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As San Jose Vice Mayor Pat Dando is being forced by term limits to surrender her place on the San Jose City Council, the jockeying to win her seat has already begun.
Three potential candidates for the District 10 seat—Evergreen College District Trustee Nancy Pyle, local businessman Rich De La Rosa and San José State University political science student Alexander Vassar—have each filed an official notice of intent to run for public office in the March 2004 election, according to San Jose City Clerk Patricia O'Hearn.
Filing an intent-to-run notice, the first step in becoming a candidate, allows those considering a political campaign to form election committees and establish campaign bank accounts. The next step is to circulate nomination papers to collect the signatures of 50 to 60 registered voters who live in District 10, which includes Almaden Valley and Blossom Valley. Those papers may be circulated between Nov. 10 and Dec. 5, at which time the candidate must file the papers with the clerk to become an official candidate on the March 2, 2004 ballot.
Pyle, who declined to state her age, is a teacher and licensed Realtor who has run for council twice before. She was raised on a dairy farm in upstate New York and has lived in District 10 for nearly 25 years; she currently lives in Almaden Valley.
De La Rosa, 51, who owns an insurance business and is the president of a family-run Latin-American import company, has lived in San Jose all his life. He currently lives in the Santa Teresa/Foothill area. This would be De La Rosa's first run for political office.
Vassar, 22, grew up in unincorporated Santa Cruz County between Prunedale and Watsonville. He is a senior at San José State and has lived in Blossom Valley for two years. He has not run for political office before.
Another District 10 resident who is considering a run is former city council member Claude Fletcher. Fletcher, who is the chancellor of Valley Christian Schools, served on the council from 198084. "I am very seriously looking at running," he said.
The election is set for March 2, 2004, and if no candidate receives a majority of all votes cast, a runoff between the top two candidates will be held on Nov. 2, 2004. The four-year term will begin in January of 2005.
San Jose City Council members earn a salary of $75,000 a year.
Dando, who is being termed out, first won election to the District 10 seat in 1995 and was reelected in 2000. She was appointed vice mayor in January of this year.
Nancy Pyle's campaign website is http://www.nancypyle.net. Alexander Vassar's campaign website is http://www.vote.alexvassar.com. Rich De Le Rosa's website is under development.
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