Despite the injection of more than $35,000 in the coffers of the campaign in favor of Measure F—mainly from developers and car dealers—Gilroy voters spoke and the half-cent sales tax increase fell short by more than 550 votes, based on unofficial semi-final results from the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.
Opponents of the tax measure accounted for 55.8 percent of the vote, with 2,682 votes, while supporters garnered 44.2 percent, with 2,128 votes.
“The City Council voted to put it on the ballot to let the people speak, and they spoke,” said Bruce’s Tire owner Eric Howard, who formed the committee opposing the tax measure. “It’s like David going up against Goliath without a slingshot. The odds were stacked so hard against us.”
The city of Gilroy spent more than $126,500 on the services of an Oakland-based consulting firm, the Lew Edwards Group, to get a feeling from residents as to the feasibility of the measure and help prepare campaign materials, among other responsibilities. The Lew Edwards Group also prepared four mailers addressing Measure F, at a cost of roughly $7,000 each, according public records obtained by the Dispatch.
Mayor Don Gage, who first introduced the idea of a tax measure to fund a wide variety of capital improvement projects last year, formed a committee in favor of Measure F and collected $35,420 between Sept. 11 and Oct. 18. On the other hand, Howard’s committee received $10,673.
“Despite what some people might think, this was for the city,” Gage said. “My goal was to put it in front of the voters for them to decide whether they wanted to invest in their community because we’ve got a lot of infrastructure problems that aren’t going to be addressed. The democratic process works and if that’s what they want, that’s what they’ll get.”
Moving forward, Gage is concerned the city doesn’t have the funding necessary to complete a $4 million overhaul of emergency communications equipment that would allow local first responders the ability to keep in contact with county authorities during a disaster. The Council will need to discuss whether to dip into the city’s reserves to complete the project, he said, but the millions in sidewalk and street repairs that would have benefited from the tax revenue cannot be funded.
“There are a significant number of issues we don’t have the money to fix,” Gage added. “As issues come up that need to be addressed, everything has to be put on the table. The council has the responsibility of looking at all the expenditures we have and there may be some we have to cut in order to do things that are most important. There’s not a lot of flexibility left.”
Gage responded to concerns raised by some, like Howard, who questioned why Gilroy’s car dealers and developers—some based in San Jose and Belmont—contributed to a committee supporting raising the sales tax from 8.75 to 9.25 percent.
Leonard Harrington, owner of Gilroy Nissan and Hyundai, contributed $5,000 to the campaign for Measure F early on, and other dealership owners followed. Developers offered up $10,500 to Gage’s committee, public records show.
“Why would all these out of town developers be interested in Gilroy’s sales tax?” Howard asked. “The only thing I could surmise is that they might possibly be looking for a favor down the road—not that by accepting money they’re guaranteeing a favor—but the only thing I could think of is they’re hoping to get a favor down the road.”
Gage said the explanation is simple; they wanted to support Measure F because they believed it would improve the community. Harrington’s donation was a surprise, he said, and that he later wrote a letter to potential donors asking for their help.
“They (car dealers and developers) gave money because when you see an enhanced community with good sidewalks and roads, it attracts more people to the community,” he said. “I sent out a letter and they responded. There’s no secret to it. They were for it and they wanted it. I was surprised with the car dealers because in years past they refused to deal with a raise in sales tax. They feel that would enhance their business more than having to worry about that extra half-cent.”
“They (the city) had the upper hand all the way and it shows, I think, our message made sense to the people,” Howard added. “We pounded the streets, we talked it up and rallied on the corners. We did the things we could do that didn’t cost a lot of money.”
The Gilroy Chamber of Commerce’s Board publicly opposed the measure after the Council voted to place it on the ballot Aug. 4, citing a lack of accountability about how the potential revenue would be spent. Looking to the future, Chamber President and CEO Mark Turner said he’s hopeful the Council and the Chamber can work together, instead of against each other, to better Gilroy.
“It’s not a time to gloat nor a time to point fingers but instead, it’s a time to come together and work together to identify real solutions for the challenges that face Gilroy,” Turner said. “Gilroyans expect their leaders to unite the community, inspire its residents and creatively solve problems. The Chamber of Commerce looks forward to working with city leaders to do just that.”
The Council will hold a retreat in March to set priorities for the upcoming fiscal year, including which of the projects that would have potentially been funded if Measure F passed, Gage said.
