Gary Gillmor

Gary Gillmor - Real Estate Broker, Land Baron and Development Lobbyist

Gary G. Gillmor is a former Santa Clara politician (1965-1977) whose massive real estate fortune began building while he was in office and continues to grow to this day. His real estate business located in the Franklin Mall in Santa Clara, employs three current or ex Santa Clara politicians - Kevin Moore, Dominic Caserta and Lisa Gillmor. As of 09/12/07, Gillmor had given money to every city councilmember except Jamie McLeod. Santa Clara politicians paid and promoted by Gary Gillmor and his associates are referred to as being part the "Gillmor Machine".

The San Jose Metro, in a 2007 article on Gillmor said that:

"He has used his political knowledge and experience to attract many of his clients, who pay him a commission only if he gets local governments to approve zoning for their projects. He has done this as a consultant and land-lease agent for two of Santa Clara's biggest developments in the past 15 years."

The same article mentions that Gillmor and his family are generous contributors to Santa Clara politicians. Alarmingly, they have not only given their contributions in cash, but they have been caught giving more cash than is allowed by campaign finance reform. When taken to small claims court over their illegal cash contributions. Gillmor a former Santa Clara mayor and City Council member and his daughter Lisa Gillmor , a former two-term City Council member, both claimed that they had no idea that giving more than $99 in cash to a politician was illegal.

Development Anywhere and Everywhere... Except for My Neighborhood

Gary Gillmor is a 1958 graduate of Santa Clara University who list his bio as:

Gary Gillmor ’58

Gary Gillmor was elected mayor of Santa Clara in 1969 and served two terms. A former high school and college civics teacher, he decided to run for office after successfully fighting a development project in his neighborhood. He was elected to the city council in 1965. His tenure coincided with the pre-Silicon Valley zoning and development decisions that laid the groundwork for burgeoning growth. "Most of the issues before us were zoning, because we had farmland," Gillmor said. "Now there’s no land left...When I started, all north of the Bayshore wasn’t developed."

It would seem ironic that someone who was moved to get into politics after fighting development would ultimately be the most pro-development person in Santa Clara, both as a politician and as a real estate lobbyist, broker and land baron. However, the key phrase is "in his neighborhood". The pro-development crowd, including the current city council, do not develop where they live. Now in his 70's, Gary Gillmor is still pushing development, now with a special push for the huge land holding he has in the Gilroy hills. And Gillmor no longer lives in the city he helped destroy, preferring to call the less developed neighborhoods of Los Gatos home.