”
Read your article on the new Gilroy Police station
… I would have to agree that this building is ugly. Kind of like
having a big green PG
&
amp;E box in the middle of your garden.
Prior Input on Police Castle?
“Read your article on the new Gilroy Police station … I would have to agree that this building is ugly. Kind of like having a big green PG&E box in the middle of your garden. Honestly, I would have rather paid a bit more in taxes and had a nicer building. We supposedly pride ourselves of our downtown and our Victorian homes, then we do this. I don’t know if they did, but they should have had the city vote for the proposed design. We have to pay for it.”
Red Phone:
When it asked Gilroy Police Assistant Chief Lanny Brown if there were any opportunities to speak out or vote on proposed design, he said: Probably a dozen.
“We not only did advertisement in the paper but had mailers, during the first and second phase of the design.” Brown agreed that the original design, with the parking under the ground was more attractive, but when the bids came back it was too costly, he said. By building the parking above ground, the price tag dropped $5 million, the only catch was the building now presents itself in a much larger, taller way.
“Now we’re not going to re-do it, but in the plan there is a lot of landscaping and after that, if it needs more then we can look into additional options, and get ideas from the community.” Brown suggested a paint job or possibly a mural. He added that in an attempt to ease the eyesoreness factor for the residents on Dougherty Avenue the building was pushed as far east as it could go and intensive landscaping was done to help those resident’s vantage point.
“I feel like we did a very active outreach and had a very open process. The most at one meeting was about a dozen people. We didn’t get much interest from the community in the design phase, and now it’s a reality when the building gets here, it’s like a 20/20 hindsight. I’m not badmouthing anybody for not showing up, but from a city perspective, we tried,” Brown said.
So caller, the fees, are paid for by builders and are collected in a growing coffer to aid in support of growth and development in the community.
Pink Chicken
“Just calling to complain about the KFC on the corner of Wren Avenue and First Street. Went in to get some chicken, the first batch of chicken that I got was under cooked. I went back inside to ask to exchange and the manager went on a power trip. He was yelling at me trying to demonstrate that the chicken was fully cooked. When the two pieces that I personally analyzed were still pink inside. He went on to yell at me where even his employees and the customers in the store just kinda looked at him. He needs to be addressed and I hope people will join me in calling the KFC line because it is a food industry. I’ve talked to a few of mine friends who have had the same experience.”
Red Phone:
Concerned caller, you didn’t eat the chicken did you? Well, you have Red Phone worried so, it first contacted the Gilroy Kentucky Fried Chicken at 8080 Wren Ave.
A manger, who refused to give her name, explained that when the customer came in with the complaint about the undercooked chicken, he had purchased the chicken the day before.
“We told them if they wanted a refund they had to bring it back, you can’t get a refund for a car part if you don’t bring it back to the mechanic can you?” She added they had not received any other complaints that day. She did confirm that the store did receive a report from the KFC Hotline, but the mangers haven’t had a chance to follow up on it because the incident just happened last Wednesday.
Red Phone decided to call the hotline. Sam, a customer representative said when customer service receives such a call, they create a report documenting what the customer said and pass it down to the store manager.
“The district store manager figures out how to accommodate the customer,” Sam said.
Accommodating the customer in this situation sounds like some more chicken could be in their future, but Red Phone thanks you good caller for bringing awareness to the possibility of under-fried chicken, but advises checking it before leaving the restaurant.
