One wrestled a 12-inch knife from an enraged woman. Another
insisted on finishing a parade, despite chest pains that preceded a
dire heart attack.
Gilroy – One wrestled a 12-inch knife from an enraged woman. Another insisted on finishing a parade, despite chest pains that preceded a dire heart attack. Yet another shattered his knee-cap while scaling a cement staircase pursuing a car thief – and two surprise awardees weathered scandal intact, their long years of service applauded.
They’re the winners of the Blue and Gold Awards, given by Gilroy’s Exchange Club to recognize police, firefighters, patrolmen and not-so-ordinary citizens of South County. Wednesday, the club honored them at a luncheon at the Portuguese Hall.
“So often in our world, it seems like you only hear about officers when they screw up,” said Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming. “We really appreciate this opportunity, to honor them.”
Three surprise awards were announced at the lunch – and two were especially surprising. The Book of Golden Deeds, granted to a Gilroy citizen, was awarded to World War II veteran Pete Garcia, campus supervisor at Mount Madonna Continuation High School and grand marshal of Gilroy’s 10th annual Memorial Day parade. Garcia shepherds teens into their classrooms with his distinctive brand of tough love. He’s certainly tough, having survived war, a young brother’s death and cancer; during the Memorial Day parade, he marched despite chest pains, later identified as the early symptoms of a severe heart attack. Garcia survived, and was pleasantly surprised by the award.
Two more surprise honors were given at the end of the event, to Gilroy Police Chief Gregg Giusiana and Assistant Chief Lanny Brown. Both underwent considerable scrutiny earlier this year, after officers learned that the two retired, then returned to service part-time, a legal arrangement that annoyed some officers who felt the decisions should have been shared. As he presented the awards, Mayor Al Pinheiro emphasized the chiefs’ decades of good work over the recent controversy.
“Unfortunately, as chiefs, you don’t always get the accolades you should get,” said Pinheiro. “Let’s look at ourselves as a whole … Someone like the chief and Lanny comes out 99 percent positive.”
Pinheiro jokingly recounted Brown’s first day of work, when he showed up in a Volkswagen, wearing a tie-dye shirt and Birkenstocks, before launching into a description of his extensive service to Gilroy. Brown recently left the department after unintentionally violating a little-known state pension rule in the course of his retirement. As he surveyed the audience, seated among blue and gold balloons, Brown grew teary.
“Service above self – that’s really what’s motivated me all these years,” said Brown. “I love Gilroy for a lot of the same reasons that –” Brown broke off his sentence, overcome.
Pinheiro then described Giusiana’s work as chief, a job he took on 23 years after joining Gilroy P.D. as a cadet. The mayor said Giusiana was such a hands-on chief that he once wrote a ticket while out-of-uniform. Giusiana accepted the award with a smile.
“I appreciate all the kind words,” he said. “Our careers here, all we’ve done is the best that we could for the members of the community.”
The same could be said of these awardees:
Gilroy Police Officer Steve Morrow
“I’m one of the few dinosaurs left in the department,” joked Morrow, the department’s most senior officer, second only to the chief. May 18 marks 30 years since he joined Gilroy police. “Our department passes down badge numbers, so the longer you’re there, the lower your badge number is. I’m No. 1.”
Morrow may be No. 1, but after last year’s injury, he hasn’t felt so on-top. In December 2006, the officer chased a car thief into an apartment complex, and broke his knee-cap when he fell on a cement stairwell. Morrow was pursuing the thief as a member of the county’s Regional Auto Theft Task Force, an assignment he relished.
The injury forced him to undergo multiple surgeries to repair his knee. His full recovery could take a year or longer. At Wednesday’s ceremony, he walked with a cane alongside Giusiana, who detailed Morrow’s accomplishments during his decades with the department.
“We’ve been through thick and thick together,” said Giusiana.
Once he heals, Morrow plans to jump back into action, both on the job and off it. In his spare time, Morrow judges professional boxing and mixed martial arts, scoring fights outside the ring from California to Croatia. The hobby takes concentration, he said, but it’s still a diversion from the stresses of police work – stresses that Morrow says he’s ready to re-assume.
“My heart’s in it, and my head’s in it,” Morrow said. “I’m just not sure my body’s on the same page.”
Gilroy Fire Engineer Colette Harmon
Fire Chief Dale Foster calls her a “propeller-head,” and it’s not an insult. Coworkers wonder why she hasn’t asked for a promotion to captain – a promotion they’re sure she could get – but Colette Harmon says she’s happier with grease on her hands, tinkering with the department’s engines.
“I’m a hands-on person,” said Harmon. “I love fiddling with things. In my other life, I was a supervisor – it wasn’t for me. I’ve always wanted to be an engineer.”
