GILROY
– Local police and firefighters unions are endorsing Russ
Valiquette and incumbents Peter Arellano and Roland Velasco for
City Council in the November election.
GILROY – Local police and firefighters unions are endorsing Russ Valiquette and incumbents Peter Arellano and Roland Velasco for City Council in the November election. Incumbent Councilman Al Pinheiro got the public safety unions’ nods of approval in the race for Gilroy mayor.
The announcement comes just weeks after the unions’ parent organization, the South Bay AFL-CIO, endorsed a slate of candidates leaders of local police and fire employees said they would not support.
Of the five candidates preferred by the AFL-CIO, only Peter Arellano made the police and firefighters’ list. The AFL-CIO endorsed Lupe Arellano for mayor and Peter Arellano, Paul Correa, Mark Dover and Bruce Morasca for City Council.
On Nov. 4, Gilroyans will elect a new mayor and three City Council candidates. Four hopefuls are in the mayoral race, seven candidates are vying for three vacant City Council seats.
“All three (City Council) candidates possess the leadership skills, we believe are necessary, to guide this city through tough economic times and plan for our future growth,” the unions stated in a press release.
For the mayoral seat, the unions state that “Al (Pinheiro) offers the highest degree of integrity and leadership for the citizens of Gilroy.”
The controversial $29 million police station proposed for Gilroy was one topic of discussion during a five-hour interview session, said Stan Devlin, president of the Gilroy Police Officers Association.
“All of them were fairly consistent on their opinions. They all pretty much said ‘we need a new station, but do we need a $29 million one? No,’ ” Devlin said. “No one really separated themselves on that issue, so it wasn’t much of a factor in who we endorsed.”
The police and firefighters unions are endorsing the same slate of candidates, but prior to the interviews they had left the door open for two slates if the group’s could not agree.
“We did the interviews together, and afterward we talked about what we liked about each one. We ended up being able to make a joint decision,” Devlin said.
