5 letters; Theater reviews; GUSD band; tobacco debate

Theatre reviews missed
Dear Editor,
I was wondering when you are going to bring back Bay Area theatre reviews. Local shows in Morgan Hill and Gilroy are fun and endearing but there is a specific lack of high level entertainment. I may live in Gilroy, but I refuse to believe that I live a backwater existence. I live for travel and high culture. The performances available up and down the peninsula have brought me many years of joy, and I find it hard to believe that I must drop the Dispatch and go back to the Mercury to get my review information. I hope you can bring back some type of Bay Area theatre reviews to the Dispatch.
Mark Chips, Gilroy
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GUSD band thank you
Dear Editor,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank some special people that have helped the GUSD Band Program this past school year. For 25 years there has always been a Spaghetti Feed put on by the GUSD Band Program during the months of February or March. This last one was especially exceptional due to people in Gilroy.
A big thank you goes out to Sam Bozzo, Judy Bozzo and Kevin Connell for making an incredible pasta sauce. Also a big thank you to Jan Froom and his pasta crew made up of Kevin O’Keef, Sam Yip, Bob Nunes and Ron Rodriguez. (They have helped us for many years). There was also Lora and Greg Bozzo for donating a Landscape Innovations gas gift card. Bill Christopher (Christopher Ranch) made a very generous donation along with Vito Mercado of Nob Hill/Raleys giving gift cards and a good low price on the meat. Judy, Sam, Dave, Greg and Lora Bozzo also made a generous donation of their Tahoe home for a three night stay.
For the past seven years Leon and Leanne Haygood and their family have donated their free time in organizing this event so it always has a successful outcome. There are countless parents of the students of our GUSD Band Program that have helped in many different ways. Also a big thank you to each of the kitchen crews at Brownell, GHS and CHS.
On behalf of the band directors of Gilroy, Greg Grant, Sharon Carson, June Thomas, Carol MacDonald and myself Tom Brozene, we want to thank everyone for lending a hand to help all of our band students of Gilroy.
 Tom Brozene
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Protect youth from accessing tobacco illegally
Dear Editor,
We are proud that Gilroy City Council voted to support moving forward with a work plan to prepare a Tobacco Retail License Ordinance, which would enforce state law prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to minors. The annual fee to businesses included in a Tobacco Retail License would help offset the costs of Police Department “sting” operations exposing illegal, immoral and unhealthy sales to minors.
Santa Clara County Health Department received a $1 million dollar, two-year Community Transformation Grant (CTG) from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in September 2012 to improve the overall health of residents in South Santa Clara County. A Leadership Team chaired by Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman and co-chaired by Erin O’Brien, CEO of Community Solutions, was formed to address issues that impact the health of Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy population. The Leadership Team includes members from Cities of Morgan Hill and Gilroy, Santa Clara County Mental Health and Public Health Departments, Gilroy and Morgan Hill Chambers of Commerce, Gilroy and Morgan Hill Police Departments, Gilroy and Morgan Hill School Districts, St. Louise Regional Hospital, local business leaders and local non Profit Health organization leaders.
The grant long-term goals are to reduce prevalence of obesity and chronic disease, reduce health disparities and improve quality of life. Residents living in South County have higher rates of chronic diseases as compared to residents in other parts of Santa Clara County. Chronic diseases are among the most common and costly. They are the most preventable. Inadequate physical activity and poor nutrition, two modifiable risk factors for obesity-and tobacco use are responsible for much of the illness, suffering and death related to chronic diseases.
The current California state tobacco retail license law is insufficient. Retailers pay a one-time fee of $100 to the state Board of Equalization (BOE) with no cost to renew the license. This law is NOT used to enforce the tobacco sales to minors law. In fact, no state licenses have ever been penalized by the BOE for selling tobacco to minors. 
As a member of CTG Leadership Team who supports efforts on behalf of the grant goals, I am writing to promote protection for youth from accessing tobacco, prevent second-hand smoke exposure in multi-unit housing and improve access to healthy food and beverages within our South county cities.
Eleanor Villareal, CTG member, Gilroy
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Council applauded for tobacco discussion on enforcement
Dear Editor,
An estimated 34,000 youth start smoking in California each year. Despite long standing state laws prohibiting the sales of tobacco to youth, they continue to obtain tobacco products at alarming rates. Nearly 40% of Santa Clara County students who report smoking cigarettes within the last 30 days, reported that they acquired them from a store. Of those who purchased directly from a store, less than a quarter (23%) were asked to show proof of age.
Many communities, including Morgan Hill and San Jose, have adopted strong tobacco retail licensing ordinances that include licensing fees to fund enforcement and penalize violations. For profitable products such as tobacco, small fines can be absorbed as the cost of doing business. A survey of voters in Santa Clara County conducted in 2011 found that 88% of  voters support tobacco retail licensing ordinances. 
I applaud the Gilroy City Council for approving staff’s recommendation to develop a work plan for a tobacco retail license ordinance. As a community member and former School Board member committed to the well-being of our youth, I look forward to working with the City of Gilroy to put together a strong ordinance that will deter youth from starting a deadly habit that not only shortens lives, but has enormous costs to society. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tobacco use costs the United States more than $289 billion a year, including at least $133 billion in direct medical care for adults and more than $156 billion in lost productivity. 
Javier Aguirre, Gilroy
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Creating lifelong non-smokers
In Santa Clara County, 12 is most common age that youth have tried their first cigarette. Nationwide, the average age a person begins smoking is 13. Nine out of 10 smokers began smoking before the age of 18. And while all of this is appalling, it’s not really surprising because, let’s face it if you don’t start smoking when you are young and impressionable, odds are good that you will never start at all. 
The goal of a tobacco retail licensing ordinance is simple: to keep kids from starting smoking. If we can achieve that, we will have lifelong non-smokers. 
Issuing a tobacco retail licensing ordinance is an opportunity for us to make incredible improvements in the lives of the youth in our community for the long term. These ordinances create a revenue source for local enforcement, to ensure youth are not able to purchase tobacco products from vendors and penalties so vendors are highly incentivized to ensure that they do not sell cigarettes to minors.
I am grateful that the Gilroy City Council has approved the recommendation to develop a work plan for a tobacco retail license ordinance. I am encouraged that the discussion has already begun on how we come together as a community to keep our youth from accessing cigarettes. And I look forward to working with the community and the City of Gilroy to put an effective ordinance in place. 
Erin O’Brien, president/CEO, Community Solutions