GILROY
– She’s not interested in running a negative campaign or
attacking other candidates. In fact, less than a week ago she
wasn’t even interested in campaigning at all.
GILROY – She’s not interested in running a negative campaign or attacking other candidates. In fact, less than a week ago she wasn’t even interested in campaigning at all.
But Celeste Zamzow says she is honored a group of Gilroy women want her to be this town’s next mayor.
“They’re such a great group of gals. I’m just going to be telling it like it is,” Zamzow said. “My goal is: Get 100 votes.”
Zamzow, 77, has been a Gilroy resident since 1937 but has never sought a city elected office. Her friends and acquaintances decided last week they would campaign for Zamzow as a write-in candidate after their discussion on the upcoming election left them dissatisfied with their choices for mayor. The filing deadline to be included on the ballot was Aug. 13.
The group of women are members of a walkers club called Java Wise. Six days a week the group meets to take walks and then stop for conversation at the First Street Coffee Exchange coffee shop.
Tan and spry, Zamzow walks with them once a week and is looked at as a mentor figure by the women. Zamzow knows some of the women through her involvement with another local social club – the Gilroy Garlic Ladies Investment Club, which meets monthly to make investments together and track the success of their decisions.
“We thought we’d stir up the pot a little bit,” said Frances Huang. “One candidate is too
much estab-lishment. The other is too much on the other side. We want a mayor that’s not for private interests but for the city of Gilroy.”
The group has put together posters and information cards about its candidate, Zamzow said. A letter to the editor has also been sent to local newspapers touting Zamzow as a “fresh, a no-nonsense candidate like the governor elect (Arnold Schwarzenegger).”
In a reference to Schwarzenegger, the information cards read, “If it’s good for California, for Gilroy it’s great!”
Zamzow is a member of two area golf clubs, the Gilroy Assistance League and St. Mary Parish, among other local groups. She is the mother of three adult children and has been widowed for nine years.
The former Bank of America loan officer, she is not a complete stranger to politics. Zamzow is a former Parks and Recreation Commission member and has served on the Notre Dame High School Board of Trustees, the Bellarmine Board of Trustees and the Wheeler Hospital Board of Trustees.
Zamzow does not have a developed campaign platform, but says Gilroy’s most pressing issue should be downtown revitalization.
“I’m ashamed of our main street. I’m not sure if the city has a sign ordinance, but some of these non-professional signs that businesses are using to advertise themselves need to go,” Zamzow said.
