Four of the five candidates vying for a seat on the Gilroy
Unified School District board received endorsements from the
California Schools Employee Association.
Gilroy – Four of the five candidates vying for a seat on the Gilroy Unified School District board received endorsements from the California Schools Employee Association.
The union, which represents non-teacher district employees such as bus drivers, custodians, secretaries and computer technicians, endorsed Javier Aguirre, Denise Apuzzo, Tom Bundros and Francisco Dominguez.
The group decided to not endorse Ardy Ghoreishi due to his belief that volunteers will help “get things done,” in the district, said CSEA President Jim Fletcher.
Fletcher chose not to elaborate on why the union opposes the idea of volunteers, saying he couldn’t easily explain their view.
The candidates were asked to fill out questionnaires beforehand and then granted five minutes to showcase their platform for the GUSD board. Ghoreishi expressed his support for the power of volunteers to alleviate some district woes, in both his written and oral answers, Fletcher said.
Incumbents Aguirre and Bundros are seeking reelection, while Dominguez, Apuzzo and Ghoreishi are newcomers. Four seats are open in the November election.
After each candidate had finished speaking, CSEA members cast their votes. About 25 of the union’s 240 members attended the Wednesday meeting. Fletcher said the main area of concern for the union is their compensation which he added is low in comparison to surrounding districts and causing individuals to look elsewhere for jobs.
“The idea is the classified people are the Gilroy community,” he said, pointing out that GUSD is one of the largest employers within the city. “Our jobs are becoming more (technical) and require more education and skills.”
