GILROY
– Another virtually unknown candidate said Thursday that she
will add her name to the list of people vying for Gilroy’s top
leadership position.
GILROY – Another virtually unknown candidate said Thursday that she will add her name to the list of people vying for Gilroy’s top leadership position.
Ellyn Atkins, a longtime Gilroyan and full-time “back to college” student, will attempt to win Gilroy’s open mayor seat come November.
Atkins, 44, said Thursday that although she’s never served in local government, she wants to make a run at mayor to “give the people of Gilroy another option.”
Atkins is the third person to announce mayoral candidacy this week, joining former Councilwoman Guadalupe Arellano and fellow political newcomer Mary Hohenbrink.
If no other candidate statements are handed to the city clerk by today’s 5 p.m. filing deadline, the three women will share November’s mayoral ballot with Councilman Al Pinheiro, who announced his candidacy in June.
“When I picked up The Dispatch the other day and read about the candidates for mayor, they all seemed the same,” said Atkins, who’s lived in Gilroy with her husband and 23-year-old daughter since 1986. “I think the more choices, the better, and I think I can bring some new ideas to the city.”
Currently a full-time student at San Jose State University, Atkins expects to graduate in December with a degree in sociology. The focus of her studies at the university are in “community change,” and she interns with Working Partnerships in San Jose, a nonprofit advocacy organization for wage labor and low-income housing in Silicon Valley.
Before going back to school full-time last year, Atkins worked at several family-owned Gilroy businesses, including Mauro’s Stationers office supplies and Granada’s Bakery, both of which have since closed their doors.
She has also volunteered at St. Joseph’s Family Center, worked as a Garlic Festival volunteer for 12 years and served on the boards of youth sports organizations.
“Working at a family-owned business has given me a good perspective on the challenges small business people face in this town,” she said. “I realize that Gilroy is growing as a popular place for established businesses to come to town, but I think it is important to keep family-owned business here, too, so the people who work here can also afford to live here.”
Atkins has attended several City Council meetings during the past few years and thinks she would be a quick study on directing the meetings.
She decided to run for mayor before Arellano announced her candidacy on Wednesday. She chose to challenge for Gilroy’s top office instead of one of the three open council seats because the announced candidates for City Council shared many of her views.
Council Incumbent Roland Velasco; Incumbent Peter Arellano, Guadalupe’s older brother; Planning Commission Chairman Russ Valiquette; and Planning Commissioner Paul Correa are battling it out for three open Council seats.
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Shawn Weymouth withdrew her name Thursday from the Council ballot, citing a desire to focus more time on family.
The deadline for becoming a Council candidate is also 5 p.m. today. Under city law, that deadline along with the filing deadline for mayor will be extended to Aug. 13 if both incumbent Councilman Pinheiro and Mayor Tom Springer follow their vows not to return to their perspective offices.
Thursday afternoon Springer reaffirmed his decision to leave the dais.
“I am not changing my plans,” said Springer, who declined to endorse another candidate. “I will not run for mayor. I’m retiring.”
“Lupe” Arellano, who in 1999 lost a mayoral bid to Springer, welcomed Atkins to the race Thursday while outlining her own reasons for seeking Gilroy’s most powerful executive seat.
“I think it’s great people are coming out to stir up this race,” Arellano said. “This is what America is all about.”
Arellano said she has monitored the work of City Council closely since she lost her Council re-election bid in 2001, and she thinks more attention needs to be paid to Gilroy’s families and neighborhoods.
“It’s up to Council to worry about tax base, business and the families in the community, and I think lately the families have been forgotten,” she said. “I want to put some teeth behind what the people of Gilroy want: More parks, better road planning that doesn’t take traffic through neighborhoods, more pedestrian and bicycle paths – people want these things.”
