Happy 2006! It promises to be a challenging year for the city of
Gilroy and the larger South Valley community, with many debates,
problems and opportunities to tempt us from keeping our focus on
our priorities.
Happy 2006! It promises to be a challenging year for the city of Gilroy and the larger South Valley community, with many debates, problems and opportunities to tempt us from keeping our focus on our priorities. Thus, as the new year begins, here are our top five priorities for Gilroy and the region:
– Improving education – While it’s easy to pick sides, hurl charges and throw up defenses in the matter of how a Gilroy Unified School District trustee was selected, the furor distracts the community from the critical issue: How can we improve the academic performance of Gilroy’s public school students?
What’s really needed is for everyone in the community – from teachers to parents, from business owners to classified staff, from students to administrators – to make academic excellence their top priority.
If we can put aside divisive issues of race, socioeconomic status, political agendas, careers and contracts and instead work together toward that goal, we can make real progress.
– Fixing Gilroy’s sidewalks – It’s not trivial purusit. In the same way that smooth highways and roads are important this vexing problem has been plaguing our prosperous community for decades. It’s time to quit ignoring it. Because the City Council lacks the political will to make fixing the sidewalks a top priority, we’re spending money on trip-and-fall lawsuits. We’re letting Gilroy’s residents and visitors suffer unnecessary injuries. We’re harming our city’s image.
Practical solutions are available to finance a fix to this long-term problem. Let’s do what should have been done years ago: Fix the sidewalks so we don’t have to waste any more time, energy or effort on this issue.
– Revitalizing downtown – Gilroy has made a great start on improving city center with a fee waiver program and streetscape improvements. With the upcoming cannery project, cultural arts center and talk of a town square, it’s clear that much more is left to be done.
With the robust retail development on the east side and housing development in the city’s northwest quadrant, it’s easy to forget how important a vibrant city center is to our community’s spirit and identity.
Let’s keep the focus on improving downtown by continuing to find new and innovative ways to attract visitors, residents and businesses to the heart of historic Gilroy.
– Improving public and private transportation – Whether you’re trying to take a bus or train to a job in Silicon Valley, fighting your way through rush-hour traffic on Highway 101 or commuting on city streets, you know that getting from Point A to Point B is a real quality-of-life issue in South Valley.
Locally, city officials must continue to find ways to improve traffic snags (the Tenth Street shopping mecca tops our current list) and safety so that residents can circulate within Gilroy easily. We need to think not just about cars, but about pedestrians, bicyclists and intra-city public transportation.
We must work with other communities who share our interests to make our voices heard regionally. Not only South Valley residents, but legions of travelers use our highways and thoroughfares. Those roads must be able to handle the traffic for both safety, quality of life and environmental reasons.
Our elected and appointed officials and residents must keep the pressure on regional leaders to make sure important South Valley projects are fully funded and properly prioritized.
– Thinking regionally – Transportation is just one example of the need for South Valley residents and officials to work together to achieve our common goals. Major projects proposed for north and south of South Valley demonstrate the importance of working together on land-use issues as well.
Just north of Morgan Hill, San Jose officials are plowing ahead with plans for bringing tens of thousands of residents to Coyote Valley. To Gilroy’s immediate south, Sargent Ranch will likely be developed if a faction of the Amah Mutsun tribe can gain federal sovereignty recognition. And just over the San Benito County line, developer DMB is making plans for a large master-planned community on 4,500 acres.
These are just a few examples of the need for our city and county leaders to work together to minimize negative impacts and maximize benefits for South Valley.
Fortunately, we have many good residents and elected officials to tackle these challenges. It is compelling work and it needs to get done.
