Pledging to provide “Leadership with Integrity” and fight for greater political accountability, transparency and local control, Planning Commissioner Kelly Ramirez has entered the race for Gilroy City Council in the November 2024 election.
Ramirez, a resident of Gilroy since her freshman year in high school, is a retired teacher, former Executive Director of the Mount Madonna YMCA and former Chief Development Officer for the YWCA, Silicon Valley. She has also served as the Retail Chairperson for the Gilroy Garlic Festival and, as Chair of the American Cancer Society’s Gilroy Relay for Life, brought this important event to the city in the late 1990s. Additionally, she’s a member of the Board of Directors of the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association and Gilroy Rotary. She is married with three children and three grandchildren.
“Gilroy is my home and Gilroy is my passion. I am committed to making this community a place of opportunity and achievement for all our residents. This means local control – not state mandates – of land use planning, a thriving downtown sector and clean, safe neighborhoods where public safety has the resources and tools to do their job,” she said. She also emphasized the need for consensus-building on the council and strengthening the public’s respect for governmental institutions.
Ramirez has already been endorsed by Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley, former Mayor Don Gage, Councilmembers Dion Bracco, Tom Cline, and Carol Marques, former Councilmember Cat Tucker and retired Gilroy Police Chiefs Denise Sellers Turner and Scot Smithee, among others.
More information on Kelly’s campaign is available by visiting https://www.kelly4council.com/