Rebeca Armendariz recall election could cost city of Gilroy up to $2 million
By Marty Cheek
Retired Gilroy teacher Kelly Ramirez trusts in the democratic process. That’s why she has spent her summer months encouraging local voters to sign a petition to recall Gilroy Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz.
Rebeca Armendariz
Ramirez and the other Recall Rebeca Armendariz organizers believe they will collect the required minimum 6,217 valid signatures (20 percent of the 31,082 registered Gilroy voters) to submit to the city clerk by the 5 p.m. Oct. 12 deadline.
The recall effort is a response to Armendariz’s conduct before, during and after the shooting of four young people at a large private party held at her Las Animas Avenue home Oct. 30. The gunfire resulted in the immediate death of 18-year-old Michael Daniel Zuniga-Macias. Jesse Sanchez, 19, was made a quadriplegic from the gunfire and died from his injuries May 27.
Gilroy police are investigating.
If the recall initiative succeeds and the city holds a special election next year, the cost to taxpayers will be high. According to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, a standalone mail ballot election is estimated to cost between $497,388 and $808,256. A standalone vote center and mail ballot election is estimated to cost between $1,243,274 and $2,020,320.
At the Sept. 19 Gilroy City Council meeting, Mayor Marie Blankley requested an item placed on the agenda in a future meeting for councilmembers to consider asking Armendariz to resign if the recall effort goes to an election. The councilmembers voted 5-2 (Armendariz and Zach Hilton against) to place it on the agenda for consideration.
Armendariz did not provide comment for this story after several requests.
Ramirez felt compelled to start the movement after she read an independent report released in April. It concluded Armendariz violated several city codes, including the city of Gilroy’s social accountability host ordinance. It found she assisted her son and underage nephew in organizing the party where alcohol was served.
An estimated 150 people attend a vigil at a candle memorial for 18-year-old Michael Daniel Zuniga-Macias, who was shot and killed during a Halloween party on the property of Gilroy Councilwoman Rebeca Armendariz. Photo courtesy Dori Ann Prado
“I read the report. I can’t even put into words how upsetting it was to read how damning it was toward an elected official representing me and my community,” Ramirez said. “There were a lot of people on their computers online saying, ‘recall, recall,’ but no one was doing anything. So I said, ‘You know what. You better step up.’”
The acts Rebeca committed and her “absolute lack of accountability” did not sit well with Ramirez. An independent report released after months of investigation outlines the level of involvement Armendariz had planning the event, which was publicized on social media and had between 80 and 100 guests. These included text messages with her son giving him information about who to contact about the lot across the street for overflow parking and the rental of a portable restroom. The report also found Armendariz inappropriately used city-owned barricades.
The committee has six members, including Gilroy resident Bob Weaver and former city councilmember Kat Tucker. About 50 people have volunteered walking precincts to gather signatures or positioned at strategic locations including Nob Hill supermarket and the downtown Gilroy summer music series. A hired contractor is also providing people in gathering the signatures.
“We are on track to reaching the 6,217 number,” Weaver said. “We have a goal of making that number and more.” The group needs to go over the goal by a few hundred because of the “throw out rate” for those petitions that don’t get through the vetting process, he said.
Many Gilroy residents expressed frustration when Armendariz did not leave her elected office post immediately after the shooting, Tucker said. She described being asked by people in the community: “Why isn’t she stepping down? Why isn’t she resigning?”
Several residents attended council meetings and demanded Armendariz leave. Some have also demanded the other councilmembers kick Armendariz off the council. The elected officials cannot legally take that action.
Tucker is a former youth minister at St. Mary Church who knew some of the victims’ family members. She felt obliged to join the committee.
“When there’s a death, and when it’s a youth — you know what, families have to have someone step up for them,” she said.
Ramirez insists the recall has nothing to do with politics. She started the initiative because she feels firmly it is the right thing for the community to do.
“This comes down to integrity, character, honesty, accountability, right and wrong — two young men died,” she said.
The question she believes the recall asks is: “Does Rebeca represent the community?”
Ramirez emphasizes that from the strong positive response she’s received in the recall — including from many Latino residents of Gilroy — that the answer is “no.”
“I will tell you, the community wants her to step down,” she said. “And if she were truly a public servant, she would do that.”
Often, Ramirez finds herself asking: “What the hell did I get myself into?” At those times, she thinks about the night she went to the city council meeting to present the notice of intent document to Armendariz. She met a woman whose teenage son had been friends with Zuniga Macias since kindergarten. While talking to the mother, she heard the boy say sadly, “Yeah, no one cares.”
“When I get overwhelmed and I think, ‘What am I doing?'” she said, “I think of that young man and I think, until five o’clock Oct. 12, I’m going to work as hard as I can, because the youth in this community, they need to know the adults and the people who have the right to vote in this community do care.”
