Want a textbook example of poppycock? Here’s a classic: San Jose
Mayor Ron Gonzales thinks Morgan Hill and South Valley are
”
appropriately represented
”
on the Coyote Valley Planning Task Force.
Want a textbook example of poppycock? Here’s a classic: San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales thinks Morgan Hill and South Valley are “appropriately represented” on the Coyote Valley Planning Task Force. How many elected officials – from either the school board or City Council – serve on the task force? None.
That’s a particular farce in the case of Morgan Hill since Coyote is within the bounds of Morgan Hill Unified School District. But it’s an affront to the entire South Valley and a attempt to keep a shameful stranglehold on power.
For months, Gonzales and the City of San Jose have rebuffed Morgan Hill’s attempts to gain a seat on the task force. A city staffer does serve on a technical advisory subcommittee but he is not a member of the full task force. San Jose resident, Russ Danielson, a former trustee for the Morgan Hill Unified School district – once an appointed official, never an elected official – serves on the full committee.
Let’s shift from reality to rhetoric, from deeds to words. Take this from Gonzales’ biography on the City of San Jose Web site: “Gonzales … is taking a regional approach to solving many of Silicon Valley’s most challenging problems …”
We don’t know of any definition of the word “regional” that would lead anyone to exclude South Valley officials from helping plan the Coyote Valley’s future. Where does the good mayor think the new residents are going to shop and, in many cases, choose to live? Does he think that adding 80,000 residents won’t impact transportation and Morgan Hill schools?
Clearly, Mayor Gonzales only believes in “regional planning” when it comes to urging South Valley residents to cough up money for BART to San Jose.
Morgan Hill officials are absolutely right to expect and demand representation on the task force that’s planning a huge development just north of its borders – and the Gilroy City Council should consider a formal objection to the lack of an invitation as well.
At build-out, Coyote Valley will have 25,000 housing units, 80,000 residents and 50,000 workers.
It’s unconscionable that the City of San Jose has not allowed a place at the planning table for even one current Morgan Hill school board member.
In the not-too-distant future, Morgan Hill – a still-rural town of just 39,000 people – will have a new neighbor more than twice its size. The impacts will be enormous and wide-reaching on everything from housing to traffic to air quality to schools.
And the impact won’t stop at Morgan Hill’s borders. It will spill over into Gilroy, Hollister and Salinas. The development of Coyote Valley will likely create critical demand for new roads and public transportation expansion. And air pollution created by the new development will drift south.
Realistically, it’s not just Morgan Hill and its school district that need real representation on the Coyote Valley Planning Task Force – so do Gilroy, Hollister, Salinas and Gavilan Community College.
Let’s make sure San Jose officials understand they’re being lousy neighbors and urge them to give South Valley officials seats on the Coyote Valley Planning Task Force.
Let’s put an end to San Jose’s poppycock and start planning a Coyote Valley that’s good for the entire region.
