Monthly Archives: October 2016

After construction delays put off the opening by a couple months, BookBuyers, one of the Bay Area’s largest and oldest independent used bookstores is now open in downtown Gilroy.“People are so excited to have a bookstore in downtown again,” said Connie Drosdat, a Gilroy resident and one of more than a dozen volunteers who have helped BookBuyers open its doors at 7541 Monterey St, the former Dick Bruhn building.The last bookshop in downtown Gilroy was Garlic City Books at 7490 Monterey St, now Amoretto Boutique. It closed in 2011.“It feels like home, and it’s big,” said Lisa Griffin, a Mountain View resident and former patron of the bookstore when it was part of that city’s vibrant Castro Street for 23 years.After driving around the Peninsula—even stopping in Half Moon Bay—for a suitable bookseller and finding no one that had what she needed, she decided to visit Gilroy.“Most of the used bookstores around Mountain View are really small and the variety is not there, and most don’t sell or trade graphic novels,” said Griffin.While just a third of the bookshops 300,000 titles are currently on the shelves, it was the work of Gilroy’s volunteers that helped make it happen.“I’m so happy with the turnout from all the volunteers that have been helping us,” said Punita Ajaya, who co-owns the shop with her husband, Hotranatha. The booksellers had to close their Mountain View shop earlier this year because of rising rents and the prospect of a citywide $15 minimum wage increase. Many of the coffee shops and bookstores, like BookBuyers, which used to stay open late as part of the bustling Castro Street nightlife, have been replaced with a selection of high-end restaurants.But Mountain View’s loss is Gilroy’s gain, and the enthusiasm is palpable among city residents. Over the last couple months, dozens have volunteered hours unpacking boxes, setting up shelves and stacking books.“We’ve got an enormous amount of books to get out,” said Hotranatha Ajaya.The shop currently has fully stocked literature, psychology, and arts—including the performing arts and multimedia—sections. Most of history is up and there are some shelves of mass-market paperbacks, a portion of the 500 boxes still in storage, he said.“It’s what’s been missing downtown,” said Sheila Smith, whose daughter Abigail suggested they help out the Ajayas, the shop’s only staff, after meeting the soft-spoken couple at an earlier downtown event.“It’s a nice place to go,” continued Smith. “It’s not a restaurant or a bar so no one is rushing you. You can just go and take your time browsing—two minutes or two hours.”And it’s not just Gilroyans who have stepped up to support downtown’s latest addition, but BookBuyers loyal patrons from the Peninsula and north county.“We are very excited about their new location and have come to volunteer so they can open faster,” said Gayle Ng, who drove from San Jose with her husband Charlie to help out. “They are nice people that inspire a lot of loyalty.”At last count, 223 people contributed just over $15,000 to a Gofundme campaign to help cover BookBuyers’ moving costs. The Ajayas have also gone through $75,000 of their own savings.“There is so much potential here. Once it gets finished there will be lots for people to do,” said volunteer George Vanecek.A clean, well-lighted place for reading, browsing and exploring new ideas is just one of the uses for the 6,500-square-foot bookstore.The Ajayas envision a community space, intergenerational and welcoming to all.Hotranatha Ajaya talked about hosting family reading time, author talks, open mics for new, unpublished authors, math meet-ups for kids and the adults who have to help them with their homework—an assortment of events for the entire family.“There will be the whole family,” said Hotranatha Ajaya. “I just really love that idea. Family, community—it’s good stuff.”BookBuyers is located at 7541 Monterey St, Gilroy. It’s open six days a week, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and closed Tuesday.  

PG&E officials were confronted with a big, angry crowd Tuesday night during a public meeting to discuss plans for a substation that could be built in the bucolic Gilroy countryside.Nearly 200 residents from the winding Redwood Retreat Road area, a county-designated scenic lane and tourist-oriented wine trail at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains west of the city, aimed barbed and blunt questions at approximately six sometimes uneasy company spokespersons, engineers and subject experts.The energy giant plans to build a new substation in South County to ensure reliable service and avoid massive blackouts as the area grows. It has picked eight potential sites, most in and around Morgan Hill.But it’s the lone Gilroy option, a 10-acre parcel on Redwood Retreat Road, home of endangered and protected species of wildlife, fragile riparian grassland and mountain habitats that has residents and others, including Native Americans, fighting mad and fighting back.“This is the most sensitive area in the watershed, what are you thinking?” demanded an incredulous Herman Garcia to thunderous applause from the overflow crowd just after 7 p.m. in a reception room at Fortino Winery on Hecker Pass Highway.Garcia is the founding president of the Gilroy-based conservation group Coastal Habitat Education and Environmental Restoration, CHEER. It works closely with local, state and federal agencies to protect the Pajaro River watershed and Monterey Bay.“You don’t know what you are stepping into,” he said after listing endangered and threatened species in the area, from bald eagles and tiger salamanders to the federally protected steelhead.And then, citing a past case of a local, wealthy resident killing a dozen steelhead and ending up broke and in federal prison, he had this to say to PG&E:“You can’t beat me. I will destroy you if you ever consider putting a shovel in the ground; you mess with our protected resources you are going to [have to] fight the U.S. Attorney General’s office.”After the applause for Garcia settled down, Nicole Markowitz of PG&E asked to meet with him privately.Markowitz and colleague Don Hall fielded most of the questions about the utility’s South County Power Connect project, but residents took to shouting out questions and speaking over one another, so some went unanswered.Toward the end of the meeting, a man asked why the substation couldn’t be built in the urban boundaries of Gilroy.The answer seemed to be that a city location would be more expensive and that the utility needs to locate the substation in a place that is close to existing power lines and environmentally acceptable.Kevin Corcoran expressed concerns about water contamination from the substation, saying a well near the site supplies residents’ water.“If that well goes [out], 80 homes are screwed,” he said.Hall and others stressed that after PG&E early next year narrows its choice to one preferred site and two alternatives, the California Public Utilities Commission will make the final decision and it might not pick the site PG&E wants. They urged residents to make their views known to the PUC.One resident asked how many times the PUC had turned down a PG&E proposal.To the surprise of many, Markowitz said that it has been a long time since PG&E had tackled anything this big.Echoing Garcia, Phill Laursen of Gilroy urged PG&E to consult with Native Americans, saying, “This is their spiritual land.”Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman helped arrange the meeting, one of several to be held, and repeated PG&E’s sentiments about residents contacting the PUC. He said his office is following the matter closely.More information about South County Power Connect can be found at: http://bit.ly/2bvqisi.    

 Gilroy high schoolers are getting a big dose of help to make their college and career dreams come true—and for some, to start thinking about college at all.

Gilroy City Council candidate Fred Tovar has a history of missing election law deadlines and was fined nearly $2,000 for doing so, according to county records.

Gilroy took advantage of two plays—a 90 yard pass and a 23 yard run—to take an early control and get its fourth league-win beating Monterey 42-9 and make a little history.

It was a long afternoon at the REI Co-op, but now you have all the gear. The backpack is comfortable, and the boots feel like bedroom slippers. After a little research, you are feeling pretty comfortable with your backpacking know-how. The big question now is where do you go on your very first backpack trip?

Gilroy dominated the last set 15-5 to win the match 3-2 on senior night.