A fourth-generation Gilroyan has begun the process to run for
City Council, bringing the tentative number of candidates back to
six after Planning Commissioner Joan Spencer dropped from the race
last month.
By Chris Bone Staff Writer
Gilroy – A fourth-generation Gilroyan has begun the process to run for City Council, bringing the tentative number of candidates back to six after Planning Commissioner Joan Spencer dropped from the race last month.
This would be Perry Woodward’s second attempt at a council seat after his failed bid in 1997, but if elected, he might elucidate complicated land issues such as the Westfield Mall project planned for the 660 acres of farmland east Gilroy.
Woodward criticized the council for its “cursory understanding of the law” and its “rubber-stamping of staff recommendations,” but he said he’s mostly concerned with the budget deficit and added that Westfield’s bid deserves due process, especially since the dot-com burst deflated hopes of high-paying jobs coming to Gilroy.
“We need to adapt,” said Woodward, a partner at Terra Law LLP in San Jose deals with “complex real estate and commercial disputes.”
Aside from this, Woodward was a real estate broker in Santa Clara County from 1989 to 1996, according to his online profile, and his field of legal expertise concerns land use, purchase and sale transactions, and construction issues.
Susan Johnson, Gilroy’s administration office assistant, said Woodward obtained the necessary election papers from City Hall July 24, eight days after Spencer left the race.
All declared candidates have yet to file their papers. The deadline is Aug. 10.
Currently, Councilman Craig Gartman is challenging Mayor Al Pinheiro for the mayor’s seat.
Planning Commissioners Tim Day and Cat Tucker, former Councilman Bob Dillon, and Councilmen Roland Velasco and Russ Valiquette, are set to join Woodward in the council’s race.
“More power to him,” Valiquette said of Woodward. “I don’t really know the guy, other than that he’s an attorney. I’m just concentrating on my campaign and my campaign only.”
Valiquette added that Woodward is the step-son of Mark Good, a former Gilroy police officer who also served on the Gilroy Unified School District Board as an elected official from 1996 to 2000, according to Good’s profile on FindLaw.
