DEAR EDITOR:
Fair is fair. I am happy that the majority of the candidates
felt confident enough to appear in front of the citizens of Gilroy
to express our visions for Gilroy’s future.
DEAR EDITOR:
Fair is fair. I am happy that the majority of the candidates felt confident enough to appear in front of the citizens of Gilroy to express our visions for Gilroy’s future. In addition to answering questions prepared for us before the forum, we also responded extemporaneously to questions called in to us from cable viewers or asked of us by the audience at City Hall. We were limited to a one-minute response time. There were several responses I was not able to complete because of this limit.
The following are my answers:
Q: What experience do you have with political leadership and what are your other involvements?
A: I am a medical doctor and I practice in Gilroy. I have been your representative on the city council for the past four years. I have demonstrated my willingness to ask the tough questions, to promote the free discussion of all views and keep an open mind to new or different opinions. I listen to what people have to say. I have not shied away from making difficult decisions with honesty and integrity. I believe these are some of the qualities that indicate my leadership on the council.
Q. In these tight budget times what are you committed to protecting?
I am committed to maintaining quality programs for our children, seniors, and police and fire services. Our children are our future. We assure the health and well-being of our future community by investing in it now. Our seniors have worked hard to give us what we have. They have fought in wars, labored in their jobs, and paid taxes. When we provide basic services for them we honor their contributions to Gilroy. Police and fire service are vital, basic services that our citizens have every reason to expect from their city.
Q.Gilroy has some citizens who are politically active and many others who are disconnected from the political process. What specific steps would you take to make sure you are hearing from the full range of people who live in Gilroy?
When the air is so foul it causes you to wheeze, or the water is so contaminated you fear to drink it, who do you call? We need responsive government in all issues connected with our life as a community. I believe in our democratic government of representation. To have good representation, people need to know the issues and vote. I am involved in a voter registration drive and a get out the vote campaign. I make public my home phone number and email address, I am bilingual and this makes it possible to communicate with a large portion of the community who is not traditionally heard from. I am also a physician and treat many who are from the surrounding community; this places me in a direct position to know what is affecting the everyday lives of people in our town.
Q. In the past in Gilroy economic incentives for development have been controversial. Under what circumstances would you support incentives for development and when would you not support them?
What businessman or hardworking individual in their right mind would give someone $10 million dollars on a promise they will double your money? Well, I guess many of us would since we invest in the stock market, and Las Vegas is not getting any smaller. Let’s put it another way. Who would put their children in debt for the future? No contract. No IOU. That is what this city has done, and that is where the controversy is. I don’t like using your tax dollars to gamble on the future of Gilroy. I have always and will continue to support incentives for responsible business with guaranteed re-payment plan. No promises. I want their name on the dotted line.
Q. What measures would you put in place to ensure funding for parks, rec areas, open space in and around Gilroy? How do you feel about Gilroy joining the Santa Clara Open Space Authority?
I would support building parks at the same time or very soon after the surrounding neighborhood has been built. We provide for many things in this city and we have about 80 percent of our budget earmarked for police and fire. We need to be creative in leveraging our city dollars to obtain outside monies as we did with the downtown streetscape project. One good way would be to join the Open Space Authority. Not only would we be able to leverage our dollars but we would get 20 percent of all money obtained from Gilroy returned to Gilroy for parks trails and maintain our scenic open space.
Q. What is your job growth program?
Gilroy has proven itself a powerful economic center. Not because of its economic development program, but because the companies which have located in Gilroy are so successful. Gilroy was lightly affected by the recent recession in contrast to the rest of the county that suffered significant drops in their sales tax revenues. We do not have to “sell” ourselves, or hand away our future.
People come to Gilroy and shop here. I believe we ought to be selective in our incentive programs. We need to know how new business will affect our existing small businesses. Are we gaining 100 new minimum-wage jobs, but losing100 well-paying jobs down the street? Are we closing five small businesses when the city pays one Big Box store to locate in Gilroy? These are some of the aspects of this whole question that we have to study.
I support required economic impact reports for all large companies who ask for incentives. I will support incentives to business which help our existing small business to prosper, provide job opportunities to Gilroyans, and who are good stewards of our environment. I will continue to support incentives for responsible businesses that provide more than minimum-wage jobs. I will also work for solid pay-back contracts which clearly delineate a repayment deadline so the city can better plan its budget.
Peter Arellano,
candidate for City Council
Submitted Wednesday, Sept. 24 to ed****@****ic.com
