Dear Editor:
In his letter, Louis G. Roepke of Gilroy misrepresents the
factual circumstances involved in the 5-Day Furniture debacle and
he appears to be unaware of the unique enforcement actions taken by
the city in dealing with this zoning issue.
Dear Editor:
In his letter, Louis G. Roepke of Gilroy misrepresents the factual circumstances involved in the 5-Day Furniture debacle and he appears to be unaware of the unique enforcement actions taken by the city in dealing with this zoning issue.
The rambling utterances of Mayor Tom Springer and City Administrator “Man of the Year” Jay Baksa are misleading at best; their actions and the actions of city employees contradict their good public policy defense.
No business in the City of Gilroy (except for 5-Day) has had seven (7) police officers arrive with building inspectors to intimidate it into closing its doors. The required business licenses and permits had been issued by the City of Gilroy. Now these are touted as having been a mistake! Should Mr. Tran loose his investment, fire his 30 employees and go away? Would you?
No business owner has been physically arrested for COMPLYING with the written directions of the building department – except for Mr. Tran.
The day after this event occurred, 5-Day Furniture was burglarized; the loss was in excess of $50,000 and critical business records were taken. The Gilroy police, who were so visible the day before, couldn’t bother to respond. Mr. Tran had a polite visit by a community service officer who did no investigation and collected none of the evidence that was present. So much for public tranquility Mr. Roepke!
No business has been forced to remove lawful, temporary banners and signs the same day they were erected. None have had their advertising signs removed from private property by city employees. None have had city employees enter the county jurisdiction and remove advertising signs from the private property of paid advertisers.
Mr. Roepke provides us with a flawed definition of racism and unfairly characterizes Mr. Tran using a naive and unfair labeling that is reminiscent of traditional racist dogma. The facts support that Mr. Tran has been treated differently than any other businessman has ever been treated in the City of Gilroy. The question is why?
To help you further understand Mr. Roepke, when Mr. Tran appeared in court he found that no charges had been filed! Was the arrest lawful? Is the City reluctant to present their evidence to a judge who cannot be unduly influenced by “anonymous” complainants?
The City of Gilroy has negatively impacted Mr. Tran’s business efforts. This is more reflective of bygone years than of a progressive business friendly community.
Jay Nguyen, Gilroy, 5-Day Furniture
Submitted Friday, May 30 to ed****@****ic.com
