Politics

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."

Santa Clara County residents will pay a half-cent sales tax to improve roads, trains, bike and pedestrian paths to the tune of $6 billion, if a major group representing the top businesses in Silicon Valley has its way.

The cake was out on Monday as the City Council said farewell and thanks to interim city administrator Ed Tewes, who attended his last council meeting on the dias before turning the keys to City Hall over to new administrator Gabriel Gonzalez.

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.

This November’s election will be hugely important for Gilroy and for the nation as a whole. Not only will it be a test of our presidential election system, but it will be an opportunity for Gilroy residents to vote for a mayor and three council members of their choice. Mayor Woodward, Cat Tucker, Teri Aulman and Daniel Harney all finish their terms at that time. This is an exciting moment in the history of our democracy. I hope that Gilroy residents will register to vote if they haven’t already, and that all registered voters express their wishes at the polls.

The Gilroy mayoral race is starting to heat up as Terry Feinberg has announced he is resigning his post as chairman of the board of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce in order to support Councilmember Roland Velasco in his bid to become Gilroy’s next mayor.

He came to Gilroy as deputy district attorney prosecuting drug dealers and bad financial actors. Mayor Pro Tempore Peter Leroe-Muñoz is a Harvard Law School alum with a first-hand understanding of public safety issues affecting the region. No longer in the running for state Assembly, having dropped out of the race in January, Leroe-Muñoz has two more years left in his term on the City Council. In this Q&A he addresses a major project’s effect on the communications capabilities of law enforcement and emergency responders across the region, as well as a rumour about his residency.

The Gilroy City Council on Monday voted to join a new county energy agency that plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions by getting power from renewable sources.

Uvas Reservoir, which had dwindled during the drought, reached an inch from its top Tuesday, before officials began letting water down the spillway. It doesn't mean the end of the drought, water officials say, but it's a big step toward helping recharging the underground aquifer that brings Gilroy much of its water.