GILROY
– A network of nearly 100 unions is endorsing Lupe Arellano for
Gilroy mayor and her older brother Peter Arellano, Paul Correa and
Mark Dover for City Council in the November election.
GILROY – A network of nearly 100 unions is endorsing Lupe Arellano for Gilroy mayor and her older brother Peter Arellano, Paul Correa and Mark Dover for City Council in the November election.
The South Bay AFL-CIO announced its endorsements last week. While the recommendations have not made or broken campaigns, the union nod and the additional votes it can generate may give a candidate the edge he or she could need in a tight election race.
In Gilroy, seven candidates are vying for three open City Council seats. Two of the hopefuls are incumbents, two more have run once before and one of three newcomers to City Council politics is a seasoned Gavilan College school board trustee.
As for the mayoral race, Lupe Arellano, who is taking on City Councilman Al Pinheiro, is under pressure from the city and the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission over failing to disclose her campaign finances for the past two years.
She owes $700 in fines to the city for her failure to file conflict of interest and campaign donor forms. On Wednesday, Arellano delivered the paperwork related to her 2001 Council campaign, but the city has yet to receive the paperwork for her failed 1999 mayoral bid.
The AFL-CIO endorsements come after an Aug. 13 meeting in Gilroy where candidates were interviewed by union members. Candidates also filled out questionnaires regarding their qualifications and stances on various issues.
The candidates were endorsed based on their support for affordable housing issues and their ability to make their community a better quality place to work and live, according to AFL-CIO spokeswoman Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins.
“In general, we endorse people who we believe will help working families,” Ellis-Lamkins said.
Longtime union employee and 27-year Gilroy resident Bruce Morasca did not get AFL-CIO approval for his City Council bid.
“I’m disappointed. That’s a big endorsement,” said Morasca, a clerk at the Albertsons in Morgan Hill. “I’m going to move on, this is just one setback.”
Morasca declined to comment in detail, but admitted the union “pressured” him to pull out of the race. He said the union never threatened he would lose his job.
Ellis-Lamkins did not comment on the decision not to support Morasca.
