Choose Roland Velasco
Voters should elect Roland Velasco for the Gilroy City Council. I have worked with Roland in my role as a South Santa Clara County Fire Commissioner and as a former Planning Commissioner in the City of Gilroy. I’ve seen first-hand his willingness to ask the tough questions and hold individuals accountable for their decisions. While I may not always agree with his positions, I know that he’ll work to see both sides of an issue and come to his own independent conclusion based upon what he feels is in the best interest of the community.
There are many decisions that will come before the City Council and we need someone who will bring a balanced perspective.
Roland is the kind of public servant that Gilroy deserves: Someone that will work through issues by being fair, approachable and responsive. We are lucky to have such a community-minded person willing to serve on the City Council.
Please join me in voting for Roland Velasco. You can also visit rolandvelasco.com to learn more about him.
Joan M. Lewis, Gilroy
Vote yes on Measure F
I am a Measure F supporter and you should be too!
I will be voting YES on measure F—half of a percent sales tax increase—and I invite our community to do the same! I write this as a person of faith, a community stakeholder supporting community members residing in the parts of our City that need the most support, and as a representative of the various nonprofits I am involved with. I vote to improve our community and keep Gilroy a safe place to live!
Our city has an exhausted police department that cannot take advantage of opportunities to work with the community because they are so strained; sidewalks and a downtown that are in much need of a makeover; and very little services geared to our at-risk youth and larger impoverished community. Other than the new South County Youth Task Force, which I am a part of, there is very little support for our troubled youth. There is little support for our brothers and sisters returning from jails and prisons. Gilroy has the highest re-entry population (those returning from jails and prisons) per capita in Santa Clara County! Gilroy has the highest percentage of reported domestic violence in the County and yet very little localized intervention services. Gilroy is plagued with the highest percentage of truancy in the County. Per capita, Gilroy has 40 percent more validated and associated gang members than San Jose. The bulk of services to support this large population are outside of Gilroy and South County, making it difficult to obtain.
Let’s face it: County dollars do not make it to Gilroy to match the level of need. We need a local approach and solution to our local issues. We cannot rely on isolated grants to keep these limited programs going. It is not sustainable.
We need solid local preventive and outreach programs and jobs, to give our youth and re-entry community alternatives to crime and violence. We need to spend money to invest in our future and reduce growing community violence. Current street violence is up 20 percent from last year and we are only in October. Our police communication system hasn’t been updated since 2002 and it would take millions of dollars to make it to par with neighboring cities. In case of an emergency, Gilroy is alienated because our police communication system is not connected to the rest of the Bay Area.
Several cities have had tax measures, such as Measure F, to support their programming and infrastructure repairs—look up Santa Rosa, Oakland and Vallejo. It is time we take a local approach and responsibility over our issues. Measure F is not going to discourage people from shopping in Gilroy. The majority of Outlet shoppers are out-of-towners and I don’t believe they will drive to Salinas and spend more on gas to get a slightly lower sales tax rate. What will deter people from coming to Gilroy are higher crime rates, higher rates of homelessness and the visibly increased graffiti on our public streets. We will get there unless we intervene.
I envision a Gilroy that is thriving! I envision a Gilroy with free youth programming and non-traditional recreation services for our vulnerable youth. This is a community issue, it is not “their” problem as I often hear. Let’s be part of the solution and not create division among each other. I have found that we are more of the same than we are different. What we hate we ultimately become unless we embrace all of our community and stand for a better Gilroy together. Churches, grants, local government nor businesses can fix the problems alone. But together we can ensure that the revenue coming in will fund what is suppose to.
I’m voting yes on Measure F. I ask you to walk with me and help build up our City.
Jesse Jimenez, Gilroy
F will make a better Gilroy
I’m voting FOR measure F because it is a great opportunity to make Gilroy a better place to live. It will provide long needed money to fix roads and sidewalks—and if your road doesn’t need fixing right now, it most likely will sometime in the next 15 years. Measure F will help with gang diversion by funding recreation programs for teens, giving them something to do rather than join a gang.
Right now, the city of Gilroy doesn’t have the money to upgrade two fire stations to earthquake standards or bring its emergency communications systems up-to-date—two critical parts of our community’s emergency response system that we want to be in top operating condition if an emergency strikes. Measure F can pay for that.
Most cities in California are struggling financially because of the recession, long-term obligations and tax money that traditionally went to cities now is required to go to Sacramento. Measure F is a smart response. Because it is a Gilroy-only measure, Sacramento can’t take any of it. There are annual audits to make sure the money is being spent properly and a Citizens Oversight Committee. Because most of the sales taxes paid in Gilroy are paid by visitors to the Outlets, almost 70 percent of the Measure F monies will come from people outside of Gilroy. It comes to one penny on two dollars of taxable purchases (nothing on food or medications).
I think it is well worth it for a safer, better Gilroy!
Sherri Stuart, Gilroy
F supports vital services
The Gilroy Youth Task Force is proud to support Measure F because it will make our city safer.
This locally-controlled source of funding will provide the resources necessary to pay for vital public services, such as replacing obsolete emergency communications equipment. Currently, the Gilroy Police and Fire Departments use a communications network that is 20 years old. In an emergency, police officers and firefighters need the tools and communications equipment to quickly and effectively respond to the needs of our citizens. Gilroy needs to be a part of the region-wide emergency communication system so we can obtain the resources needed in a disaster.
Measure F will also fund a safer Gilroy by providing money for gang prevention programs in our local schools and community. Funding for programs such as the South County Youth Task Force will ensure that our youth are given the opportunity and resources to participate in safe and rewarding activities that provide alternatives to drugs gangs, and other criminal activity. Our children deserve the investment that Measure F will provide.
