The following organizations and individuals deserve either CHEERS or JEERS this week:
CHEERS: For the Gilroy High School graduates who celebrated with aplomb last Friday on a makeshift stage. The speakers were sharp, the mood festive and the proceedings went off without a hitch. Special cheers for the GHS staff who planned and set up the event. The keynote speaker, retiring teacher Linda Hartman, deserves special recognition for a peppy, honest speech that reminded graduates “you are definitely in charge of your daily attitude.”
JEERS: For the news that the Santa Clara Valley Water District, which has consistently raised water rates for South County customers, has half a billion dollars in cash on hand. Half a billion. That’s obscene. At 4 percent, that’s $2 million a year. How about we roll back water rates to the good old days when the Gavilan Water District ruled.
CHEERS: For all those who participated in the Relay for Life, walking to raise funds for the American Cancer Society. The 100 purple-shirted survivors are living reminders of the importance of this annual event, and the growth in participation is heart-warming and welcome.
JEERS: For San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales, the master of doublespeak and new phrases. His latest invention in the whole-hog sellout to develop Coyote Valley for no particular reason: “phases of the willing.” Translated that means, “whenever the developers are ready with whatever they want to build, let’s do it.” His tenure is coming, thankfully, to an end but it has become a theater for the absurd.
JEERS: For the latest spike in housing prices. Maybe the bubble won’t burst, but the meteoric increases will certainly slow down. If not, the only people who will be able to afford a home here are the ones selling the oil.
