Politics

The Gilroy Economic Development Corporation has named a Morgan

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.”    

The mix of applicants for the vacant Gilroy City Council seat reflects a merging of old and new Gilroy. Nine candidates for the 10-month appointment include several familiar longtime politicians and a few new residents who are Silicon Valley executives with experience at Google, eBay and Sun Microsystems.There are also two former council members, three current or former planning commissioners and former chairpersons of the Housing Advisory Committee and the Historical Heritage Committee seeking the seat vacated by Perry Woodward when he became mayor Jan. 4. Most of the applicants said they would consider running for the seat after the 10 months are up.The candidates, profiled briefly below, will be interviewed by the current council on Jan. 25 in an open session, and the new council member will be appointed right afterward. The application deadline was Jan. 15.Robert Dillon has lived in the city for 31 years, served on the council from 2001-2005 and 2007-2012. He was also a library commissioner and served on the editorial board of the Dispatch.In his application, he described high-speed rail as a “continual thorn in the city’s side,” and said his priorities are hiring a new city administrator, carefully crafting the general plan, which outlines the city’s future, and continuing the “downtown renaissance.”He said he was probably not interested in serving past the 10-month term, but added, “I wouldn’t say never.“I believe I have demonstrated my abilities in past council matters to parse and apply common sense to difficult decisions.”Toby Echelberry, who has been a business manager for companies including Anritsu, Toshiba and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, said his main concern is economic development in the city.“In order to grow a true balanced community, we need more than hundreds or thousands of new homes,” he said, adding that “there needs to be more of a push to bring more employment of not only retail, but all commercial.”He said the city needs to sell businesses on growing here rather than having people commute to work hours away. A father of three, one in high school, one in middle school and one in elementary school, his application focuses on reducing Gilroy’s homeless population, preventing domestic violence and improving schools by eliminating gangs, bullying and drugs.“Gilroy is not only where I reside, a city I shop in, but it is my home and my future,” he wrote. He would run for the council seat after this term, he said.Joan Lewis was a planning commissioner for eight years and is a South Santa Clara County Fire District commissioner and vice president of the Gilroy Historical Society.“I feel the biggest issue facing GIlroy at this time is jobs. We need to bring good paying jobs to our residents so they don’t have to commute out of Gilroy.”She’s also concerned about poor roads and growth. “We should continue to promote infill projects and use master plans and strategic plans for larger projects,” she wrote. “Lastly, we should educate and encourage our residents to shop locally to keep our tax dollars here in town.”She said she could only commit to serving this term.Daniel J. Harney, who works at eBay, moved to Gilroy from Morgan Hill in 2011 to raise three kids in a place that focuses on “families, safe neighborhoods and good schools.“In many ways I represent the past, present and future in Gilroy,” he said in his application, adding that he supports maintaining a “cherished small town community” and knows that it will grow significantly.He favors bringing businesses to the unused industrial park in town and adding hotels and tourist venues to the downtown area.“I think it is also important to state that I do not have any other political aspiration such as county or state politics,” he wrote. His wife is a nurse at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto.Daniene Marciano, who retired as director of community-based educational options for the Santa Clara Unified School District, has been a Gilroyan for 11 years and is the niece of former Santa Clara councilwoman Aldyth Parle.“I want to make a difference in planning the future of GIlroy,” she said in her application. She has managed a $5 million school district budget, worked as a liaison between the district and the Santa Clara City Council and been a consultant at Sun Microsystems.Her husband has owned the Checkered Flag Classic Car dealership downtown for 10 years.Current planning commissioner and former city councilman Paul Kloecker voted against the proposed 721-acre development north of Gilroy because he said it was too much and too soon. A Gilroy fixture, Kloecker was on the City Council for 12 years, on ABAG also for 12 and served on the library board, the Caltrain to Gilroy Planning Task Force, the building code appeals committee and the Parks and Recreation Commission, to name a few.“I am therefore ready to rather immediately be a contributing council member needing little or no ‘learning curve.’”Tom Fischer, a retired plumber who has lived in Gilroy for 40 years, is a member of the Planning Commission and has served as its chair and vice chair.“The key issues facing the city today are: growth and revitalizing the downtown,” he wrote. “How fast we grow, where we grow and how orderly that growth occurs will help determine how successful the downtown becomes.”He was on the commission when it voted unanimously to reject the planned 721-acre development north of town. Downtown, he said, is his top priority.Harvard Law School graduate James Fay is CFO for View, Inc., a Milpitas firm that makes glass that can be adjusted over the Internet, to make windows more environmentally efficient. He’s lived in Gilroy for a decade and said his business background will help him manage executive issues.His priorities include attracting businesses and jobs; improving the downtown; enhancing infrastructure and balancing the small community heritage with modernization and development.“My professional background, critical thinking, problem solving and track record of execution illustrate that I can be a very valuable contributor to the council and city,” he wrote.Insurance auditor Thomas Baer said his extensive fiscal background can help Gilroy resolve some of its major problems. A resident of Gilroy for two years, he’s worked for the California Casualty Management Company in San Mateo since 1981 most recently as Director of Internal Audit. He’s done cost-benefit analyses, monitored corporate staffing and been in charge of privacy.His major issues include growth, downtown, water use, jobs and city pensions.“I believe I should be appointed because I have the time, I do not have an agenda and I hope my financial background, ability to bring people together, ability to sell my ideas and project management skills will complement the many skill sets already on the council.”

Assemblywoman Anna Caballero is set to officially announce her

Calling it the “best turnout they've seen in years,” City Council members were delighted with the sheer number of applicants who showed up eager to serve on City committees during the regular meeting Monday.

Five years of drought and the recent winter storms have wreaked havoc on Gilroy’s trees, according to city staff, and now more than 200 of them are on the chopping block.

The ideal of representative democracy is alive and well in Gilroy.