– For 23 hours of the day, Hirasaki Court is a quiet street with
about a dozen houses and neighbors lazing in Adirondack chairs on
front porches.
Gilroy – For 23 hours of the day, Hirasaki Court is a quiet street with about a dozen houses and neighbors lazing in Adirondack chairs on front porches. But for a half hour in the morning and a half hour in the afternoon, people are cursing each other, flipping each other off, stealing property and filing assault charges. It’s not sparring gangs, it’s parents picking their kids up from school sparring with local residents.
For four months, residents and motoring parents have been locked in a battle over a 30-foot circle where Hirasaki Court turns west and the Mount Madonna Continuation High School driveway begins. Drivers block residents’ driveways and flout traffic rules, putting area children at risk, residents said. Residents put motorists and pedestrians at risk by narrowing the public street with cones, drivers counter.
Despite shared concerns about child safety – a lingering concern after three incidents across the city last year where cars hit children, one of whom died from injuries – tension between the two camps erupted in an altercation Tuesday morning that spurred a parent to report physical assault and battery charges against two residents.
“It’s turning into a total drama thing, which is not where I want this to go,” said Hirasaki Court resident Rosie Manacho.
Stolen Cones and Physical Assault
Speeding drivers whip around Hirasaki Court rather than entering the high school parking lot, said Manacho and her husband, Mike Manacho. The resulting congestion endangers the 10 children younger than age 10 who live in the court.
To dissuade drivers from blocking the court, the Manachos put four small orange cones about four feet in front of their driveway. This exacerbated the traffic dangers, Mount Madonna parent Bonnie McGeachy said.
“It’s a very narrow street and we have to access the cul-de-sac to turn around,” she said. “Any portion of the road that is blocked by cones just narrows the road further. My only concern is it’s a safety issue.”
McGeachy removed the cones and got back into her car. Then, Mike Manacho and another Hirasaki Court resident approached her car and Mike Manacho shoved her through an open window, she said.
Mike Manacho and the other resident deny the charges, claiming the window was nearly closed and they never touched her. The Gilroy Police Department has documented the incident and sent it to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office for possible prosecution. The charges increased resident frustration, who believe they are neglected by the school district and city of Gilroy.
“I’m sure we’re not a priority until one of our kids gets run over or killed,” Rosie Manacho said. “That’s what we have to wait for.”
No Man’s Land
After four months of e-mailing city engineer Don Dey and talking with high school principal Alma Quintana, residents still feel ignored by the two agencies. School district staff said they cannot control traffic on public streets and city staff said they are not responsible for traffic caused by schools, residents said.
“There’s this soft hand shake between the city and school district,” Rosie Manacho said.
The school district takes child safety seriously and is working with the city on traffic calming measures, Superintendent Deborah Flores said.
“All the parties are working together to resolve the issue,” she said.
The two agencies collaborated to create a safe traffic flow at the Las Animas Elementary School, Flores said. The agencies are also aware of the situation at Mount Madonna, which will be a topic at a Sept. 26 joint meeting with the city, she said.
Posting a crossing guard on the street is infeasible as the district already has a shortage, Flores said. The low pay – about $10.70 per hour – verbal abuse from parents and short hours – an hour a day, split between an early morning and afternoon shift – are unattractive, she said.
The Gilroy Police Department also met with city and school representatives to discuss the traffic flow, Sgt. Chad Gallacinao said.
“There has been a history of problems near schools,” he said. “We try to prevent that, whether that be through direct enforcement or education.”
However, posting police officers to that area is difficult because staff are on other assignments, he said.
The Gilroy Dispatch was unable to reach Dey by press time Thursday.
Residents did not know that the city, district or police was taking them seriously until Thursday after the Gilroy Dispatch phoned representatives from both agencies, Rosie Manacho said.
“Somehow I’ve gotten all my phone calls returned and now everybody wants to talk to me,” she said.
Happiness for No One
The problem might lie with either agency’s responsiveness, said councilman Roland Velasco, who has been in contact with residents since spring.
“Unless the residents get what they want, they’re going to say they’re not happy with what staff is telling them,” he said. “They might not be happy or they just might not like what they’re hearing.”
For similar reasons, Velasco has mixed expectations for the upcoming meeting. Although the city and district might form a reasonable solution to the traffic problem, a reasonable solution is not necessarily an appealing solution to either residents or drivers, Velasco said.
“I don’t’ see either side walking away from this happy,” he said.
