Politics

“The need for affordable housing in this county and Gilroy in particular is tremendous,” began Jennifer Loving, the director of Destination: Home, the San Jose-based nonprofit that has successfully championed housing-first solutions for the region’s homeless and is one of nearly 100 organizations across the county that have endorsed Measure A.The $950 million bond would fund affordable housing in the county, and was unanimously placed on the ballot by the county Board of Supervisors as a way to mitigate the region’s housing crisis by freeing up money for the acquisition or improvement of real property and first-time homebuyer programs.A countywide poll conducted earlier this year found two-thirds of likely voters would support a measure that built affordable and supportive housing for homeless, seniors, low-income families and other vulnerable populations.At last count in 2015, there were 439 homeless residents in Gilroy, up from 379 two years earlier.Gilroy Mayor Perry Woodward, who endorses the measure and is one of more than 130 individuals across the county to do so, said the way Measure A funds are used is largely up to the community.“It allows flexibility for cities to devise their own course on how they spend the money,” he said, adding that the money toward supportive housing for the city’s homeless would help address public safety issues as well, resulting in fewer quality-of-life calls fielded by Gilroy police.“We can focus a lot more on community policing,” he said.The $950 million in general obligation bonds would result in $700 million to be spent on the county’s most vulnerable populations, including supportive housing for the homeless; $100 million for low-income families; and $150 million for working families and first-time homebuyer programs.The annual cost over 30 years to property owners would be about $12.60 per $100,000 in assessed property value, according to the San JoseMercury News this summer.Thanks in large part to the advocacy work done by Loving and support from county representatives who spearheaded a housing task force that spurred the measure, there has been momentum in recent years to find lasting solutions to chronic homelessness and home insecurity in a region with rising home prices and a housing supply that cannot keep pace with increasing demand.At Monday’s City Council meeting, a five-member council (Cat Tucker and Roland Velasco were absent) voiced its support for the measure, with Councilman Peter Leroe-Muñoz saying the monies set aside for first time homebuyer programs would help the young workers who flock to Silicon Valley technology companies, many of whom he is in direct contact with during his day job as Vice-President of Technology & Innovation Policy for the industry lobby group, Silicon Valley Leadership Group.“We are in a housing crisis,” said Loving. “Here is a solution.”Measure A needs a two-thirds majority vote to pass.

Two candidates are vying for one contested seat on the Gavilan Joint Community College District Board of Trustees in the Nov. 8 election, the first district election in the school’s nearly 100-year history.

The city’s streets are set to get a lot less bumpy, as Gilroy City Council on Monday approved $500,000 to purchase new pavement maintenance equipment to improve the shoddy condition of the city’s streets.

What began as a way to draw attention to a flagging downtown district, a virtual group on social media has become a bit player in Gilroy’s local elections this year, securing a community award in the process.

Over and out

Voters will weigh in on whether they like the state of education and local schools when they choose in November from four candidates for three seats on the Gilroy Unified School District Board of Trustees.

Roland Velasco has raised 20 percent more in campaign funds than Perry Woodward in his bid to be elected Gilroy’s next mayor. According to FPPC filings posted by the city clerk to Gilroy’s website, Velasco has raised $44,194 to Woodward’s $35,899 as of Sept 24.

In the first district election in its nearly 100-year history, two candidates are vying for the one contested seat on the Gavilan Joint Community College District Board of Trustees.

The bizarre events of December 2015 will be long etched in Gilroy’s political history. Mayor Don Gage stunned the city by resigning without warning a year before his term ended, effectively handing the reins to his political ally, Perry Woodward. The handoff allowed Woodward to run as an incumbent—but not before the duo pushed through approval of a massive farmland annexation that would have, along with other planned developments, made Gilroy one of the Bay Area’s biggest cities—a sprawling urban mass of 120,000 residents, more than double the city’s population today.

Americans love a good redemption story, and Gilroyans are being asked to draft a new version of this parable by electing Craig Gartman to City Council in November.One of eight candidates who are vying for three council seats, Gartman served on the council before, from 2001 to 2010. However, it is not his long tenure on the dias—Roland Velasco has served longer—that is raising eyebrows among Gilroy’s electorate, but his misdemeanor grand theft conviction in 2011.Gartman did not want to speak on the record about the conviction for illegally withdrawing money from a local Memorial Day parade committee, which he chaired.Reports from 2011 said the majority of a special fund was used for Memorial Day activities, but a two-year investigation by the District Attorney’s office found that Gartman had misused a portion of those funds, totalling $8,632.00.Gartman was ordered by the court to perform 200 hours of community service and to pay restitution, which he satisfied in December 2011. He also received two years court probation.Gartman paid $6,500 to the Gilroy post of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, in addition to a previous payment of $2,500 in November 2010.The monies were paid to the VFW because the parade fund was pretty much defunct by that time, according to a former prosecutor on the case.Gartman’s community service was completed at the Goodwill of Silicon Valley.For Gartman today, this episode is in the past and he wants Gilroyans to focus on his ideas for the city he represented first on the Planning Commission, then for nine years on the City Council.“I want to talk about issues that are important to the election,” said Gartman, who advocated for the Sunrise fire station and the sidewalk repair program when he was last on the council, during an interview outside Fifth Street Coffee in downtown Gilroy.Among those issues are increasing communication between the council and the electorate, prioritizing more infill, small-scale development and bringing ideas to Gilroy that he gleaned from other communities in which he has lived.“I would love to see Gilroy get into the 20th century [sic] with a lot of the automation that is available via the internet,” said Gartman, explaining that residents should be able to use technology to do things such as easily report a pothole or a city light that has gone out.Being off the council and living elsewhere—Gartman returned to Gilroy in 2014 after moving with his family for his wife’s job to Portland, Maine, then to Dallas—has also given him a unique perspective on the relationship between a city council and the community it represents.“I know what happens when you do policy and plans,” said Gartman, who more recently has been able to observe and appreciate the community’s side.Recalling the furor that erupted over the 721-acre Rancho Los Olivos housing proposal that was approved by City Council last December after it had been rejected by the Planning Commission, Gartman said while he understands the frustration of those who started the urban growth boundary campaign, he does not support Measure H.“Encasing the city for 20 years is dangerous,” he said, “Because you are very limited in what you can do.” He said the measure, which allows for open space, schools, affordable housing, and an allotment of 50 acres per year of general industrial to be brought into the boundary or redesignated, is too restrictive.“You are kind of tying your hands,” he said. Plus, he added, holding an election to get the boundary amended by voters would cost the city each time.Gartman would like to see the Downtown Specific Plan updated, which was adopted while he was on the council in 2005, and get the city to prioritize small-scale development and infill.“We need to establish what that policy is and pass it down to the community development department so when someone wants to develop five or less housing units, they get fast-tracked. We’ve had fast-track before and it worked real well.”He added: “Local developers hire local plumbers, electricians, tradesmen, to come in and do the work. Where large developments from big corporations bring people in from all over California.”Overall, Gartman said he wants to bring his ability to listen to all sides of an issue to a third term on the council.“Someone needs to be on the council who is actually turning an ear to the people,” he said.