Kelly Ramirez announced Aug. 7 that she will run for Gilroy City Council in the November 2024 election.
Ramirez, a resident of Gilroy since her freshman year in high school, is a retired teacher, former executive director of the Mount Madonna YMCA and former chief development officer for the YWCA, Silicon Valley. She has also served as the retail chairperson for the Gilroy Garlic Festival and as chair of the American Cancer Society’s Gilroy Relay for Life.
She currently serves on the Gilroy Planning Commission, and on the Board of Directors of the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association and Gilroy Rotary.
“Gilroy is my home and Gilroy is my passion,” Ramirez said. “I am committed to making this community a place of opportunity and achievement for all our residents. This means local control—not state mandates—of land use planning, a thriving downtown sector and clean, safe neighborhoods where public safety has the resources and tools to do their job.”
In 2022, Ramirez chaired a recall effort against City Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz, after Armendariz was issued 10 administrative citations for a 2021 party at her residence. However, the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters determined that the number of valid signatures submitted for the recall effort was insufficient.
Ramirez has already stacked up a list of endorsers that includes District Attorney Jeff Rosen, Mayor Marie Blankley, Councilmembers Dion Bracco, Tom Cline and Carol Marques, and retired Gilroy Police Chiefs Denise Sellers Turner and Scot Smithee, among others.
Blankley and City Councilmember Zach Hilton have also publicly announced their intentions to retain their seats in the election.
The mayor’s seat and three council seats are up for election on Nov. 5, 2024. The nomination period opens on July 15, 2024 and closes on Aug. 9, 2024.
