GILROY
– If the Nov. 5 election was held on the east side of Monterey
Street, first-time candidate Jesus Florencio Gonzalez – who
finished last among six school board hopefuls – would have won a
trustee seat hands down.
If Gilroyans west of Santa Teresa Boulevard, around Mantelli
Drive, had all the voting power, the school district would be out
$69 million in facilities improvement money.
And, if the gubernatorial race was decided by
”
garlic town,
”
it would have been a no contest for Gov. Gray Davis, who landed
53 percent of the vote here, 21 percentage points better than
runner-up Bill Simon and 6 percentage points higher than how Davis
fared statewide.
GILROY – If the Nov. 5 election was held on the east side of Monterey Street, first-time candidate Jesus Florencio Gonzalez – who finished last among six school board hopefuls – would have won a trustee seat hands down.
If Gilroyans west of Santa Teresa Boulevard, around Mantelli Drive, had all the voting power, the school district would be out $69 million in facilities improvement money.
And, if the gubernatorial race was decided by “garlic town,” it would have been a no contest for Gov. Gray Davis, who landed 53 percent of the vote here, 21 percentage points better than runner-up Bill Simon and 6 percentage points higher than how Davis fared statewide.
These are just some of the findings revealed by recently released, precinct-by-precinct voting results from the County Registrar’s office. The data indicates that while Gilroy has a clear leaning toward Democratic candidates – more than half of Gilroy voters are registered Democrats and less than a third are Republican – pockets of this demographically diverse town vote vastly differently from one another.
In other races, Gilroyans from every precinct put their pocketbooks behind their convictions as each of the 18 core precincts supported two separate $2 billion initiatives – Measure B and Proposition 46.
Measure B allows for funding the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority’s 20-year highway improvement plan. Proposition 46 provides housing for low-income families and emergency shelter for battered women and the homeless.
Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent Edwin Diaz has an idea what the disparate school board results on the east side of town – a densely Latino and lower income area – mean.
“A lot of Latino families, especially those with younger children and who are relatively new to the country can identify with Jesus,” Diaz observed. “Jesus represented their perspective.”
Gonzalez finished last in most of Gilroy’s core precincts Nov. 5, but in the two precincts that cover roughly all of Gilroy east of Monterey Street, Gonzalez took in 270 votes. School board President Jim Rogers, who was the highest vote-getter in the overall election, garnered just 209.
Gonzalez campaigned on a platform to ensure fairness and equity for the school district’s Hispanic students. He could not be reached for comment before deadline.
“I think we need to do more to make sure the Latino voice is included in our discussions and decisions,” Diaz said. “That’s why, for example, we’re re-energizing our English Language Advisory councils at each school site.”
As for Measure I’s lack of success on the westernmost end of town, Rogers figures socio-economic factors may explain those results.
“In the newer section of town there are more expensive homes which are assessed at higher values,” he said. “That affects their tax rate more than other areas of town.
“Families in those homes may also be sending more of their children to private schools, too,” he observed.
Measure I is a major chunk of the financial package that will build a new high school and upgrade all campuses district-wide over the next several years.
Rogers recalls similar difficulty in getting the support of the area west of Santa Teresa Boulevard when the district tried to pass a similar bond in March. That initiative failed by 146 votes.
Campaigns for both Measure B and Proposition 46 had a strong foothold locally thanks to endorsements from District 1 County Supervisor Don Gage and Gilroy Mayor Tom Springer.
Gage, who along with Springer is a VTA board member, said he is not surprised by the overwhelming support shown for the transportation measure.
“Measure B improves transportation and there’s a direct link between road projects and people,” Gage observed. “Gilroy has a lot of projects on the transportation plan, and we did our homework and made sure people knew that.”
But the support shown for Proposition 46 does surprise Gage and tells him that straightforward campaigning efforts – including stumping in front of the Wheeler senior citizens’ home the week before the election – paid off.
“When it comes to housing, you never know how voters will react,” he said. “Some people think it will raise their taxes, others already have homes; it’s a matter of educating the public about what these initiatives mean.”
