Jay Baksa, the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce’s 2002 Man of the
Year, remembers the scare he received moments before he found out
last November he had received the honor.
Jay Baksa, the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce’s 2002 Man of the Year, remembers the scare he received moments before he found out last November he had received the honor.
“I was doing some training at the (Gilroy) Senior Center,” said Baksa, 51, who works as the city manager. “My secretary came over and when I saw her, I got worried. She wouldn’t come over unless something’s wrong.”
After his secretary told him the Chamber of Commerce had announced the recipients of its annual awards, Baksa felt great relief and also great honor at being Man of the Year in Gilroy.
“I’ve been in the community for a number of years, and I saw who proceeded me as the Man of the Year,” he said. “There’s been some excellent men and women who have been chosen for this honor and to be put in the same realm is an honor in itself.”
Baksa and his wife, Vicki, moved to Gilroy from Cortez, Colo., in 1983 to start work for the city. He is the longest-tenured city manager in Santa Clara County.
“From the moment I got here, I just really knew this was the place to bring my family,” he said. “At the time, my family was very young – very young boys – and Gilroy had a lot to offer for the growth of my family.”
Sports have always been a passion for Baksa. He played baseball, football and basketball in high school and basketball in college. So it was natural he spends many of his hours out of the office coaching local children in city recreation activities such as Little League and school sports programs.
“It all starts with your children,” he said. “When I had three boys, it was like a dream come true, especially when they got into sports. When they started to get to the age of participation, I felt it was important for me to be involved with them.”
Baksa’s oldest sons, Jay, 23, and Bobby, 20, are now at college and his third son, Tucker, 17, will graduate from high school this year.
Besides volunteering in youth sports, Baksa is also a Founding member of the Leadership Gilroy Board created six years ago by the Chamber of Commerce.
“The feeling was there needed to be a mechanism in the community to help train people in the leadership roles in many of the public and non-profit organizations we have in town,” he said. “There was a feeling a lot of organizations needed help in boards. The pool of people to choose from was dwindling.”
He remains active in the annual training program taken by local residents to improve their civic leadership skills and said it’s fun to serve on the board with such hard-working fellow members.
“The leadership roles are incredibly important,” he said. “They’re the foundation of the community. If you don’t have good leaders, they will help you get to your goals.”
Baksa is also active in the Gilroy Rotary Club. He has served as president in past years and now is active in the Rotary’s endowment committee that provides $20,000 $25,00 per year to local organizations.,
Baksa will receive his Man of the Year award at the chamber’s annual dinner this Friday night. In explaining why Baksa received the honor, Susan Valenta, executive director of the chamber, described as a man “who goes the extra mile” when he gives his time and energies to other people.
Valenta said she has worked with Baksa for close to seven years on the Leadership Gilroy Board and respects his integrity, patience and commitment.
“Seemingly simple words, yet far-reaching in portraying the character of the man who has made a significant contribution to youth and adults alike in their own personal and professional development,” she said.
Baksa said he gets “a hundred times more” out of his volunteering activities than he gives.
“I think the award itself, the recognition that the Chamber gives the man or woman, is a recognition there’s a lot of people out there who are worthy of this award,” he said. “The Chamber should be applauded in bringing attention to anything that the community does in the long run that’s worth the effort.”
