State Senator eager to open local office amid a time of change
for Gilroy
Gilroy – State Sen. Elaine Alquist (D-San Jose) hopes to open a satellite office here by the new year so she can better hear her local constituents and also tap into that small-town feel she said she misses.
While Gilroy’s provincial air certainly still lingers, it has dissipated over the last decade as the city continues to bulge with new retail businesses and more residents.
As chairwoman of the state Senate’s Select Committee on Emerging Technologies and Economic Competitiveness, Alquist said Gilroy’s economic vitality is a “very important issue to me.”
She said she will address burgeoning technologies Nov. 13 at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, but she declined to comment specifically on a potential mega-mall east of Gilroy that could cover 120 acres of 660 acres with retail even though the “660” remains zoned for lucrative technology and bio-technology jobs.
Westfield Mall proponents and some city officials have said other areas in north San Jose have lost time and money failing to lure companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Cisco Systems after the dot-com bubble burst, and that it might be time to move on.
Westfield or no Westfield, though, Gilroy will still have voters, and Sen. Alquist said she looks forward to being closer to her constituents in the southern end of the state’s 13th Senate District, which covers about 900,000 people throughout much of Santa Clara County, including San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Mountain View and Gilroy.
“Gilroy is an important part of my constituency, and I want to have an office down there so our constituents can have an easier time presenting their concerns to me,” Alquist said.
Alquist has two offices in Sacramento and San Jose, and while she has yet to find a building or office space in Gilroy, she hopes for rent-free government space, according to Chief of Staff Sailaja Rajappan.
Rajappan said this could mean part of the old police station on the east side of City Hall. If this does not work out, then perhaps Gavilan College could provide some space, or maybe the Chamber of Commerce, according to Rajappan.
Despite the “preliminary stages” of their property hunt, Rajappan said District Representative Javier González has jump-started the search with much alacrity.
Alquist hired González last month after waiting for the final state budget, which effectively controls staff resources for elected officials. He attended the health fair at Gavilan College two weeks ago and a separate joint meeting with the Gilroy Unified School District and the Gilroy City Council, essentially paving the way for Alquist.
Mayor Al Pinheiro said he hears from the senator’s office every so often and noticed González at the GUSD-city council meeting, but “I don’t know how successful they’ve been” in finding an office.
Elected in November 2004, Senator Alquist also chairs the Senate Human Services Committee and the Senate Subcommittee on Aging & Long Term Care. She served as a legislator from 1996 to 2002.
Chris Bone covers City Hall for The Dispatch. Reach him at 847-7109 or cb***@************ch.com.
