September 23, 2004

Street Talk by Lorraine Gabbert

What are your thoughts about the local candidates?
(Asked at Safeway Shopping Center)



“Rich De La Rosa is a local guy. He’s been a businessman here. He understands how bad things have been over the last few years and what it would take to make them better.”

Eric Carrasquilla
Almaden



“De La Rosa supports the sports complex, and I’m not sure Nancy Pyle does. It would make a huge difference to the community. We don’t have enough fields as it is and the number of kids getting into the sport is growing every year. We need to make sure that we have adequate facilities to grow into in the future.”

Hormoz Ghorbanian
Almaden

“I like Nancy Pyle and I’m planning on voting for her. She’s very friendly and she’s against the sports fields, which I am too. I’m a Democrat, so I’ll probably vote Democrat all the way.”

Linda York
Almaden

“It was disappointing we had to have a run-off for Pyle/De La Rosa – that’s more expenses. I’m having a hard time following Nancy Pyle’s concept of what government should be. I’m having difficulty getting a clear picture of what she does and doesn’t stand behind. De La Rosa, I can get a pretty clear picture of things that he stands for and doesn’t stand for, provided he has an opinion on it. Unfortunately, he’s somewhat new to government, so some of the things we throw out and talk about are new subjects to him and he doesn’t have thoughts on them yet, so it leaves us a little unsure of what his opinion will be. I like De La Rosa. He’s coming into government because he experienced it from the private side, saw some of the issues, and thought he could do a better job of it than is currently being done, and stepped up to the plate. I admire him for having the courage to step up and say, ‘You know, I think I could do better.’”

Alex Fraser
Almaden

“I know Nancy Pyle and I think she’ll do a terrific job for the community. Her platform stresses education and that’s very important for me as a parent of three children, as well as zoning, traffic, crime, and safety issues. I met Nancy two years ago at a dinner and I was impressed with her zeal and the community issues she brought up. I think she’d make an excellent council member.”

John Falcocchila
Almaden

“My husband and I met and talked with Steve Poizner and we’re both very impressed with him. He follows our lines of being conservative fiscally and moderate socially, so we’re probably both going to support him. I think who you vote for locally impacts us here in the Almaden Valley; especially the council members. My biggest concern is education, but I’ve never met a candidate who said they didn’t support education. The parks are also very important to us, as well as the library and the community center—all of those are impacted by local politics.”

Leslie Rousseau
Almaden