“We have a balanced budget and we’ve had a balanced budget,” he added. “The future is balanced, but all the extras that we want—if people say ‘’you’ve got to fix our streets’—we have to go back and look at what we’re going to give up to fix those streets.”
GUSD Board of Education sees injection of new blood
Linda Piceno was checking the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters website until 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning for the results of the GUSD Board race. She fell asleep leading the race, but was unsure of whether or not her lead would hold. She anxiously checked the site again at 6 a.m. when she woke up to discover that she had not only claimed a spot on the board, but garnered 2,982 votes—the most of all the candidates.
“Yesterday was the longest day of my life waiting for 8 o’clock to get here,” she said with a laugh.
Incumbent Jaime Rosso appeared to have won re-election, racking in 18.4 percent of the vote. The race was much tighter between the remaining candidates with just 13 votes separating Heather Bass and Patricia Midtgaard for the final two seats. Bass accounted for 16.9 percent—or 2,617 votes—while Midtgaard pulled in 16.8 percent or 2,604 votes. Incumbent Tom Bundros was on the outside looking in with 16.7 percent and trailed Midtgaard by 26 votes at press time.
This will be Piceno’s first term on the board and though she was thrilled with receiving the most votes, she voiced her disappointment for the low voter turnout. Only 15,425 votes were counted for the GUSD race as of press time.
“As a former social studies teacher, I always push voting,” Piceno said. “I have voter registration forms that I take to meetings and stuff because I just feel so passionately about people voting as their civic responsibility, so that really disappointed me.”
Piceno said it was too early to establish plans for her term, but added she was excited for her new role and responsibilities as a board member. She did, however, note that opening the line of communication between the school community—not just the teachers, but parents and students, too—was a priority.
“One of the things that I want to focus on is better communication and making all members of the school community feel connected to the district and within the district,” she said. “It’s something that’s easily improved.”
Rosso will serve his fourth term on the Board of Education and expressed his excitement for continuing to work with teachers as the transition into Common Core Standards. He also noted planning for Gilroy’s newest elementary school and improving compensation for the district’s teachers as priorities for his term.
“Given the resources that we have, we need to continue to find ways to address that issue for Gilroy,” Rosso said of teacher compensation.
Rosso said he looked forward to serving with the board’s newest members—Piceno and Bass—as well as continuing to serve with Midtgaard and his other fellow board members.
Midtgaard was apprehensive to celebrate given the closeness of the race, especially since absentee ballots were still being counted. Given that the results stand, this will be her second full term on the board. She served from 2004-2008 and rejoined the board in 2012 when she was selected to fill the seat for a trustee who resigned.
The district has been busy making improvements to its facilities through Measure P funds and Midtgaard said she’s looking forward to continuing the work the board has started.
“I would like to see some of the facilities projects that we started completed,” she said. “A lot of our staff is currently being trained and beginning to work in Common Core methodology. It would be good to see good results from that.”
City Council race: Velasco, Leroe-Muñoz and Bracco secure seats
Incumbents claimed two of the three open seats on the Gilroy City Council, and a former council member secured the third seat, based on unofficial semi-final results from the Registrar of Voters.
Roland Velasco, who served two terms as a council member beginning in 1999, secured 22.4 percent of the vote, with 2,370 votes, followed by incumbents Peter Leroe-Muñoz and Dion Bracco with 20.6 percent and 20.3 percent, respectively, with 2,177 and 2,154 votes.
“I’m grateful to the voters for giving me an opportunity and I’m looking forward to representing them,” Velasco told the Dispatch. “My first responsibility is to get on the council and listen. I need to meet with city administrator, talk to him about the budget and any challenges he sees in the short term and take it from there. First off, I owe it to get on the council and listen.”
It was a close call for the third seat, as former council member and current planning commissioner Paul Kloecker received 19.3 percent of the total votes cast, 2,041. Another current planning commissioner, and council newcomer, Tom Fischer tallied 17.5 percent—1,851 total votes, based on the unofficial semi-final results.
“I think it’s a testament for people to take time out of their lives and have their voices heard—and to have them return me to office for another four years is very humbling,” Leroe-Munoz added. “It’s exciting. There are some really good things going on in Gilroy and I’m looking forward to setting campaigning aside and dig into the business of the city.”
“I am also proud of my part in forming the South County Youth Task Force to deter young people from joining gangs—but the work is not finished. I want to continue working with our youth to better our whole community,” Bracco previously told the Dispatch.
