Gilroy underrepresented in the county
Despite having the most land available for ongoing development in Santa Clara County, Gilroy will not have a place at the table when it comes to making key decisions on future growth.
Councilman’s First 100 Days
“The learning curve is very steep,” said Daniel Harney, regarding his first 100 days as a member of the Gilroy City Council.Selected to fill the vacancy following former mayor Don Gage’s retirement in December, Harney stepped up to the dais Jan. 25.Not one to sit back and watch everyone else at work, over the course of the last three months the eBay executive, husband and father of two helped select new City Administrator Gabriel Gonzalez as a member of the selection subcommittee and supported the city’s move to join the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Authority, becoming Gilroy’s representative on that initiative’s governing board in the process.“Gilroy is the fourth-largest energy consumer in the county and joining the SVCE authority provides our city the ability to purchase electricity from a higher percentage of renewable energy sources, helps lower Gilroy’s greenhouse gas emissions and gives our residents more consumer choice—versus PG&E,” said Harney.“More importantly, it sends a clear and direct message to other Silicon Valley cities that Gilroy will be a leader when it comes to sustainability and resolving shared problems in our county.”Messaging is a major concern for Harney, who feels the city suffers from a problem of misperception based on misinformation.“When I’m out speaking with people, they tell me they don’t go downtown because of the crime problems downtown. Some of the lowest crime rates are downtown,” said Harney.“There is a ton of misinformation out there and there is a lack of dialogue. People have a perception of something; they hold on to that perception and then it becomes a reality. Communication, different channels of communication, can change all that.”Harney said he would like Gilroy residents to be excited and proud of their city.“Gilroy is experiencing somewhat of a renaissance. Our population is becoming more diverse, culturally and demographically. Our wine and tourism industry continues to grow; our downtown and industrial vacancies are much lower than in recent years.”While there are problems—“our roads may not be in the best condition and our growth plan is not resolved,” Harney stresses that Gilroy “is heading in the right direction” and that residents must not lose focus on the fundamentals, to “remain financially sustainable, grow our economy, upgrade our city infrastructure and create a livable community for all.”Many of the issues Gilroy is currently grappling with are not unique to the southernmost city in Santa Clara County.“Many neighboring Silicon Valley cities face the same problems that we are facing, including water, transportation, deteriorating road conditions and planning for high speed rail,” he said. “We need to ensure that we are properly positioned and represented in many of the Santa Clara County cooperatives that help resolve issues with growth.”As for the debate over the proposed urban growth boundary (UGB) initiative brought by the citizen action group Gilroy Growing Smarter in reaction to the contentious 721-acre Rancho Los Olivos housing project formerly proposed for land north of the city, Harney admits the “community remains divided on how and when to grow.“Understanding the key issues of the UGB is important and is why I supported the decision to fund an independent analysis of the impacts to schools, housing, traffic and the fiscal impact this change may have on the city.”At the April 18 City Council meeting, the council approved a further $75,000 to fund an independent report on the impacts of the citizen-led UGB initiative, bringing the total approved funding to $150,000.
CIty Council to Choose New Member Monday
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.”
