Editorial:
When the list of candidates came out for Chula Vista City Council, Seat 2, at first we dreaded the thought of having to make a tough decision between qualified candidates, all of whom we have come to know over the years. The decision, it turned out, wasn’t as tough as anticipated. The one person who stood out head and shoulders above all others was Jill Galvez.
Ms. Galvez has the right mix of practical business experience and knowledge as vice-president of a telecommunications company, a great love for Chula Vista, years of community volunteerism, involvement, and activism. She is a bipartisan candidate with Democratic roots, an advocate for social justice and women’s rights, and a fiscal conservative. Equally important we have known Ms Galvez for over a decade as a supporter, as a neighbor, as a friend, and as a person who has only the best interests of Chula Vista at heart.
What the City of Chula Vista needs is a strong council person who has a plan, a vision to turn around the fiscal crises the City of Chula Vista faces. The council needs to address the projected $20 million dollar debt, create opportunities for jobs, and bring back the 600 jobs cut from city staffing. Job cuts have affected library hours, police and fire staffing levels, and have contributed to the ever persistent pot hole problem, to name a few.
One thing the economic collapse demonstrated is that Chula Vista is dependent on revenue generated from new home development. There has been a lack of business development. As Ms Galvez has often stated in this campaign, Chula Vista is the 14th largest city in the state and the only major California city without a major corporation headquartered in the city. The city is also missing out on the thousands of jobs that are generated by small businesses.
Galvez’s plan is simple in concept but takes a council person who will roll up their sleeves and do the work of reaching out, calling corporations, small and mid-size business owners, and selling them on the opportunities available here in Chula Vista. Jill Galvez is the only candidate who has the experience and practical knowledge as a career business person to make this happen. Galvez often states that politicians don’t create jobs, businesses create jobs, and her plan is to bring new businesses into the city that generates jobs.
Jill Galvez is bipartisan in her approach with the ability to reach across political party lines and work in the best interest of the whole community. She stood tall against the tax increase initiative last year which would have hurt the small business man and saw it as a regressive tax that would have hurt the middle class and low income families. She believes in the 20 year vision developed by the community and wants to see it come to fruition. And she believes in a well-planned community that can achieve both goals of business development and respect for quality of life issues in neighborhoods.
She is an advocate for a four-year university in East Chula Vista and for the bay front project. Both projects will take a council person who is not beholden to special interests and who will work to see that the community’s vision becomes reality.
Jill Galvez is a community activist who has joined forces with other community members to preserve the quality of life for local neighborhoods. She is an advocate for quality education in our school districts and volunteers at the middle school as the Science Olympiad parent leader, helping to develop the program at Hilltop Middle. Jill has frequently volunteered and worked with Peter Watry, visiting local elementary schools to bring to life the history of Chula Vista for third grade students. Her husband, Victor Galvez, serves on the board of the Old Globe Theatre. Jill has volunteered for years and the Galvez’s have shown their home as a part of the Annual Chula Vista Historic Home Tour.
Jill Galvez is precisely who the citizens of Chula Vista need as their next council person, someone who has a real plan, the knowledge and background, and the willingness to do the work. She is the right person who is not beholden to partisan politics or special interests, other than the interest of the citizens of Chula Vista.
We endorse and support Jill Galvez for Chula Vista City Council, Seat 2.