After 24 years, City Administrator Jay Baksa announces that
he’ll vacate his position at City Hall. His expertise will be
missed
The following organizations and individuals deserve either CHEERS or JEERS this week:
CHEERS: For Gilroy City Administrator Jay Baksa who announced his retirement after 24 years at the city’s helm. Mr. Baksa has ushered Gilroy through a remarkable transition during that span. His steady hand righted a ship gone bad during Sewergate, the sewage dumping crisis that enveloped him during his first years on the job. Since then, the march has been one of steady growth for a city trying to balance its urban future with the roots of its small-town agricultural past. Mr. Baksa’s knowledge, expertise and experience will be missed at City Hall. We extend our best wishes for an enjoyable retirement.
CHEERS: For Ethan Stocks, the Gilroy High School drama teacher who, sadly, will be leaving at year’s end. Mr. Stocks revived a once-proud program at GHS that had sadly fallen by the wayside and grossly deteriorated. His enthusiasm and work ethic have restored it ,and its traditions. The GHS spring play, Thorton Wilder’s “The Skin of Our Teeth,” is on stage tonight at 8pm and next weekend. GHS Principal James Maxwell has big shoes to fill in hiring the next drama instructor.
CHEERS: For the news that our beloved Garlic Festival will take over the selling of garlic fries and that the tasty delight will be added to the core menu at famed Gourmet Alley. It’s a great move for a number of reasons and should bolster both profits and PR.
CHEERS: For Jeff Garcia, local celebrity and now quarterback with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Garcia’s appearance at Gilroy High’s annual fund-raising event, the Cioppino Feed, Saturday to auction off a couple of signed helmets is indicative of his ongoing commitment to Gilroy. It’s wonderfully refreshing to see from a famous professional athlete, and we’d just like to say “thank you, Jeff, and our best wishes for a Super Bowl ring with you at the helm in Tampa Bay.”
JEERS: For the current home building system in Gilroy governed by the residential development ordinance which leaves the Gilroy Unified School District in a constant planning lurch – damned if they build a school without a neighborhood around it and damned if they don’t and other schools become overcrowded. This community simply has to devise a way to grow with school facilities at top of mind. It’s too important to our city’s future to ignore.
CHEERS: For the Gilroy High School baseball team which has made a nice splash in the opening round of the section playoffs by defeating West Catholic power Mitty,
7-6. Nice work staying mentally tough in a hard-fought game.
