With more than half of Gilroy’s precincts counted at 12:30 a.m.
Wednesday, the $150 million school bond that would build
Christopher High School, the city’s second high school, looked like
a clear winner.
With more than half of Gilroy’s precincts counted at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, the $150 million school bond that would build Christopher High School, the city’s second high school, looked like a clear winner.
Measure P held a strong advantage from early evening returns to early morning returns winning nearly 65 percent of the vote – a 10 percent margin over what was needed for passage.
Board members – challengers and incumbents alike – and school officials were thrilled with the initial results for Measure P.
But which of the four candidates would occupy the three available school board seats remained unclear after midnight.
Rhoda Bress and Jaime Rosso – both incumbent trustees – Fred Tovar, newcomer to the school board, and Mark Good, a former trustee, were separated by less than three percentage points just after midnight Wednesday morning.
Tovar looked strong from the outset, however, holding a steady lead throughout the evening. With 24 of 41 precincts reporting, Tovar held a 498-vote advantage over Rosso, who trailed in last place. Mark Good, in third place, held a 205-vote lead over Rosso.
The Santa Clara County registrar of voters office said the results may not be final until noon on Wednesday.
But the school bond seemed destined for success.
“Even though the results aren’t final, I’m very happy about Measure P so far,” Bress said, who spent the last few days promoting the measure and herself for school board. “I think this community has come through again. This community continues to send a strong message about the value they place on public school education.”
The passage of five other school taxes in the county also seemed likely with several claiming 70 percent or more of the vote.
Rosso hosted a joint Measure P – school board race party at his home in Tuesday evening. His guests – trustees, school officials and their families – gravitated between the computer screen, the television and the refreshments, waiting for any update on Measure P or the school board race.
“What the heck is going on,” Trustee Denise Apuzzo said after a promised update didn’t come.
“I’m so tired right now I can barely do basic math,” said Superintendent Deborah Flores, dressed in a track suit and tennis shoes, as she leaned over Perales’ shoulder to peer at the unchanged election results.
CHS Principal John Perales, his wife Leighan, and Lanny Brown – retired assistant police chief and a member of the Measure P campaign committee – were glued to Rosso’s computer Tuesday night. Once every few seconds, Perales clicked the refresh button to see if the results had been updated.
“He’s refreshing every 15 seconds,” Leighan Perales said.
A no vote on P a could leave a half-built high school standing in a field at the corner of Day Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard. A yes vote will allow the district to raise the money needed to complete the $180 million structure.
If approved, P authorizes the Gilroy Unified School District to sell $150 million worth of general obligation bonds to be paid off over the next 40 years with local property tax revenue. Property owners would pay an estimated $60 for every $100,000 worth of assessed property, which translates to about $366 a year for the average Gilroy homeowner. The new bond would kick in only after another school bond, Measure J, which taxes property owners $70.50 for every $100,000 of assessed value, sunsets in 2011.
The bond would fund a slew of projects, with the completion of Christopher High School gobbling up at least $78 million of the revenue. But Deputy Superintendent of Business Services Enrique Palacios said the money will touch each of the schools. In addition to the new high school, two new elementary schools will need to be built in the next few years, Palacios said. The bond’s project list calls for modernizations and repairs districtwide. The four-page list includes any project that could be worked on, but is not a guarantee that the district will do all of them.
Flores left Rosso’s party about 11 p.m., after the results posted on the Santa Clara County Web site had been stagnant for about three hours.
“I’m afraid to be too optimistic,” Flores said when she finally decided to head home. “But so far the results look really good. Most people I spoke with said they had voted for it. I just have to hold that holds true.”
Earlier in the night, the Peraleses vowed to wait out the results. As the hours wore on and eyes began to droop, guests slowly made their way to the door.
“It’s hard to say with only 18 precincts reporting,” Perales said as he put on his coat to leave. “But I’m confident. It looks good so far and the feedback has been really positive, but seriously, who’s going to tell me – the principal of the new high school – that they don’t think they’re going to vote for the bond?”
