GILROY
– Seven candidates, including a city employee who had to resign
from his job, have joined the race for the three Gilroy City
Council seats opening in November.
GILROY – Seven candidates, including a city employee who had to resign from his job, have joined the race for the three Gilroy City Council seats opening in November.
Less than an hour before Wednesday’s 5 p.m. filing deadline, Recreation Supervisor Mark Dover entered the 2003 City Council race. Dover’s bid makes the Council race one of the most competitive in years as two incumbents, two already politically active hopefuls, two longtime Gilroyans new to the political scene and Dover prepare to battle it out.
The filing deadline for the mayoral race also closed Wednesday. As he had said, Mayor Tom Springer did not file for re-election, leaving the mayoral race between favorite Al Pinheiro, underdog Lupe Arellano and two rookie politicians Mary Hohenbrink and Ellyn Atkins.
“This is going to be an interesting election, a good one to watch from the hilltop,” Springer said. “It’s similar to past elections in that you have growth versus no-growth candidates, but it’s different because the recall election is going to be in everyone’s way.”
Springer is concerned that Gilroy issues will be secondary on the electorate’s radar screen now that 135 gubernatorial wannabes have launched campaigns.
“The recall election is Oct. 7. The election is not certified until about Nov. 4. There will be plenty of distractions,” Springer said. “This is going to be one of the weirdest things in anyone’s lifetime,” he said regarding the next few months of politics.
At the close of Wednesday’s filing deadline, Gilroy races shaped up as follows:
For City Council, incumbents Peter Arellano and Roland Velasco are seeking re-election. Planning Commissioner Paul Correa and Planning Commission Chairman Russ Valiquette are running for the second time in two years. Dover, a Gavilan College school board trustee, is trying to be on his second Gilroy board. And, political newbies Dion Bracco and Bruce Morasco are turning their community volunteerism and activism into political aspirations.
For mayor, Councilman Al Pinheiro is looking to upgrade his role on the city dais. Likely his most serious challenge is Lupe Arellano, a former Councilwoman who lost her re-election bid in 2001 and ran for mayor in 1999 but lost to Springer.
Mary Hohenbrink and Ellyn Atkins are the other two candidates. Neither has run for election before nor have they served on any of the city’s advisory boards candidates typically use to get their names associated with a political message.
Besides Pinheiro, all the mayoral candidates are women. For City Council, all the candidates are men. There are currently no females on the city dais.
“We definitely need females on the City Council, and I personally think it’s better to have more than one,” former Councilwoman Connie Rogers said. “It’s too bad we won’t have a councilwoman for another two years at least.”
Rogers does not regret her decision not to run for Council.
“I’m involved with the Historical Society and doing things I really enjoy,” Rogers said. “Having two politicians in the house is really too much. It takes a solid 20 hours a week to do the job right.”
Rogers’ husband, Jim Rogers, is president of the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees.
Lupe Arellano, Peter Arellano’s younger sister, was the last woman to hold a City Council seat in Gilroy. Connie Rogers’ term ended in 1997.
In an interview Wednesday, Dover said he resigned from his position as a supervisor with the city’s parks and recreation division. City law prohibits a paid city employee from holding a seat on the Council.
“It was one of the toughest decisions of my life. It’s hard to leave something you’ve been doing for 18 years,” Dover said.
Dover has taken work at North Monterey County High School where he will be a physical education teacher starting this fall. His last official day at the city is Monday, but he will stay close to the job for a short while to help in the transition, he said.
“Since college, I’ve wanted to be a teacher and a coach at the high school or college level, and somehow I broke away from that,” Dover said.
Dover, who was born and raised in Gilroy, said he wants to be on the City Council to make sure the voice of regular Gilroyans is heard.
“The current City Council has put us in a great place right now economically, but there are some quality of life issues I want to put focus on,” Dover said. “We need to move forward with more parks. I want to see the sports park built soon. We need level sidewalks. All these things are really important and can’t get overlooked.”
Election Day is Nov. 4. It will be the first election where touch screen balloting is used. The Oct. 7 recall election will not use touch screen technology.
