Candidates vying for a seat on the Gilroy school board this year
will pay $1,710 to file a 200-word statement, which will be printed
in sample ballots distributed to all registered voters.
Candidates vying for a seat on the Gilroy school board this year will pay $1,710 to file a 200-word statement, which will be printed in sample ballots distributed to all registered voters.
The candidate filing period for three possible Gilroy Unified School District seats runs from July 12 to Aug. 6.
Trustees John Gurich, Bob Kraemer and Board President Jaime Rosso are all up for re-election on November 2. Gurich and Rosso have both said they plan to run again and parent Robert Bickle also has indicated he will run.
During the school board’s discussion June 3, Trustee Jim Rogers said that when he filed his last candidate’s statement two years ago, the cost was $600.
Before that, board members remembered paying $300.
The cost of a GUSD board candidate’s statement has traditionally been picked up candidate, they said.
The board turned down the option of picking up the filing fee, citing budget issues plaguing both the district and the state.
Rogers was the only trustee to vote against the filing fee, with TJ Owens absent.
“I think, in my mind, that will eliminate candidates,” Rogers said. “It doesn’t eliminate candidates for filing and running, but I think most of us like to look through the ballot before hand and read those statements.”
