The crying need for sidewalk repair continues to be ignored in
favor of items like flat-screen TVs and a new
”
lip
”
on the dais for the City Council
The following organizations and individuals deserve either CHEERS or JEERS this week:
JEERS: For the Gilroy City Council which has for more than decade allowed buckled sidewalks that the residents of this city have to use daily go without repair, but meanwhile has built a $27 million police station, found a way to make a $108,600 in “needed” improvements to the City Council Chambers that include a “lip” on the dais to hide messy papers and wasted a half million dollars on police car computer systems that don’t work. Do something for the people. Make the residents – not your chambers – your top priority. Fix the sidewalks!
CHEERS: For the fantastic community response to the news that the senior shuttle service to Nob Hill grocery store would be cut by its parent corporation, Raley’s. The Gilroy Foundation, led by Donna Pray, and St. Joseph’s Family Center, led by David Cox, teamed up to fill the corporate void. St. Joseph’s has the van, but still needs donations to fund the service. But beloved driver Tina Meyer is back at the wheel and the seniors have a convenient and familiar way to shop for groceries. Outstanding.
JEERS: For for the seeming lack of coordination or planning in our traffic lights. From the new light at Wren Avenue and Third Street that can’t decide if it’s a 4-way stop or a traffic light, to the First Street lights that whimsically go red, to the completely uncoordinated lights along Tenth Street that make sure traffic doesn’t flow, it’s frustrating driving around a town that doesn’t have a solid grip on its traffic troubles.
CHEERS: For Meg, the golden retriever who alerted the Schipper family to the fire burning at the neighbor’s home next door. Meg woke up Scott Schipper at 1:45am, but when led to the door refused to go outside. Scott, at that point, saw the flames in Richard and Patti Perino’s garage, and raced next door. He woke up the neighbors, firefighters said, in the nick of time. Milk Bones for Meg – for a long time.
JEERS: For the fact that the city owns a fire truck that sits idly in the Sunrise Fire Station. Either hire the guys to man it, or, if we can’t afford to staff it, sell the engine to a city that can.
CHEERS: For opera singer Sonia Gariaef and NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia. Both have proven that it’s not the size of the town you come from but the size of the heart, drive and talent you bring with you that counts.