Measure F will provide the funding necessary to pursue these and other projects and programs which will make our community more productive, more secure and safer.
Please join the Gilroy Youth Task Force in voting Yes on Measure F!
Peter Leroe-Muñoz, president, Gilroy Youth Task Force
Say no to Measure F
The ballot language for Measure F was made available to the public at the last possible moment required by law. The City Council put Measure F on the ballot on the last possible day. This made it impossible for anybody who does not support this ill-conceived blank-check for the city council to submit a ballot opposition statement. Why is the city council trying to prevent public dialog? What are they trying to hide?
The 75-word ballot description of Measure F is full of mom, apple pie and public safety platitudes. But there is nothing in the full-text of the ordinance (deeply buried on the City’s website) that requires the council to spend the money for these services.
The council could have specified the tax could only be used to meet the stated needs, but that would have required a 2/3 vote to pass. The majority of specific ballot measures in California have met the 2/3 vote threshold, but as a general tax, this and future Gilroy city councils can spend the $7 million new tax dollars per year from Measure F on virtually anything they want.
In the face of citizen opposition to Measure F, the council created a citizen committee to review how they have spent our tax money. They call it an “oversight committee,” but review is not oversight. The council’s motion creating the committee includes a list of items the council can spend Measure F tax money on. Included on the list is “essential city services.” Since the city council believes everything in the budget is essential, they can spend the money essentially on anything, including increased pensions for city staff, new chairs and iPads for council members, etc.
Salinas voters will address Measure G, a one-percent general tax designed to do much of what Gilroy’s Measure F claims to do. Measure G includes a real oversight committee that will make recommendations each year before the council decides how to spend the money.
The Gilroy Chamber of Commerce voted to oppose Measure F primarily because of the lack of oversight. The Salinas Chamber of Commerce voted unanimously to support Measure G because of true oversight and confidence that the money would be spend on essential city needs.
A sales tax is the most regressive form of tax, taking a higher percentage of household income from those least able to afford it. Measure F will give Gilroy the highest sales tax rate in Santa Clara County. The mayor frequently talks about Gilroy being the poorest city in Santa Clara County. Making Gilroy’s working families and unemployed pay the highest sales tax in the County is not going to help. Driving away business from Gilroy’s small businesses is not going to help.
According to the City’s website, sales tax receipts for the most recent quarter are up 8 percent over last year and are now higher than they were before the recession. According to the city administrator’s 2014-15 budget transmittal letter, the budget is “wholly balanced” and “exceeds the City Council’s reserve policy goals of maintaining a minimum unrestricted general fund reserve of 25 percent of expenditures as well as an economic stability reserve of 15 percent of general fund expenditures. This budget allocates the necessary funding to achieve Council’s vision of Gilroy being a safe and family friendly community and a great place to live.”
Gilroy does have challenges, but the current situation is not dire, and there are better ways to solve them. Send the city council back to the drawing board and vote No on Measure F.
Terry Feinberg, Gilroy
Re-elect Dion Bracco
Please join me in voting to re-elect Councilman Dion Bracco on Nov. 4.
Councilman Bracco has been a strong voice for taxpayers, families and local businesses during his years on the Council. He has insisted on fiscally-responsible budgets and reserves, opposed huge water rate increases and helped implement reforms to public employee pensions.
In addition, he has worked to make it easier for companies to locate here and create jobs by reforming the regulatory and permitting processes so that the system is more “business-friendly” and less complicated to navigate.
Mayor Don Gage, Supervisor Mike Wasserman, Councilmembers Perry Woodward, Terri Aulman and Cat Tucker and the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce all agree that it is very important that we keep Dion Bracco on the Council. I agree and you should too!
Danny Rubalcava, Gilroy
Vote no on Prop 47
Every two years, Californians face difficult decisions when deciding which candidates and state propositions to support. While there are high-profile issues like the state water bond or the attempt to raise monetary damages for medical lawsuits that have garnered a lot of attention, one proposition is relatively unknown despite the wide-ranging impacts it can have on our communities.
Proposition 47 will significantly alter criminal sentencing for what the initiative’s backers describe as low-level crimes. However if you read the fine print of Prop 47, it reveals that an estimated 10,000 prisoners currently serving time could now be eligible for early release. This is because Prop 47 changes convictions for “nonserious” and “nonviolent” property and drug crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, which results in significantly less time served. It also allows inmates currently serving time for these crimes to apply to have their sentences reduced retroactively. In fact the way the initiative is written, it essentially mandates the release of many criminals currently incarcerated for these crimes.
Some crimes that would be eligible for reduced sentences under Prop 47 are stealing a gun, possession of heroin, assault, child abuse or identity theft just to name a few. As a resident of Gilroy, I know that I do not want a flood of criminals released early back into our community. This is something that we have already been forced to experience under prison realignment and now is not the time to release even more dangerous individuals.
Prop 47 is opposed by every major law enforcement and crime victim’s organization in the state because of the huge risk it would take with our communities’ safety. Backers of the proposal argue it is needed to reduce the state’s prison population and the offenders would be better served in outside rehabilitation programs. However, I believe this relies on a false premise as prosecutors and judges already have tools to divert low-level offenders away from jail time.
Following prison realignment, most of the petty criminals have already been released in order to ease overcrowding, so those who remain in jail and prison are the most dangerous. We should not give them a get out of jail card and take a risk with our community’s safety. Punishment for crimes is meant to be a deterrent, but this does not work if it is only a slap on the wrist.
I urge all voters to take a close look at Prop 47 and vote “no” this November.
Roland Velasco, Gilroy, candidate for City Council
