With half of Gilroy’s city council seats up for reelection, three incumbents hope to hold on to their seats against three newcomers in an open election where voters have the potential to keep the current council intact or completely reshape the dais.
Both of the self-identified progressive Councilmembers Rebeca Armendariz and Zach Hilton, are up for reelection, as well as Fred Tovar, who has often been a swing vote in the council chambers.
“There’s a lot more at stake in this election,” said Armendariz. “The culture and the approach towards the most vulnerable folks are what’s at risk … It scares me what will happen if we don’t retain our seats.”
However, newcomers Stefanie Elle, Terence Fugazzi, and Kelly Ramirez hope to offer a new perspective to the council and work more collaboratively with the mayor and current council to move legislation forward.
“Everybody (on the council) has brought forward some great ideas and some good concerns, but there seems to be some lack of being able to work together,” said Elle. “I think we’re going to be able to hopefully find more common ground and move things forward.”
Regardless of the outcome of the election, newly-elected councilmembers will have to face a slew of challenges for Gilroy.
The city faces a stark shortage of firefighters and police officers – whose numbers have been virtually unchanged over the past decade, even as the population of the city has grown and its calls for service have ballooned. While a ballot measure looks to shore up some of that lack of funding, it will fall short of what is needed to grow public safety to the levels needed by the city.
Gilroy also contains the largest homeless population per capita in the county, according to county data from last year, and will continue to weigh quality of life issues, camp sweeps, and aid in addressing homelessness.
In the coming years, the council will wrestle with ongoing questions of how to manage the city’s budget and attract new business in the face of shrinking sales tax revenue and how to manage housing demand in a growing city.
Rebeca Armendariz
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Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
