Tag: gilroy city council

GILROY—In a split vote Monday that rejected much public sentiment and planning commission advice, the Gilroy City Council embraced urban growth far beyond city limits while at the same time preserving a big swath of prime farmland.

GILROY—Gilroy Councilwoman Cat Tucker is questioning the mayor’s motivations for trying to slash $200,000 from the Gilroy Welcome Center.

In May of 2013, Mayor Don Gage first introduced the idea of a “Quality of Life” bond measure for the November ballot. “It's not for education, it's not for police officers. It's for capital improvements,” he told a Dispatch reporter.

City Council passed an emergency ordinance last week in response to a statewide mandate that California’s cities must cut their water usage by up to 20 percent.

Editor's note: The original print version of this story did not include Roland Velasco, a former council member who became a qualified candidate by the Aug. 13 deadline. A correction ran in the Aug. 22 edition.

After more than an hour of public comment Aug. 4, City Council approved putting a measure before voters that would increase the city’s sales tax by a half percent with a 5-1 vote. If approved by voters in November, Gilroy’s sales tax would jump from 8.75 to 9.25 percent and the city would have the highest sales tax in all of Santa Clara County.

The four-week period to file for three seats on City Council opened July 14, and former councilmen and planning commissioners joined the roster of potential contenders for the Nov. 4 election.

City Council is considering stepping up local enforcement of state law that prohibits the sale of tobacco to minors, but charging businesses an annual fee to fund sting operations to ensure compliance isn't the way to do it, Mayor Don Gage asserted.

When it comes to electing public officials, bankruptcies matter.

1. His pragmatic approach has been successful everywhere