Politics

With little discussion, Gilroy's City Council on Monday approved

Before interviewing the candidates, the Editorial Board of the

Despite a sour housing market, one developer is moving ahead

Officials within the Gilroy Unified School District—and even the city—are concerned the state legislature is passing bills that will gradually reduce the amount of control elected officials have over the finances which they were chosen by constituents to manage.

More and more South Valley residents are applying for passports

A gun shop and an outdoor plaza might bring some big changes downtown. The firearms shop is considering moving to the Pinnacle building on Monterey Road, the first storefront for firearms since Walmart stopped carrying them. Right now there are eight dealers with permits to sell weapons out of their homes and one of them has appeared before city staff to see what would be needed to rent the downtown space.“If it’s done right, fine,” said Mayor Perry Woodward. “It’s just another retail use. We’re still a rural community in many ways and fishing and hunting are popular here. If you come back and tell me it’s all assault rifles, I might have a different point of view. If it’s done responsibly and within in the law, it serves a need.”Woodward got to talk about his real dream for downtown Monday for the first time, because he sold a property he owned there that kept him from voting on downtown issues. He wants to knock down the former billiards hall and put a public plaza there with trees, a stage and benches. It would be a place for the community to come together for activities, after which they would shop in businesses catering to them.“I want to see the day when people in Morgan Hill say they wish they had a downtown like Gilroy’s,” he said. It would require the city to buy the building and the one behind it and knock them down. The billiards hall is now slated to house the Community Media Access Partnership television station now housed at Christopher High  and a computer center for people to study and use desktops.John Russell, of Rally Round Downtown Gilroy, said he would be happy with a gun shop or any retail, "as long as it's not another salon or piñata shop."

Nineteen years after the devastating Loma Prieta earthquake

The City of Gilroy held its third public hearing on district based elections on April 7, where the city council reviewed and discussed draft maps submitted by the public more than a week earlier. Extensive public input is designed into the city’s transition process to...