Gilroy’s race for City Council seats promises to be the most
spirited in recent memory. What do you want to know from the
candidates?
What issues are important to you regarding the upcoming race for Gilroy City Council?
What’s important for our community’s future? What questions would you ask of those who are seeking office? Are you incensed that the City Council approved a policy that paves the way for significant pay increases for top-level administrators?
Do you think the city isn’t allowing enough homes to be built, or too many?
Should the City Council be more aggressive in requiring developers to satisfy school facility needs?
How about the revitalized downtown? Has the Council handled that well and done a good job?
What about the $28 (or so) million police station, visionary or insane?
What would you ask? We’d like to know, and we’re asking you to e-mail your questions for candidates, general or specific, to ed****@****ic.com as we begin to prepare to cover what is likely going to be the most spirited race for City Council seats in quite some time.
The purchase by the city of the former Bonfante, now Gilroy Gardens, is and will be in the spotlight for the next few months, and that certainly will add another point of interest.
But voters are unlikely to forget such events as the controversy surrounding the secret retirements of the city’s two top law enforcement officials.
Already, residents have six candidates to chose from for three seats. Two members of the planning commission – Tim Day and Joan Spencer – have tossed their hats into the ring, and so has former planning commission member Cat Tucker. Incumbents Russ Valiquette and Roland Velasco will join former Councilman Bob Dillon, who lost a reelection bid in 2005, on the ballot.
Mayor Al Pinheiro plans to seek a second term while Councilman Craig Gartman mulls a bid to unseat him.
Other candidates may emerge as the opportunity to pull papers opens and the filing period begins in mid-June.
So, get involved, and send in your questions. If you have one for a specific candidate, or a general question you’d like to see asked at the televised forum the Dispatch will sponsor in the fall, let us know.
The people we elect represent the future – your future in the community you live in. That’s important, and taking a few minutes to frame a question or two for them will help you, and others, decide who will best represent us.
