Garlic’s in the air

Awaking to a garlic monsoon was a welcome start to Monday morning. And the clove’s fragrance isn’t just in the air; it’s on the horizon for the 36th Annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, and along with it, some digital enhancements.
For a small charge, festival organizers are coordinating Wi-Fi coverage for vendor transactions and volunteer time-tracking. Festival organizers found that more and more attendees are purchasing tickets online mere minutes before arriving, and the hope is these new tools make it even easier to buy tickets.
Also in the works: Smart phone users can enjoy an interactive festival app, complete with a map locator of the festival grounds. Details to come.
Twitter fans: There’s a hashtag for everything Garlic Festival. Add #GarlicFest14 to your tweet to share your garlic cravings.
Locals can still get the perks of living in the city and attending the festival. This year, in addition to bringing back the popular $5 residents’ discount at the gate on Friday, festival organizers are offering a locals-only, non-transferable three-day pass for $30 for residents of Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin, Hollister, San Juan and Aromas.
Also of interest, traffic isn’t expected to be as bad along Santa Theresa Road, a “win-win” prompted by parking changes that will shift some of the load to Day Road.
Speaking of shifting the load, Gilroy Mayor Don Gage says the charter City of Gilroy could have saved thousands of dollars if prevailing wages didn’t have to be paid during paving of downtown’s new Gilroy Pedestrian Paseo. By Gage’s count, “We would have been able to get all of the pavers put in for half the price.” What’s lacking is the support of state Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel) and state Assemblyman Luis Alejo (D-Salinas) to free up funding for projects like the Paseo, so here’s some grease for a squeaky wheel.
It’s against the California Constitution, Gage said, “but they do it anyway—because they know we don’t have the money to sue them for it.” Charter cities, in contrast, have taken up lawsuits in the state.
According to Gage, the city’s contribution toward the public-private project derailed Gilroy’s ability to avoid the prevailing wage law. State and local legislators collaborating to save taxpayers’ dollars sounds like a good idea for a city seeking to revitalize downtown and maximize funds spent.
The parking lot at Orchard Supply Hardware, 303 E. 10th St., was nearly full when I showed up to interview customers about the pending closure of a store that’s served locals for generations. Many of the folks I interviewed lauded the store’s hometown customer service attitude. There’s always more to the story, and in this case OSH provided only scant details on the reasons for the store’s closing. Several questions remain unanswered—in particular, what the impact will be on those local faces at the checkout stand.
Shame on the bad eggs who cast a negative light on this year’s Hollister Bike Rally. A three-victim shooting occurred at the Chevron gas station on San Felipe Road by Highway 25. Despite the shooting taking place outside the rally’s core, it’s still troubling to see violence escalate to that level during an event proven to be a boon to a quiet country town.
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