In 1990, Harmon gave up a high-tech career in San Diego to become one of Gilroy’s first female fire trainees, taking a pay cut and breaking into a mostly-male department. Harmon didn’t mind, and still doesn’t.
“It’s like having a bunch of brothers I never had,” she said. “What sold me, when I started meeting firefighters, was that everyone loved going to work.”
Foster cited her willingness to take on multiple assignments, including driver’s training, helping promotional applicants, rating new firefighter candidates and administering the fire department’s computerized records database.
“It wasn’t just me,” added Harmon, mentioning supportive coworkers such as her captain, Joshua Valverde, who was hired alongside her. “Our team is cohesive. You know they’ve got your back.”
Sheriff’s Deputy James Helms
If Jim Helms had grabbed his gun, few would have blamed him. Grappling with a drug-addled, raging suspect who tried to steal his gun, Helms could have drawn the weapon. But as Helms struggled with the man, who had fled on foot from a routine car stop, he spotted children in the home into which the man had run, and decided not to use his gun. Instead, he pulled out pepper spray. It didn’t work. He pulled out his baton. The man only grew angrier, and tried to wrest the baton from him. For several agonizing minutes, Helms fought with the man until other deputies and Gilroy police arrived, and tased the man into submission.
That’s only one day in the life of deputy Helms – and only one of many episodes that makes him exceptional, said Lt. Dale Unger.
“This guy is a model of what a deputy should be,” Unger said.
Highway Patrol Officer Monte Thompson
Seventeen years ago, Monte Thompson switched from towing trucks to stopping speeders, changing careers after meeting highway patrolmen in South County. For him, it’s the little things that make the job great: Helping a woman with a flat tire. Driving a man in a wheelchair back to Los Banos.
“It’s not the burning-building things” that make Thompson exceptional, said Capt. Brent Newman. “It’s the citizen who will write a thank-you note. It’s not as dramatic – but for the people involved, it makes a difference … He turns people reluctant to interact with law enforcement into fans.”
Newman called Thompson “the epitome of professionalism,” a problem-solver admired by his peers. At the office, he’s taken on the Salvaged Vehicle and Vehicle Identification Number programs, and represents his coworkers as an area representative. Off the job, he gets out from behind the wheel and runs, pounding the pavement to keep in shape. The award surprised him.
“I’m being rewarded for something I get paid to do, and I enjoy,” Thompson said. “If I’m getting a reward for the way I’m performing my duties, just about all of us should.”
Santa Clara County Fire Captain Dave Stocks
As he nears retirement, Fire Captain Dave Stocks hasn’t lightened his load.
“Some people, when they get to that point, go on the slow-motion track,” said Acting Battalion Chief Steve Prziborowski. “There’s no slowing Dave down.”
Stocks has spent 11 years with the county fire department, and opted to work in one of its busiest stations, El Toro. On top of his everyday duties, he spent five months putting together the department’s first continuing education course, logging extra hours off-duty, unpaid, to create the program focusing on wildland fires, his area of expertise.
“I’m honored,” Stocks said. “It’s a thrill to be recognized by your fellow employees.”
Morgan Hill Police Cpl. Bill Norman
In a split-second, a Morgan Hill domestic violence call got ugly, when a drugged woman grabbed a 12-inch knife and tried to stab her mother. Cpl. Bill Norman didn’t hesitate, jumping onto the woman and pulling the knife away. The woman cut her mother’s arm, but the older woman was saved.
“It speaks to Cpl. Norman’s experience,” said Police Chief Bruce Cumming, “and his dedication to this job.”
Norman thanked the chief and his command staff, and the city that he’s made his home.
Morgan Hill Reserve Officer Ken De Luna
By day, Ken De Luna inspects Morgan Hill buildings; by night, he patrols its streets, volunteering his time as a reserve officer. Like any officer, he transports prisoners, makes arrests and writes reports. The only difference is, he’s got a completely different day job.
“Ken is a stand-up guy and a hard worker,” said Cumming. “He’s helped us in countless ways.”
Two jobs don’t give De Luna much free time, as his remarks indicated:
“I want to thank my wife,” De Luna said, “for not seeing me as much as she possibly could.”
Paid Call Gilroy Firefighter Laurie Goldsmith
When Laurie Goldsmith started volunteering with the Gilroy fire department in 2003, she saw it as a way to hone her EMT skills. Firefighting was an aside, she thought.
“I didn’t think I’d care too much about it,” Goldsmith said. “I loved it. It’s a challenge, both physical and mental, and I’m happy to help people in need. If I do nothing else, that’s worthwhile.”
Four years later, Chief Dale Foster says she’s one of the department’s most enthusiastic workers.
Today, she co-coordinates the department’s volunteer program.
“I don’t feel like I did anything out of the ordinary,” said Goldsmith. “I’ve just been doing my job.”
