Tag: mayor

Mayor Don Gage shocked a packed city council chambers Monday evening by resigning his office at the beginning of the meeting.

Drives me crazy to hear something like I did this morning – that the stands for the fans are uninhabitable at Gilroy High’s Garcia-Elder Stadium – this, just before the start of football season for GHS, Christopher High and Gavilan College. This, after the school district had to move graduation ceremonies – those are in June by the way – because of these same “unsafe” bleachers. What got done in between? This is yet another example of why I strongly believe that school district’s need to hire an on-staff project management director that has a background in construction – someone who can tell b.s. from reality and can come up with solutions. The person would be independent from, but wori with the facilities manager who is in charge of maintaining and operating facilities. What school districts need to do is: 1. Form an advisory facility committee composed of members from the business and construction world; 2. Hire a staff administrative-level project construction management person to oversee all facilities projects. That person would negotiate contracts and have, as clients, the taxpayers and the school district. If districts would make those changes, a lot of money would be saved and a lot of battles avoided. And, really, when you’re talking about spending millions of dollars in bond money and getting the best bang for the buck, doesn’t it make perfect sense?

It’s working. The owners of the long-vacant unreinforced masonry buildings downtown are coming to City Hall for the proverbial “come to Jesus” meeting with city staff.

So, spring Passport Weekend for our wonderful, visitor attracting wineries is a comin’ fast on March 23 and 24 and a spat has broken out. Hopefully, Sycamore Creek will change direction and participate in the weekend and, hopefully, the winery owners will get together to seek solutions to the challenges of parking and rowdy wine drinkers who overindulge. Toward that end, perhaps the winery owners could consider hiring shuttle buses – a few for the Gilroy area and a few, likewise, for Morgan Hil. The buses could ferry passengers on a loop route between wineries during the weekend. A main parking lot would have to be identified and promoted – Dhruv Khanna’s paved soccer field parking lot at Kirigin Cellars could work, for example – and that could minimize some of the challenges. If the winery owners are smart, they’ll do what they can to solve the problems themselves and collectively keep intact the momentum of Passport Weekend and the growing reputation for fun events, good wine and hospitable staffs that the area wineries have built.

The city council has carved out a vision for Gilroy’s next 15 years and, after its annual two-day strategic planning session, there’s a blueprint that outlines the steps needed to establish Gilroy as one of the most desirable destinations in the country.

Calling it the “best turnout they've seen in years,” City Council members were delighted with the sheer number of applicants who showed up eager to serve on City committees during the regular meeting Monday.

In the midst of all the shoulder patting, thanking, well-wishing and congratulating that transpired at the City Council chambers Dec. 7 when the public officially welcomed Don Gage as their new mayor, retiring Councilman Bob Dillon’s parting words put it best.

On a Friday afternoon before the Nov. 6 election, Gilroyans lingered at a local watering hole, discouraged about the conditions of Gilroy schools and economy, but hopeful that mayoral candidate Don Gage is the answer to Gilroy’s future. 

The Gilroy Arts Alliance is asking the City for more than $800,000 for upgrades to their interim building on Monterey Street, a request that City Council decided they need to study more before making any decisions.