GILROY
– A fledgling political organization with three of its members
as candidates in the November City Council and mayoral elections is
under fire for its plans to publish responses from a ballot-issues
questionnaire it sent to all 11 candidates.
GILROY – A fledgling political organization with three of its members as candidates in the November City Council and mayoral elections is under fire for its plans to publish responses from a ballot-issues questionnaire it sent to all 11 candidates.
Some candidates worry that Gilroy First!, a self-described get-out-the-vote and voter education group, will use responses from the five-question questionnaire for political gain. They say the brochure amounts to nothing less than soft money to its member candidates from a group that says it does not contribute to campaigns or make campaign endorsements.
The responses, Gilroy First! spokeswoman Rose Barry said, will be published verbatim in a brochure to be passed out at voter education events and voter registration drives. The group will likely print its mission statement and goals on the brochures, Barry said. Because question topics mirror the issues of the mission statement and goals, there is likely to be a strong correlation between Gilroy First! candidate answers and Gilroy First! goals, resulting in what some believe is an indirect endorsement.
“My concern is this organization is really just a front to put a slate of candidates together without technically doing that,” said Councilman Roland Velasco, an incumbent in the seven-member race for three City Council seats. “They talk about promoting voter participation and being impartial – and those are fine, fair, lofty goals. But how impartial can they be when some of the members are candidates in this election?”
Barry firmly defended her group’s effort to elicit candidate opinions on issues such as downtown revitalization, open space preservation and big box retail stores. She also said no candidate is a member of a Gilroy First! subcommittee that wrote the questions and will produce the brochure.
“It’s important to pin down candidates on these things,” Barry said. “We’ve been clear that this is both an issues group and a get-out-the-vote group. We are not endorsing any candidates, and we don’t know how our members will respond to the questions, so this not a soft money contribution.”
Barry said Gilroy First! mailed the five-question questionnaire last week to candidates. The group’s plans are to publish and distribute the brochure before Gilroy First!’s Sept. 17 candidates forum at City Hall. The forum will be 7 to 9 p.m.
The questions are valid, says Bill Lindsteadt, the executive director of the Gilroy Economic Development Corporation. However, Lindsteadt says it is not credible to use a non-partisan title like Gilroy First! while purporting a particular set of goals.
“I think the name is about the same as the Clean Water Act or Clean Air Act, who can argue with titles like that even though the ramifications can go far beyond what the title says,” Lindsteadt said. “Their title is Gilroy First!, but all of us, including people who disagree with them want the best for Gilroy and are proud of this community.”
Gilroy First! member and City Council candidate Paul Correa defended the questionnaire process.
“We’re all getting the same questions so I think it’s a level playing field,” Correa said. “The Chamber of Commerce always sends out questionnaires and over the years there had been chamber members that ran for City Council.”
Susan Valenta, the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce executive director, acknowledged her agency’s practice of asking business related questions on election questionnaires. However, Valenta said the chamber is clearly known as a business organization.
“It’s healthy for a community to have a lot of views, but you certainly want people to be aware of agendas,” Valenta said. “Hidden agendas can sway public opinion unfairly.”
At least two candidates – Councilman Al Pinheiro and Planning Commission Chairman Russ Valiquette – may not respond to the questionnaire.
Valiquette said it didn’t “bother him a bit” that Gilroy First! is producing a brochure, but said candidates get “bombarded with questionnaires and sometime have to pick and choose what to respond to.”
Pinheiro is more skeptical.
“On their Web site they talk about a majority of the City Council and making changes to that. Obviously, they’re not talking about their own members,” said Pinheiro, an incumbent Councilman and mayoral candidate.
Some candidates are applauding Gilroy First!’s effort.
“I don’t think there is anything unfair about this at all,” City Council candidate Bruce Morasca said. “I think it’s good someone is going to ask these tough questions.”
Mayoral candidate Ellyn Atkins was less enthusiastic, but equally unfettered by the group’s questionnaire.
“I thought it was kind of nice, kind of different,” Atkins said about the questionnaire.
“I can see that a candidate who is a member is going to have the knowledge of what the group would want to hear, so it’s easier for them, and they would have a little edge,” Atkins said. “But what can you do, it’s that way with other questionnaires I’ve come across.”
Sample candidates questions
1. Rank the three most important issues currently facing Gilroy City Council.
2. What budget priorities do you see for the city?
3. a. How would you ensure funding for parks, recreational areas and open space in and around Gilroy? b. Do you see the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority as a resource for balancing growth and open space?
4. a. What is your plan for economic development and bringing new jobs to Gilroy? b. How would you use incentives to bring new business to Gilroy and sustain current business? c. What are your views on big box retail in Gilroy?
5. What is your plan for downtown Gilroy?
