Politics

Gilroy - The South County Democratic Club is holding its annual

More than 50 students, parents and members of the community marched nearly two miles through Gilroy to City Hall Thursday at noon to celebrate unity and diversity, things they said were absent in the campaign rhetoric of President-elect Donald J. Trump.The march, organized by the Student Democratic Club at Gavilan College and including local middle and high school students, started at the old CVS store on First Street and continued along Hanna to City Hall, where the peaceful gathering concluded with speakers and a sharing circle on the complex lawn. As they marched they chanted “Unity through diversity,” “The people united will never be divided” “Hey Ho Racism has got to go.” Noshava Afzao, a Gilroy educational consultant who trains teachers, and wore a hijab said she was there with a flag to accent that liberty and justice “was for everyone.” She worried about how the election would affect that. “There’s a lot of disappointment,” she said.  “The election is a wake up call. I thought we lived in a country that had made progress and this just shows how much progress we need to make.”As word spread that students at Gavilan College were planning a citywide walkout, school administrators scrambled to inform high school parents.“Gilroy is a lovely little bubble of people who are not always proactive. We want to acknowledge voices and create a coalition,” said Sarah Najar, Vice President of the Gavilan Democratic Club.An email to Christopher High School parents from Principal Paul Winslow said: “FYI High School Parents: Someone is encouraging students to cut school” and “while we definitely support free speech, the right to assemble peacefully, and the right to express opinion” students who missed school to participate would be penalized and not be able to make up work.Lisa Ruiz, a parent of Gilroy students with special needs, said she received a call from the GUSD the night before alerting her that any absence would be considered unexcused, but felt she needed to come anyways.“I got to be here in solidarity with the minorities in the community and to see what we can do to help to unify everyone not be divided and hopefully we can get together in love.”As people gathered in the parking lot, members of the Gilroy Police Department kept an eye on proceedings. Sgt. Wes Stanford had a team of motorcycle officers  charged with making sure the demonstrators were safe walking the mile and a half between First Street and City Hall. The department was notified of the march, but organizers didn’t know they would need a permit. “We want to make sure that it’s peaceful, that they are allowed to voice their opinion and whatever views they have and they get to City Hall in a safe fashion.” Stanford said the city has had sporadic marches over the years with the last one he remembers an Occupy Gilroy march of eight people.The well-behaved crowd began their march up First Street - along the sidewalks and stopping at all intersections, using the crosswalks - the sound of honking cars mingling with chants calling for unity.Iris Cueto, 23, a Gavilan biology major, said “The election is making me feel sad, but it’s also making me feel happy to have youth standing up for their rights. It’s nice to see them out here protesting in a peaceful way.” Holding up a coat hanger poster that read, “Never Again,” Summer Diaz, 18, said: “I believe everyone should have their rights. I believe that women should make their own choice and politicians should stay out of women’s rights. “ When the marchers got to City Hall they were offered bottled water by the student organizers who then thanked the crowd for obeying all the traffic laws and the police for “keeping us safe.” Addressing the group, Dr. Enrique Luna, who teaches history at Gavilan, said “we don’t want to be here, but there is a need.” Thanking the march organizers for putting on the event, he said at times he was both laughing and shedding a few tears during the march to city hall. It’s hard to build a community, it’s easy to destroy a community. And we are here to do the hard work.”    

