Gilroy
– Voters can learn more about some of the candidates for Gilroy
school board, superior court judge and the state legislature at a
forum at Gilroy High School tonight.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Voters can learn more about some of the candidates for Gilroy school board, superior court judge and the state legislature at a forum at Gilroy High School tonight.
The forum will be hosted from 7 to 9pm by the Gilroy Community of Conscience, a chapter of the year-old Dolores Huerta Foundation created by longtime civil rights activist Dolores Huerta.
Through a series of meetings held since the foundation was established in July, the Community of Conscience sought to learn which issues most interest the Gilroy community. Tonight’s forum will focus on how the candidates plan to address those issues.
“We found that the issues they are concerned about are education, health, economic justice, youth, and civic participation,” said Camila Chavez, executive director of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and Huerta’s daughter.
A committee is dedicated to each of those five issues, with the civic participation committee directing the question-and-answer forum. Questions will come from the four other issues-specific committees, as well. Audience questions will be collected and asked at the end of the forum, Chavez said.
“It’s just so we can get information and see where the candidates stand on certain issues,” said Art Barron, a Gilroy resident active in local politics who is loosely involved with the forum.
The election takes place Nov. 2. Community of Conscience also is working on voter education and registering new voters, Chavez said.
The Dolores Huerta Foundation’s mission is “to establish ‘Communities of Conscience’ focusing on community organizing and leadership training in low-income, under-represented communities.”
Dolores Huerta has been an activist for farm workers and immigrants since the 1960s. She, along with Cesar Chavez, founded the National Farm Workers Association, the predecessor to the United Farm Workers, and directed that group’s national grape boycott.
All six school board candidates – along with six Morgan Hill school board candidates and at least four of five Morgan Hill City Council candidates – are expected to attend a forum tomorrow night in San Martin. That forum will be held at the Church of the Valley, 13380 Depot Ave., from 6 to 10pm.
