Forget the Fourth of July
– the real fireworks in Gilroy could come this fall leading up
to a potentially blockbuster City Council election.
Four of the seven seats on Council are up for re-election in
November, including the mayor’s, in a race that could potentially
alter the board’s power structure and voting patterns.
GILROY – Forget the Fourth of July – the real fireworks in Gilroy could come this fall leading up to a potentially blockbuster City Council election.
Four of the seven seats on Council are up for re-election in November, including the mayor’s, in a race that could potentially alter the board’s power structure and voting patterns.
Councilmen Peter Arellano, Al Pinheiro and Roland Velasco are up for re-election, as is Mayor Tom Springer. Candidates must announce their candidacy and file papers between July 14 and Aug. 8 and can’t run both for City Council and for mayor.
So far, Springer has been the only incumbent to formally announce plans for a re-election attempt, which he did in a guest newspaper column last year.
Pinheiro also said to expect him to be on the ballot come fall.
“For council, I’m going to run for sure, but for mayor … I’m not sure about that yet,” Pinheiro said.
Pinheiro said he didn’t know how many people would be running for office, but the issues will mainly be centered around growth and land-use issues, which have been a hot topic with Gilroy expanding.
“I think you’re not going to see any new issues come up,” Pinheiro said. “All the same issues will be in the forefront. Everybody feels that they can do a better job than the people who are in office.”
Velasco said he still is undecided as to whether he will run for council again, but he understands that high turnover on council could mean major changes in policy.
“Absolutely, it doesn’t take more than a couple people to sway votes a different direction,” he said.
Hot-button issues
Velasco said the main reason he is considering returning to council is to follow up on some of the current Council’s work, such as seeing that the new fire station is built, following up on the success of the paramedics program and ensuring efforts are continued on revitalizing downtown.
“We still have a lot on our plate,” he said.
One of the biggest potential challenges to the post-election Council – as it will be to their peers in city governments statewide – will be stabilizing local revenues and dealing with budgetary impacts driven by higher-government actions and decisions, City Administrator Jay Baksa said.
The new Council also will be heavily involved with implementing land-use policies and plans related to the newly updated general plan, the city’s master land-use document.
Specific land-use plans for the sensitive Hecker Pass corridor and for Glen Loma Ranch, the largest housing development in the city’s history, will likely be complete or nearly complete by the election.
A plan with rules and regulations for the city’s downtown also is in progress, as are policies on new mixed-density neighborhoods and on offsetting the impacts of certain agricultural land that lost to development.
Although Councilmembers’ votes vary on individual issues, they have split 5-2, with Charlie Morales and Arellano dissenting, on a few big ones.
For example, both Councilmembers voted against approving the city’s recently updated general land-use plan because they did not support the controversial idea to target 660 east-Gilroy acres for future industrial development.
Proponents of the so-called “660” generally saw it as a natural location for campus industrial development that could bring high-paying jobs to Gilroy. Opponents generally called it urban sprawl and said industrial development should be centered along the northern U.S. 101 corridor.
Morales said that new faces on the council can really change how votes are made, especially at the mayor’s position.
“We don’t necessarily need a mayor who is anti-growth, but I think it’s going to have to be a management of growth,” said Morales, who said that the city is continuing to grow without analyzing the effects on infrastructure and public safety.
Morales and Arellano also have dissented on two recent multi-million dollar incentive deals between the city and two major shopping centers.
The deals break from usual city policy in that they do not contain guarantees that sales tax revenues generated from the centers will cover special credits the city grants developers for impact fees they’d otherwise have to pay. Concerns about environmental and economic impacts have also been raised.
Possible candidates
In the last Council election in 2001, Morales, Councilmen Craig Gartman and Bob Dillon defeated incumbent Guadalupe Arellano and Planning Commissioners Paul Correa and Russ Valiquette in an election that largely centered on the 660 issue and growth.
A few previous candidates who may consider making another run for open council positions or mayor include:
• Correa, a former San Jose city planner, hasn’t officially decided whether he would like to run for council but said he is considering it.
“Why run? Well, since the beginning of the year, there have been a number of community members who approached me asking me to run and offering me their support to do it. This is one factor in my decision to run or not,” Correa wrote in an e-mail Thursday. “The other factor is that I believe I have a lot to offer (such as my professional and educational background/experience, and being a lifelong resident of Gilroy I believe I have a strong grasp of the issues in the city and because I am a commissioner as well) on the council which would be beneficial to our community if I am elected.”
Correa said he thinks the Council has made uninformed land-use decisions and more care needs to be taken to understand the impact on local business from offering economic incentives to newcomers.
• Morales’ seat on council isn’t up for grabs, but he still could have his eyes on the mayor position.
“I’m keeping that option open,” Morales said. “I’m going to see who tosses their hat in and what their platform is.”
Morales said he wants to continue to be a voice of public safety concerns for the city and that the biggest issue come election time will be how to manage growth in Gilroy.
• Valiquette, a Bonfante Gardens supervisor, lost in the 2001 election for City Council.
• Former Councilwoman Guadalupe Arellano, sister of Peter Arrellano, who lost her bid for re-election two years ago.
