Politics

Most City Council members favor a high-speed rail system coming

Four stately 100-year-old trees lining Fifth Street in Gilroy will soon be absent from the neighborhood skyline, and some aggrieved homeowners are questioning Gilroy’s commitment to live up to its “Tree City USA” moniker.

The City of Gilroy is closer to seeing its legal conflict involving a proposed 349-unit housing project in a south Gilroy cherry orchard dismissed after a Superior Court judge ruled the city did not violate the developer’s rights to a public hearing.

In response to growing concerns about speeding and other traffic dangers in neighborhoods, the Gilroy City Council heard a plan for a new Neighborhood Traffic Management program Aug. 27. The plan had originally been presented at a May 21 meeting, but adjustments were made following...

Since California has had strict protections for keeping government open to the people. That’s why we were shocked to see that Gilroy’s Mayor Roland Velasco was giving his state of the city speech to an audience that paid $30 apiece at a Chamber of Commerce fundraiser to hear it last week, and with him were four other city council members.

The 38th annual Gilroy Garlic Festival has come and gone, and while attendance numbers are down over last year’s, organizers say they should still be on track to reaching $11 million in donations over the lifetime of the event.

No one could argue that serving on a city council isn’t a grinding activity, requiring one to parse and analyze dense, technical and unfamiliar material, then comment as though one were an expert and to always without fail, make the right decision.

Councilman Perry Woodward announced Thursday that he is no longer running for mayor, in light of former Gilroy Mayor Don Gage's decision to enter the race.