The following organizations and individuals deserve either
CHEERS or JEERS this week:
JEERS: For the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors which
– despite an expected budget shortfall of $127 million next year
– approved a plan to boost salaries of the county’s 159 managers
and senior executives by as much as 7.5 percent.
The following organizations and individuals deserve either CHEERS or JEERS this week:
JEERS: For the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors which – despite an expected budget shortfall of $127 million next year – approved a plan to boost salaries of the county’s 159 managers and senior executives by as much as 7.5 percent. What part of $127 million deficit don’t they understand? Sure, there all kinds of twisted justifications for taking this action, but the bottom line is it’s a shameful abrogation of fiscal responsibility.
CHEERS: For the Gilroy School Board’s adequate response to Brownell teacher Joanne Lewis’ clear lack of judgment when she decided to read tongue-in-cheek sexually suggestive poems to her middle school students. After much public airing, Lewis will receive a three-day unpaid suspension and a personnel file warning. Hopefully, this will send a message to GUSD teachers about what the professional expectations in our classrooms are.
JEERS: For anyone who risks drinking and driving this holiday season. Don’t take a chance on ruining lives. Call a cab – we’ve got four services in town – or a friend. And if you witness someone who’s intoxicated getting ready to drive, speak up and offer the alternatives.
CHEERS: For the $2.5 million grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Committee that will re-build the roadway through downtown Gilroy. Wow! Ding dong the snake in
the middle of Monterey will be gone. Get ready for lights, nice sidewalks, benches and more. Brick by brick, downtown is coming back to life. Hats off to Mayor Al Pinheiro for keeping the focus on the revival of our city’s core. Rebuild it, and they will come.
JEERS: For the Regional Water Quality Control Board which hasn’t issued a cleanup order to Olin Corp. for the perchlorate poisoning of our groundwater because the company has been “cooperative.” That’s debatable. What isn’t debatable is that we’ve known about this problem and the company that is responsible for more than two years. Issue the cleanup order! It’s long overdue.
CHEERS: For Santa Clara County Supervisor Don Gage who spearheaded a four-year-long process to buy the rights to the railroad tracks that will allow increased Caltrain service to Gilroy. The Valley Transportation Authority worked relentlessly to bring Union Pacific to the table and persistence paid off. As South County grows and the Silicon Valley economy adds jobs, we will be able to increase Caltrain service to and from Gilroy.
