JEERS: For the snail’s pace the city is moving at in complying
with a request for public e-mail correspondence related to the
secret retirements engineered by City Administrator Jay Baksa of
Police Chief Gregg Giusiana and Assistant Chief Lanny Brown.
The following organizations and individuals deserve either CHEERS or JEERS this week:
JEERS: For the snail’s pace the city is moving at in complying with a request for public e-mail correspondence related to the secret retirements engineered by City Administrator Jay Baksa of Police Chief Gregg Giusiana and Assistant Chief Lanny Brown. Determining who knew what and when is key to uncovering the truth. When, for example, did the payroll manager receive orders to change how the two top law enforcement officials were to be paid? And were there instructions to that city employee to keep that direction secret? The city’s leaders have repeatedly promised full disclosure and full cooperation. It’s critical the city does exactly that.
CHEERS: For the Gilroy Unified School District Board which has hashed out a job description for the new superintendent and stayed on the timeline schedule prescribed from the outset. An accessible, visible leader who has experience in the classroom and has demonstrated an ability to lift up students who are at the bottom of the achievement bracket sounds good. Thus far, the consultant choice – Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates – has proven to be a winner, too.
JEERS: For the news that Christopher Ranch didn’t fix the problem stemming from wastewater drainage off their site that killed thousands of fish in Uvas Creek including threatened steelhead trout. It will take more than a half-hearted effort to fix this. And it’s too bad it wasn’t managed properly after the first toxic spill.
CHEERS: For Gilroy Police Officer Steve Morrow, seriously injured in the line of duty while chasing down a notorious car thief as a part of Santa Clara County’s Regional Auto Theft Task Force. He fractured his knee while scaling a stairwell. That required multiple surgeries and will necessitate a nine-month recovery stint. Not only did the bad guy get caught by other officers, but Morrow vowed to come back and work full time instead of taking disability retirement.
CHEERS: For the 759 students at Gilroy High School who earned a 3.0 grade point average or better in the first semester. Good work, and keep it up.
CHEERS: For the latest proposal to address the end-of-the-day absence problem at Gilroy High School due to athletics and extra-curricular activities. This problem came into sharp focus during the highly controversial debate about the GHS cheerleaders going to Hawaii to perform at the Pro Bowl while missing three days of school. Parents pointed out, quite properly, that athletes routinely missed one and sometimes two school periods on game days. If academics is truly our priority, then this gaping hole in the system has to be fixed, soon.
