When it comes to people advocating for safety measures in their neighborhood, Gilroy City Council candidate Cat Tucker is very familiar with the concept, as it is what drove her toward local politics in the first place.
“I started getting involved in city politics because of traffic issues in my neighborhood back in 1990s when the city refused to put a [traffic] signal at Santa Teresa and Longmeadow,” Tucker said via email.
Just like recent efforts from residents in Eagle Ridge and upper Welburn Avenue—highlighting the ongoing traffic stressors in the dense residential area surrounding Luigi Aprea Elementary School in the city’s west side—Tucker led her neighborhood in lobbying for Sunrise Drive to be constructed, then parlayed that experience into a stint on the city’s General Plan Update Committee, then eight years on the Planning Commission before first being elected to the City Council in 2007.
“I applaud all the citizens for getting involved and letting us know their concerns,” said Tucker, who believes the city’s proposed citywide traffic study will help.
As the only woman running for one of three open council seats and with current councilwoman Terri Aulman choosing not to run for re-election, if Tucker should lose in November it would leave an all-male City Council. Tucker said every month she gets asked a question from working mothers.
“I bring a woman’s perspective and add diversity to the council,” she said. “One of the most common questions I [receive is]: ‘When will the city provide bathrooms at all the parks, not just the large parks?’ Every time, I tell them, ‘I ask about it every year during budget review time and I am outvoted, but don’t give up, we need to ask the men the same questions!”
Tucker is an independent, moderate thinker, according to her website (http://www.cattucker.com), and active in the St. Mary Community as part of the church council. She goes on their Mexico Mission every year as the camp director, taking teens to build homes for the poor in Tijuana. Tucker is also the head of the Garlic Festival Association’s refreshments committee. A registered Democrat, Tucker and council candidate Fred Tovar are endorsed by the Santa Clara County Democratic Party.
While she has served on the council for nine years already, Tucker feels there is still more work to do. If Gilroy voters re-elect her on Nov. 8, she says she will focus her next term on incentivizing business downtown by reviewing the development impact fees and creating a temporary pilot program for the reduction of impact fees specific to downtown; continuing to keep a balanced budget while still meeting the needs of Gilroy citizens; and finding a way to make a permanent arts center become a reality.
Tucker voted against the 721-acre housing development proposed for north Gilroy when it was appealed to the council in December 2015 after being unanimously rejected by the Planning Commission, but that does not make her a fan of Measure H, the urban growth boundary initiative that would place city growth decisions in the hands of voters.
“I have openly opposed Measure H, [and] there are many reasons,” she said. “It ties the city’s hands in regards to land use decisions for over 20 years and we don’t know the unintended consequences to our low-income community as far as rents going up in the future, due to low growth.”
Passage of the measure also does not necessarily mean the downtown will benefit, she said.
“There are no guarantees that it forces developers to build downtown,” she said. “They will do their market research and build whatever people are buying—it could be townhouses or condos or houses.”
She added that there is already a process in place to stop sprawl—the state LAFCO agency.
“I served on [the Santa Clara County] LAFCO [board] for three years and during that time attended two of the yearly LAFCO conferences so as to get a full understanding of the intention. I have a high regard for LAFCO’s mission and the staff,” Tucker said.
She said she was not privy, however, to the lawsuit the agency filed against the city in order to keep the 721-acre housing proposal from going forward, citing issues with the project’s environmental review.
“I was not included in any of the meetings when they decided to do the lawsuit, so I was very surprised. It was not needed since LAFCO’s authority allows them to reject any incomplete application.”
But there were lessons to be learned, she said.
“My main takeaway is based on data, and over the last 20 years LAFCO has only approved one project for Gilroy. I feel they take their position seriously and I don’t see any reason to think they will change. I doubt the next 20 years will be any different. Even the land included in Measure H will have to go through LAFCO, and I doubt it will get passed to be annexed.”
