GILROY
– Will the Garlic Capital of the World also become the
testosterone capital?
Maybe so. Over at least the next year’s time, the city’s two
main political bodies will lack representation from female
members.
GILROY – Will the Garlic Capital of the World also become the testosterone capital?
Maybe so. Over at least the next year’s time, the city’s two main political bodies will lack representation from female members.
The sole woman on the Gilroy Unified School District board of trustees is stepping down this November, with none lined up in the field of six challengers to replace her. And no woman emerged victorious from last November’s City Council election, marking the first time in 25 years that a female hasn’t served on that body.
Observers of Gilroy’s political leadership climate tapped by The Dispatch say while there’s not necessarily anything wrong with men as leaders, the absence of women can mean two things:
• a loss of direct representation of a certain, important group of people that make up at least half of the city’s population, and
• the potential absence of a certain leadership style and viewpoint that women tend to call their own.
“I’m sorry that no women are running,” said Connie Rogers, a former councilwoman who’s also a member of the American Association of University Women, a nonprofit group which promotes education and equity for women. “After all, we’re 50 percent of the population. And in my experience on the City Council, I really think often – not all the time, but often – there are big gender differences in the way men and women look at things.”
There’s a definite difference in interaction when women aren’t present on a leadership board, said Elena Dorabji, a political science professor at San Jose State University who specializes in politics, women and society.
Dorabji said research has shown that men are still trained in our society to make lots of money and have lots of power, while expectations for women still center around roles as mothers and caretakers.
When both women and men serve on a leadership board, they tend to compliment each other, she said, with women toning men down and reminding them more about more liberal, social causes and longer-term perspectives.
“When that (latter) voice is absent, you really do get more of a macho orientation,” she said.
Terry Christensen, another SJSU professor who specializes in local government, said women in political leadership do feel they prefer to develop consensus by working together rather than going “head to head” over issues or disagreements.
Gilroy women in leadership roles tend to agree.
Susan Valenta, executive director of the city’s Chamber of Commerce and a founding director of the Leadership Gilroy training program, thinks women bring a unique perspective.
“Womens’ life experiences lend themselves to be nurturers, consensus-builders, individuals who research closely and try to build consensus,” Valenta said. “They also have the life experiences, for the most part, working closely with the family unit and bringing that out to the community arena …
“We often use the term ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ and I think women bring that to the table.”
Rogers agrees women tend to take a more collaborative approach.
“Men tend to say ‘I know what I want, so by God I’m going to get it,’ ” she said. “They’re more worried about saving face or appearing to be correct.”
The different styles could be because women and men get involved for different reasons.
Women) are more interested in dealing with social issues like education and ending poverty, Dorabji said.
“They aren’t as law-and-order oriented,” she said.
Men are more likely to plug in through civic organizations like the Chamber of Commerce or business, Christensen said, while women tend to get started through family- and child-related issues such as schools, neighborhood parks or the lack of a stop sign at a dangerous intersection.
“They’re really classic grass-roots politics, and they’re coming from the neighborhoods,” he said.
Rogers agrees social causes often lead women into politics.
“They don’t tend to get involved until a little later in life … when they have more time, and their perspective has broadened beyond the family to see how other institutions (work), things like providing parks and housing and parks and rec. programs,” she said.
The next year’s absence of women on Gilroy’s political boards may just be a fluke. After all, the city does have a recent history of heavy female political involvement, ranging from former Mayor and Councilwoman Roberta Hughan who served in the 1970s and 80s – to former GUSD board presidents M.A. Bowe and Jane Howard, who is running this November as the Republican challenger to incumbent Simon Salinas for State Assembly.
Statewide, women made up roughly 37 percent of local elected officials – city councilmembers, mayors and county supervisors – in 2001, Christensen said.
There are also several women on the city’s Planning Commission – a natural precursor to the Council – as well as three women running for seven seats on the Gavilan College Board of Trustees. And this November, Wendie Schulenburg will reportedly become the city of Gilroy’s highest-ranking female city staff member to date when she takes over as the new community development director.
There are also existing opportunities for women to gain skills and knowledge to serve as leaders, Valenta said. The nine-month Leadership Gilroy program couples opportunities to investigate community issues such as public safety and economic development with training on skills ranging from public speaking to time management and team-building.
In fact, Valenta estimated the program has generally boasted a 50/50 women-men split – including this year.
But the observers also wonder if the lack of women on Gilroy’s high-profile boards could also be indicative of different set of challenges women face as leaders.
While people of both sexes may have less time to serve in today’s busy, two-wage-earner climate – especially during a slow economy – women may face different time constraints.
Although we’ve experienced a lot of social change, the expectation is that women are still primary caregivers in families, Christensen said. When they run for office, males often have to make a significant adjustment about who’s caring for the kids at home, he noted.
