Candidate for
Council Member; City of San Jose; Council District 7

BETH GONZALES BIOGRAPHY

30 Year Resident: Beth Gonzales is a 30-year resident of San Jose where she has been an effective leader for our community. She has dedicated her life to helping others + kids, working families and the disadvantaged.

High School Teacher: Beth has been a teacher for 31 years. She has taught at Foothill High School (1982-1991), Overfelt High School (1992-2002) and now teaches at Oak Grove High School (2002-present). During her tenure, Beth has served as a proud union member of the East Side Teacher's Association, a branch of the California Teacher's Association. Beth has been a strong supporter of the union's efforts to obtain a livable wage and benefits for teachers in the San Jose area.

Active Community Member: Beth is also an active member and former chair of People Acting in Community Together (PACT). PACT is a faith and community based organization that works to empower people to fight for affordable housing and health care, better schools and lower crime in San Jose neighborhoods to create a better quality of life. One of Beth's proudest achievements with PACT was joining forces in 2000 with Working Partnerships USA to secure $1 million for the Santa Clara County Children's Health Initiative (CHI). CHI makes health insurance accessible and affordable for kids in low-income families. Gonzales led the effort to secure another $1 million from the county in 2001. As a result, the number of uninsured children in Santa Clara County dropped 62% by 2002. Today, there are 13,000 children served through CHI.

Positive Outcomes from Involvement: Other achievements working with PACT and their allies include: obtaining and directing $14 million from the sale of Alexian Brothers Hospital to provide health care for poor and indigent families, creating 210 homework centers in San Jose and leading the fight for funding to construct the Alum Rock Youth Center.

Mercury News, June 15, 2000 - Board OKs Kids' Insurance Funds Santa Clara County Supervisors Allocate $3 Million in Tobacco Money

Mercury News, April 13, 2003 - Alum Rock District thinking big with small-school plan (Full Report)

Working for Our Community: Beth has a long history of collaborating with San Jose Mayors and City Councilmembers to fix our community's problems. She worked with former Mayor Susan Hammer on her efforts to improve services in East Side, San Jose. Beth served on Mayor Ron Gonzales Task Force on Affordable Housing and worked closely with elected officials on programs like SAGE (School Age Growth and Enrichment), the gang prevention program BEST (Bringing Everyone's Strengths Together) and Project Crackdown.

Educational Background: Beth received a B.A. in English and History from the University of California Berkeley in 1972 and earned her teaching credential in 1973. The oldest of six children, she grew up outside Green Bay, Wisconsin and in San Rafael, California, where her parents taught her the values of community involvement, hard work and helping others.

Family: Beth resides in McLaughlin Corridor with her husband David. David spent 25 years in the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office and in the Department of Corrections as a union member of the Deputy Sheriff's Association and as an administrator. Now he serves as the Executive Director of St. Vincent DePaul Society of San Jose. Beth has two grown children, Teresa and Matthew, and is the proud grandmother of Rudy, her two-year old grandson.