and- white opposition signs.
“This bond is intended to provide a much better future,” McDonald said. “There’s no better time to invest in their future because costs are not going to get any cheaper.”
Measure I opponent Alan Viarengo, who has had his own set of signs posted at various residences around town the past two weeks, said he is not behind the latest show of opposition. Viarengo does not know who put the signs up, he said Monday.
In early October, Viarengo posted a large black and white sign at his residence on the 8400 block of Hanna Street. It reads “Enough Already! Vote No on Measure I!”
Viarengo said he believes new buildings will do nothing to improve education in the GUSD and the environment in its schools.
“They’re going to slack off on maintenance and hit us up for another bond in 10 years,” Viarengo said.
The Gilroy Unified School District also has four of its trustee seats up for grabs Tuesday. Six candidates – Jim Rogers, TJ Owens, Tom Bundros, Jesus Gonzalez, David McRae and David Oberstadt – are in the race. Gilroy’s other school district, Gavilan College, has seven hopefuls trying for three open seats. They are Mark Hinkle and incumbent Laura Perry in Trustee Area 2 and James De La Cruz, appointed incumbent Lucha Ortega, Rito Ramirez, incumbent Elvira Robinson and Ruben Lopez in Trustee Area 3. Gilroyan Deb Smith is running unopposed and will be re-appointed to her Trustee Area-1 seat.
As for the overall election Tuesday, it figures to at least generate more turnout than the March 2002 primary election which saw a similar bond measure get defeated by a mere 146 votes. The registrar’s office said only 34 percent of Santa Clara County residents voted in that election. Rosas said 100,207 absentee ballots were issued for Tuesday’s election. As of Monday morning, 49,332 were received.
