Vote for responsible candidate for council
I am voting for Kelly Ramirez for Gilroy City Council, and I want to share why.
I’ve had the privilege of knowing Kelly for many years and can confidently say that she is a person of exceptional moral character and unimpeachable integrity. Kelly is not only someone I trust implicitly, but she is also incredibly approachable and deeply committed to doing what is right for our community.
She has always been a great listener, willing to hear out different perspectives, and I know she will carry that same openness and dedication to her work on the council. Over the past 14 months, Kelly has gone above and beyond to engage with our community, knocking on thousands of doors, listening to concerns and learning about the issues that matter most to voters.
Her deep understanding of our city’s challenges, combined with her strong sense of responsibility, ensures that she will fight for the safety and well-being of every citizen. From ensuring our police, fire and EMT services are fully staffed and funded to advocating for a fourth fire station, Kelly is dedicated to making sure local policies reflect local needs—not distant bureaucrats.
I strongly urge every Gilroy voter to join me in supporting Kelly Ramirez on Nov. 5.
Erica Dowd
Gilroy
Lawsuit is shameful
It is a shame that our city is being sued by out-of-town developer Gandolfi Investments, LLC. They want to build 501 apartments and condos (101 units will be in the low-income affordable category) at 315 Las Animas.
This property is designated for industry, not housing, in the Gilroy 2040 General Plan. This plan was developed by a large committee of Gilroy citizens over a three-year period.
Gilroy needs its industrial land to provide much needed jobs. Plunking a 26-acre development in the middle of it will only put pressure on adjacent properties to do the same thing. The land set aside for industry will soon disappear.
Gandolfi’s lawsuit is claiming they have the right to ignore our General Plan because of a 35-year-old, rarely used—until recently—law called “Builder’s Remedy.” It is intended to be a punishment for cities that are reluctant to plan for increased housing particularly in the low and very low affordable categories. It can be applied when a city does not have a “substantially compliant” Housing Element adopted by the deadline of each eight-year cycle.
Our city is fighting the lawsuit because it believes we did adopt a substantially compliant Housing Element prior to the Gandolfi application.
The city began working on their housing element in 2021 and they submitted their first draft three months ahead of the deadline. They worked faithfully and diligently with the CA Department of Housing and Development (HCD).
This lawsuit is also a shame because Gilroy is hardly a “reluctant” city. We have done more than our fair share in providing all types of housing. In fact, for more than 10 years Gilroy has been one of the fastest growing cities in the Bay Area.
In addition, Gilroy has exceeded building the state assigned housing units by a whopping 1,517 in the 2016-2023, eight-year- housing cycle. This includes exceeding the required low-income category by 628 units!
However, all that housing growth has not brought down the cost of housing. It seems the “build more and the price will come down” theory is not working.
I applaud the council members who voted to defend our city. I certainly hope that the judge in the lawsuit will take Gilroy’s good building record and cooperation with the HCD into consideration and that the City of Gilroy will prevail against the lawsuit.
Carolyn Tognetti
Gilroy, former 2040 Gilroy General Plan Update Committee member
