The Gilroy City Council agreed on Feb. 6 to form a committee that would discuss downtown issues and make suggestions.
But the vote was split 4-3, with some members questioning the effectiveness of such a committee and the extra workload it would put on city staff.
In late 2021, the council formed an “ad hoc” committee for downtown, which is a temporary group that focuses on a certain issue.
In October 2022, the committee presented nine recommendations for the council to consider for downtown, which includes updating the area’s strategic plan, implementing a blight removal program and developing ordinances to address vacancies and noise.
The council on Jan. 23 began tackling those recommendations when it approved a reduced planning fee program and facade improvement grants.
But during that meeting, Councilmember Fred Tovar, who served as chair of the ad hoc committee, suggested forming a standing committee that meets regularly to provide updates not only to the council, but the public as well, as a way to push for downtown’s revitalization.
“Given the growth of the city, we can’t afford to sit on our hands and knees to wait for things to happen,” he said. “Sometimes the city is reactive and not proactive. Here is an opportunity for us to be proactive.”
Councilmember Carol Marques, who was also on the ad hoc committee, said the recommendations it came up with were a good start, but the city needs to go further to help spur downtown.
“We have two buildings being used as storage,” she said, adding that she counted 28 vacant buildings in the downtown area. “We have buildings that have been vacant for 15-plus years. I would really hope this committee can actually make some movement in getting those buildings filled within the next couple of years.”
Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz motioned to form the standing committee that is subject to public noticing and other requirements of the Brown Act, and to be active for two years.
The first year, she said, would be dedicated to the nine recommendations by the ad hoc committee, while the goals of the second year could be hammered out at the council’s March 13 priority-setting workshop.
The vote passed, with Mayor Marie Blankley and Councilmembers Dion Bracco and Zach Hilton dissenting.
Before the vote, Bracco said he felt individual councilmembers could work on the recommendations more effectively on their own rather than through another committee.
“I think this will be a big waste of our staff’s time,” he said. “We had it for a year and we got nine recommendations. I say get the nine recommendations taken care of and then come back and see where we want to go.”
Blankley said she was concerned about the two-year timeframe of the committee and setting goals for it now, when the makeup of the council could change in the November 2024 election.
Hilton, meanwhile, said he wanted it to be clear about the actual powers of the committee, as it can only provide recommendations to the council, which has the final say-so on decisions.
“I want staff to be very clear on what a standing committee is and isn’t allowed to do,” he said. “I want the public to know where the line is.”
Council agrees on school officer funding
Also during the Feb. 6 meeting, the council unanimously agreed to fund the city’s portion of the one-year, $533,458 contract with Gilroy Unified School District for two school resource officers.
Gilroy Police Chief Pedro Espinoza said the goal of the SRO program is to not only maintain a safe campus for students and staff, but divert young people away from the criminal justice system and build a community of trust.
Juvenile arrests are significantly down over the past year compared to recent years. According to Espinoza, from Feb. 1, 2022 to Jan. 30, juvenile arrests citywide stood at 77, down from 196 during the same time period in 2019-2020.
Arrests made by SROs decreased from 68 to 20, he said, noting that it is “very rare” when juveniles are actually placed in physical custody and transported to juvenile hall.
“Intervention and prevention has been a priority, and these numbers reflect that,” he said.
The GUSD Board of Education was scheduled to consider approving its half of the funding on Feb. 9.
