“One of the things we hear from the public all the time is that their voices are not being heard by their elected officials, but when you look at election results, a lot of the public are not participating and if you don’t let your elected officials know your concerns, they are left to make decisions based on their own instinct,” said City Council candidate Tom Fischer.
A retired plumber and member of the city’s Planning Commission, Fischer was on the commission when the 721-acre, 4,000-home development north of Gilroy was brought forward for consideration. He heard a lot of voices then.
“A lot of people see the growth and they don’t like it—so that’s one consideration. The other is you need growth to sustain a viable community.”
While he was against the project that ultimately gave rise to Measure H, on the urban growth boundary initiative Fischer prefers to keep mum.
“I have not taken a position on Measure H. I’m going to remain neutral throughout this campaign season.”
Fischer, along with the rest of the Planning Commission, rejected the 721-acre mostly housing proposal last December before it was successfully appealed by the City Council along a split vote. The project was ultimately withdrawn.
While he thought the ability to develop a large swath of land in one stroke was good for planning purposes, he had concerns. Mainly, he felt the environmental impact report was not complete and that the applicant could not offer a satisfactory development schedule.
“And I think they circumvented the system,” Fischer said. “They were operating outside the normal bounds which is mainly why I voted against it.”
He added: “I think that growth is a very personal issue for most people and this is a way for their voices to be heard. For me, I think it’s time for public officials to stay quiet. I want to know what the public wants; that is how I handled myself on the Planning Commission and that’s how I’ll serve on the City Council. I want public input, I want to know what they think. They are the ones that have to live with this stuff.”
A member of the high speed rail committee, Fischer said the city needs to start planning in earnest for the state-mandated train. As for the new rail system going through downtown, Fischer said:
“I like to look at the bigger picture and it really needs to be downtown. It’s where it has to be. In the overall scheme of things it will ultimately benefit downtown but it will be very disruptive while it’s being built and it’s our responsibility as civic leaders to determine the least disruptive way to get that train in here so it can benefit everybody.”
Fischer believes Gilroy should take a more active role in addressing environmental issues. He thinks its great that the city has joined Silicon Valley Community Choice Energy, the regional cooperative that will purchase cleaner electricity on behalf of its commercial and residential customers to help decrease greenhouse gas emissions.
He said the city should also join the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority.
“We are the only city not in the Open Space Authority,” he said, “I don’t believe anyone has brought that up and if I’m on the council I will see why it is we are not participating. Environmental issues are very important and we need to look at them very seriously.”
Concerning downtown revitalization, Fischer said a few other things need to get done first. “We need to get the high speed rail plan done, the general plan done, and then look at the Downtown Specific Plan and really evaluate it. Then you get feedback from not just the businesses downtown, but also the residents that live in the area.“
He added: “We need to re-envision what the downtown looks like, and the tricky part is how to pay for it.”
Fischer said that with street maintenance costs, a new fire station at Glen Loma that needs to be equipped and staffed, and unfunded liabilities for pensions, the city will probably not have the money needed to fund big improvements in the downtown district.
“We really need a grassroots effort to put a bond—like the library bond—on the ballot to make specific improvements that are needed downtown. If there are specific things you want to accomplish, the public will get behind it.”
