A spicy potpourri of hopeful Christmas wishes for our fair
city
For the Christmas holiday, we will change our usual CHEERS and JEERS this week and offer Christmas WISHES for our community:
WISH: For the wisdom of our community leaders who must understand that the retention of the generous spirit in our community can only be sustained by a reasonable rate of growth that allows assimilation and understanding.
WISH: For Assemblymembers John Laird and Anna Caballero to take a ride from Gilroy to Casa de Fruta on Pacheco Pass Highway on a getaway Friday with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in the car. Maybe then the decades-long logjam over the
13-mile nightmare of a road from here to the Don Pacheco Y will be broken.
WISH: For the City Council to decide clearly – and perhaps against the advice of the city administrator and city attorney (dare we suggest it) – to fix all Gilroy sidewalks by taking on some bonded indebtedness.
WISH: For a new planning mindset in Gilroy that takes actual – not lipservice – account of the impact a development will have on schools and plans, first and foremost, for the needed facilities.
WISH: For a Whole Foods store in Gilroy. Morgan Hill has Trader Joe’s, but Gilroy is the shopping mecca with multiple built-in regional draws, and our economic development director, Larry Cope, should be out front taking full advantage of this fact.
WISH: For a new dynamic superintendent of Gilroy schools who will pare the agenda down to what is necessary and lead our school district to new heights of academic achievement.
WISH: For the renovation of the amphitheater at Christmas Hill Park. It really could be an outstanding public facility.
WISH: For the Sobrato Transitional Center, conceived to help the poor and homeless get back on their feet, to move forward with new funding and vision.
WISH: For state redistricting reform so that South County’s political voice isn’t split between four congressional districts, two assembly districts and two state Senate districts. Arnie’s promised to work on it …
WISH: For more independence to be exhibited by the city’s elected leaders. If lawyers and administrators are running the show, what’s the point of having a City Council. Rubber stamps are cheap.
WISH: For the downtown revival rekindled by Mayor Al Pinheiro to catch fire and transform the area.
