Given Recent Secret Events, Perhaps Gilroy Isn’t the Garlic Capital, but Mushroom City

Dear Editor, With the recent Dispatch revelation that City
Administrator Jay Baksa kept the mayor, city council, police
officer’s association and of course the voters of Gilroy unaware of
the
”
legal
”
but secretive police leadership contracts,
Given Recent Secret Events, Perhaps Gilroy Isn’t the Garlic Capital, but Mushroom City

Dear Editor,

With the recent Dispatch revelation that City Administrator Jay Baksa kept the mayor, city council, police officer’s association and of course the voters of Gilroy unaware of the “legal” but secretive police leadership contracts, it seems pretty evident that Gilroy, instead of being known as the Garlic Capital should be renamed Mushroom City since mushrooms are kept in the dark and fed manure – something Mr. Baksa seems to have done very well.

Makes one wonder what other “mushrooms” are growing down at city hall?

James Fennell, Gilroy

Mayor: Newspaper Too Critical; City and School District Have an ‘Excellent Relationship’

Dear Editor,

Over the last few weeks the Dispatch has been quite vocal and critical concerning our schools and residential growth. The editorial board has advocated some extremely severe actions without thinking through all the ramifications of those proposed measures.

First, let me say that the school district and the city are on the same page. We both agree that something needs to be done. The district gave us a list of 10 possible options in mid-December, which has started a process that I am optimistic, will lead to a successful solution.

Please keep in mind that your state legislature through Senate Bill 50 has made it extremely difficult for cities in this state to help schools mitigate growth. The Dispatch suggests that we ignore Senate Bill 50. The Council and I were not elected to ignore the law; we were sworn to uphold it. Therefore, we asked our city attorney to review the district’s letter, which they did.

At our school district/council meeting last Wednesday, the Board of Trustees and City Council heard from our chief administrators that many of the issues raised in the 10-point letter were complex and some had potential legal risk to them. However, they agreed and recommended to us one option that has great possibilities.

That option is the convening of a “summit” between the school district, city and the development community. At this summit (scheduled for Friday, March 2 at 1pm at the school district) we will challenge the development community to come up with an answer that helps solve this situation. We have done this before with the development community in the early ’90s for additional school mitigation and in the late ’80s with storm drain issues in the Northwest Quad.

One of the many qualities that make Gilroy unique is our ability to work together. Both boards totally agreed with our administrators to give a collaborative approach a chance. If that fails, we can always proceed with the more severe measures.

Our city and school district have an excellent relationship. It is not, of course, perfect but we are both committed to continue to work together for the betterment of our total community. For the Dispatch to imply we do not is simply not true.

The following are just a few examples of the strong relationship between the council and trustees over the years: The council and trustees have met at least three times a year for the last several years; our chief administrators meet on a monthly basis; we have jointly built parks/school sites at Rod Kelley, Luigi Aprea, and El Roble; future parks are planned adjacent to Antonio Del Buono and the new Las Animas; a joint-use gymnasium was built at Solorsano Middle School; pools were built at South Valley Junior High, Gilroy High School, and will be built at the future Christopher High. We have also waived impact fees (around $250,000 worth) at Eliot School for utility under-grounding.

For the Dispatch to basically disregard the wonderful joint projects that the city and district have participated in is simply irresponsible. If you don’t believe what a good relationship we have with our school district simply look around to the other cities in our area.

Finally, the city and school district have several issues to solve in this community, and we are looking for participation and answers from everyone. However, those answers will not come from taking unilateral and uninformed positions; it will come from our ability to sit down as a community and work it out together as a team. That’s the way we do it in Gilroy.

Al Pinheiro, Mayor, City of Gilroy

Editor’s Note: The Dispatch Editorial Board did not advocate that the mayor or council break the law.

How About a Little Discretion From Cyclists Content to ‘Pee’ on the Side of the Road

Dear Editor,

Imagine my surprise Thursday, when turning the corner (driving my school bus) from Watsonville Road onto Hecker Pass eastbound, I came upon the entire CSC bicycle racing team pulled over to the side of the road, standing over their bikes, taking a whiz (yes, peeing), about 20, in unison.

Good thing all the “kinders” were delivered and not on board …

Rebecca Scheel, GUSD school bus driver

Desperado Event to Honor Gary Filice a Fitting and Fine Tribute to Kids and Sports

Dear Editor,

We would like to express our appreciation to the members of the Desperado Baseball Club and their spouses who put together a wonderful dinner in honor of our son, Gary Filice.

For the past eight years, they have been raising funds with this event to provide fees for disadvantaged youth who want to play city sports and also to buy defibrilators to be placed at various sites in Gilroy.

It means so much to us to see the community served in Gary’s name.

Kids and sports were his passion and we know he is happy to see friends and family working together to benefit both.

Through the hard work of everyone, the Coast Range Brewery was transformed into a festive, fun dinner and dancing Valentine Social, in conjunction with the Gilroy Foundation, for over 200 people.

In addition to recognizing the Desperados, we would like to thank all the individuals and businesses who donated goods and services to the event. Without the support of the community, this fund-raiser would not be the great success it is.

We are grateful to see our son’s memory live on and benefiting the community he loved.

Ernest and Ann Filice, Gilroy