 Four-year Gilroy resident and eBay executive, Daniel J. Harney, was selected to fill the city council seat left vacant by the resignation of former Mayor Don Gage in December at tonight’s city council meeting. After nearly two hours of discussion with questions from the council and comments from the public, Harney received the four votes needed from the six-member council to beat out the other seven applicants to garner his place on the dais. He beat seven other applicants. An eighth,  Harvard-educated lawyer, James Foy, dropped out of the running. Harney will serve out the 10-months left of Gage’s term. During his interview in front of the council, Harney said he and his wife, who is a nurse at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto, moved to Gilroy from Morgan Hill in 2011 with their children in part because of the city’s “sense of heritage” and focus on “smart growth.” When he lived in Morgan Hill, Harney served on the Board of Directors for the homeowners association of Creekside Village. When asked by Councilmember, Dion Bracco what sets him apart from the other applicants, Harney said he had a vision for Gilroy that he believes is shared by a lot of new people coming into the city and as a “Gen-Xer” has a strong connection with the rising “millennial” demographic. He wants to see a vibrant downtown with a variety of things to do.As a member of the city council, Harney will have to serve on a number of committees and commissions. He said he would like to serve on the VTA or transportation committees.Harney said his primary goals during his short term on the council is to work with his fellow council members to fill leadership positions in city hall, including a new city administrator and to make budget expenditure decisions.Harney said he intends to run for a permanent seat on the council during November elections.After receiving the oath, Harney took his place on the dais for his first action as council member. In a unanimous vote, Council member Peter Leroe-Munoz was selected as Mayor Pro Tempore.   

“The need for affordable housing in this county and Gilroy in particular is tremendous,” began Jennifer Loving, the director of Destination: Home, the San Jose-based nonprofit that has successfully championed housing-first solutions for the region’s homeless and is one of nearly 100 organizations across the county that have endorsed Measure A.The $950 million bond would fund affordable housing in the county, and was unanimously placed on the ballot by the county Board of Supervisors as a way to mitigate the region’s housing crisis by freeing up money for the acquisition or improvement of real property and first-time homebuyer programs.A countywide poll conducted earlier this year found two-thirds of likely voters would support a measure that built affordable and supportive housing for homeless, seniors, low-income families and other vulnerable populations.At last count in 2015, there were 439 homeless residents in Gilroy, up from 379 two years earlier.Gilroy Mayor Perry Woodward, who endorses the measure and is one of more than 130 individuals across the county to do so, said the way Measure A funds are used is largely up to the community.“It allows flexibility for cities to devise their own course on how they spend the money,” he said, adding that the money toward supportive housing for the city’s homeless would help address public safety issues as well, resulting in fewer quality-of-life calls fielded by Gilroy police.“We can focus a lot more on community policing,” he said.The $950 million in general obligation bonds would result in $700 million to be spent on the county’s most vulnerable populations, including supportive housing for the homeless; $100 million for low-income families; and $150 million for working families and first-time homebuyer programs.The annual cost over 30 years to property owners would be about $12.60 per $100,000 in assessed property value, according to the San JoseMercury News this summer.Thanks in large part to the advocacy work done by Loving and support from county representatives who spearheaded a housing task force that spurred the measure, there has been momentum in recent years to find lasting solutions to chronic homelessness and home insecurity in a region with rising home prices and a housing supply that cannot keep pace with increasing demand.At Monday’s City Council meeting, a five-member council (Cat Tucker and Roland Velasco were absent) voiced its support for the measure, with Councilman Peter Leroe-Muñoz saying the monies set aside for first time homebuyer programs would help the young workers who flock to Silicon Valley technology companies, many of whom he is in direct contact with during his day job as Vice-President of Technology & Innovation Policy for the industry lobby group, Silicon Valley Leadership Group.“We are in a housing crisis,” said Loving. “Here is a solution.”Measure A needs a two-thirds majority vote to pass.

At least a dozen individual downtown business owners—some entrenched in the Garlic Capital since the 1960s and others who set up shop less than a year ago—are stunned the city banned a wide variety of signage they say helps bring people through the front door.

The Registrar of Voters is still seeking volunteers for the June 5 primary election, with stipends up to $200. Volunteers are needed from around the county, including specific areas in San Jose, as well as in Los Gatos, Cupertino, Milpitas, Mountain View, Morgan Hill...

A relief from the otherwise long meeting, the city council

The Gilroy Dispatch conducted Q&As with candidates for both the Gilroy City Council and the Gilroy Unified School District's Board of Education. See what they had to say here: