GILROY
– Al Pinheiro can give a voter plenty of reasons to vote for him
as mayor. But if he had to pare his campaign message down to one
word it would be
”
consensus.
”
GILROY – Al Pinheiro can give a voter plenty of reasons to vote for him as mayor. But if he had to pare his campaign message down to one word it would be “consensus.”
“I’m not just talking about ‘here’s my idea, so let’s do it.’ I want to create that sense that we’re all trying to make something happen. It might not be exactly the way I envisioned,” Pinheiro said. “That’s the kind of leadership I believe I can bring and that’s the type of leadership I’ve learned from other leaders.”
Creating an atmosphere where the Council shares ideas and gets involved in the planning process will be one of Pinheiro’s top three priorities if elected mayor.
“It’s one thing to sit at the Council and get a packet and ‘yea and nay’ everything. It’s another thing to … sit around the table and say now, ‘What is the vision? What are we really trying to create here?’ ” Pinheiro said.
Concerns over the budget and “an obsession” with improving downtown, however, do not run a distant second on the incumbent Councilman’s slate of things to do.
Pinheiro sees the state budget crisis as the number one issue impacting Gilroy. When California’s revenue fell short last year, so did an effort spearheaded by Pinheiro to issue $5 million in bonds from the city’s general fund for downtown improvements.
If elected, Pinheiro will pursue that “shot in the arm” technique again. The funding could cover things such as building facade improvements and streetscaping.
“I really believe that’s what this city needs to do for its community – have that area fixed up,” Pinheiro said.
Pinheiro’s vision of downtown does not include large stores – those are suited for the east side, he says – but rather specialty stores and restaurants that give people reasons to frequent a place with a community-rich atmosphere.
“I don’t want to bring downtown back to what it was. I want to bring downtown to where it is a viable place … and a place where there’s a sense of community,” Pinheiro said. “You can’t go back in time.”
Pinheiro was against putting a medical clinic downtown at Fifth and Monterey streets at the location the Garlic Festival Store is vacating. However, he wants the city to adopt a let’s-move-forward approach now that the clinic is nearly a done deal.
“Now we’re in a different mode. I believe once you go through the vote, you go to the next step to make it work the best that it can for all,” Pinheiro said.
Pinheiro supported the clinic’s effort to redesign its plans so a portion of the building will remain retail.
Pinheiro was also in support of the incentive package City Council recently passed to make it cheaper and easier for any allowable business to open downtown.
As for the economic incentives given to companies moving into retail centers on the east side of town, Pinheiro believes the current City Council “took one step outside the box” when it began granting the favors to retail developers at Highway 152 and U.S. 101. Previously, only individual retail businesses were given financial breaks, making it easier for the city to require companies to pay the city back if they didn’t generate a certain level of sales tax revenue.
Pinheiro said he would rather have done the traditional agreement, but believes conditions like the mandatory 5-year lease for companies that enter the developments protects the city’s interests.
“I look at the outcome,” Pinheiro said. “You have a certain goal to reach and that is to bring in a sales tax base. I’d rather see (agreements made with developers) than have them go some place else.”
Pinheiro is not ready to reduce the amount of money spent on police and fire services in Gilroy. Since the city spends 80 percent of every tax dollar on those things, he says it’s good, however, to ask questions about what segments of those services are needed.
“We should be using that type of mentality all the time. We shouldn’t be thinking let’s do it now because our belt is getting tight,” Pinheiro said.
Pinheiro said he wants to revisit the issue of staffing Gilroy’s third fire station at Sunrise Drive. Currently, only paramedics are on duty there.
Pinheiro is addressing cultural and environmental issues in his campaign, too. He said he would consider having Gilroy join the Open Space Authority, but wants voters to make the determination.
The longtime businessman also promised to look into moving up the projected 2008 completion date of the downtown Arts and Cultural Center.
