Dear Editor:
On Monday, July 21, I received a telephone call from COPE (South
Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council Committee on Political Education)
inviting me to come to San Jose and participate in their candidate
forum.
Dear Editor:
On Monday, July 21, I received a telephone call from COPE (South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council Committee on Political Education) inviting me to come to San Jose and participate in their candidate forum.
Before agreeing, I asked if any City of Gilroy employee’s unions had been invited to join in the forum. I first received silence, then an uncertain response. I then informed the caller I would have to get back to her.
During the next few days, I talked with several city employees and asked if they knew anything about the forum. I was told that they knew nothing about them.
When you run for elected office, one thing that you must take into consideration is your budget. Because COPE has so many labor unions as members, getting their endorsement, and their money, can be key to getting one’s message to the community.
However, I am running for a seat on the Gilroy City Council and, if elected, I will be dealing with our city’s employees. This is a key factor in my decision not to accept COPE’s invitation. I personally feel that because our City employees unions belong to COPE that these interviews should be held in Gilroy, not San Jose.
Since COPE’s decision to support or not support a candidate will effect Gilroy’s city employees more then those COPE members that live and work outside of the city, I think it fair that our city employees have more of a say in the endorsement decision.
I am therefore asking COPE to reconsider their interviewing practice and give Gilroy city employees more say and authority in the selection process by moving the interviews to Gilroy and allowing our city union representatives to have a more active roll in their future.
I hope that my fellow candidates also think about this decision and understand my reasoning behind it.
Russ Valiquette, Gilroy
Submitted Friday, July 25 to ed****@************ch.com
