Politics

Overwhelmed by public criticism and two lawsuits, the developers of the biggest housing project in Gilroy’s history have pulled their application to take more time to sell it to the public.

Overwhelmed by public criticism and two lawsuits, the developers of the biggest housing project in Gilroy's history have pulled their application to take more time to sell it to the public.

In what will surely make an interesting closed session of the Gilroy City Council on Jan. 19, not one, but two lawsuits have been filed against the city regarding its controversial annexation plan involving 721 acres north of Gilroy.A group of Gilroy property owners, who had tried to develop housing south of Gilroy have sued to stop the city from pursuing the northern project. They said they were told not to pursue their plans and then found that the city approved the other big project.Ken Kerley and Daniel Fiorio's suit challenges the City Council’s Dec. 7 decision to approve the 721-acre project and certify the environmental impact report (EIR), without first analyzing and mitigating potential environmental impacts, arguing such actions are “unlawful under CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act] and California planning and zoning laws.”LAFCO, the state-mandated agency tasked with controlling urban sprawl, also filed a lawsuit on Jan. 13 at the Santa Clara County Superior Court, which argued the city broke the law when it approved the annexation of 721 acres of farmland as part of a planned 4,000-home development.The landowners’ lawsuit further attests the city council’s approval of the project causes the city’s general plan to be “internally inconsistent,” in violation of state planning and zoning laws.Both suits also name the project’s investors and landowners, including Martin Limited Partnership, Wren Investors LLC, and Mark Hewell.Like the first suit, this one asks the court to not allow this land to be annexed by the city.Kerley and Fiorio are no strangers to City Hall. In July 2013 they were part of a consortium of landowners that submitted their own application to amend the city’s Urban Service Area to encompass approximately 150 acres in the unincorporated south Gilroy neighborhood district (called South Gilroy USA Proposal in the lawsuit), where the two own property.The petitioners allege in the lawsuit that in January 2014, city staff provided them with an evaluation of the South Gilroy USA Proposal and advised them to withdraw their application and not to resubmit until after the city adopted its 2040 general plan, which was then underway. The petitioners followed the recommendation and withdrew their application five days later.In July 2014, the city accepted Martin Limited Partnership’s application to add 721 acres into the city’s USA boundary even as the city was still developing its 2040 general plan, contrary to the advice allegedly given to the landowners behind the 150-acre south Gilroy proposal.Approval of the 721-acre project is “premature and should await adoption of the 2040 general Plan,” the lawsuit states.The general plan was approved by the City Council on Jan. 4, clearing the way for an environmental review and final reading sometime this summer.        

The Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) filed suit Wednesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court against the city of Gilroy, saying that the city broke the law when it approved the annexation of 721 acres of farmland as part of a planned 4000-home development. It asks a judge to stop the city from moving forward on the plan.

The Gilroy Police Department added four new officers in a badge pinning ceremony this week. It promoted three others and an officer and a blood technician retired. 

Citing his support for former state cabinet member, Anna Caballero, Gilroy City Councilman Peter Leroe-Munoz shocked local political watchers on Thursday, Jan. 7th when he announced that he would be dropping out of the race for State Assembly.

Jeff Martin didn’t know what it felt like to be a villain until his wife came back from her book club one night and told him people thought he was ruining Gilroy.

Attorney Perry Woodward succeeded Don Gage as Gilroy's mayor Monday night.Don Gage retired from the post on Dec. 31 after 30 years of public service and with 10 months left on his term.  Woodward will serve out the remainder of Gage’s term, which expires in December. Residents will be able to vote for a mayor to serve a full four-year term during municipal elections in November.The council will next select a replacement for the empty council seat from applicants who apply to the city clerk by January 15. The sole dissenting vote was cast by councilmember Roland Velasco, who said while he likes Woodward personally, the pair have had “too many policy disagreements” to vote for him. No other councilmember was forwarded to take on the role. The meeting quickly moved forward to the reading of the oath of office, during which Woodward stood with his two young daughters. The entire proceedings took about five minutes. After taking the Oath, Woodward said he promised to represent all residents, not just those who live in his neighborhood or show up to meetings.The only hiccup to the proceedings occurred minutes later when Woodward attempted to make a motion to appoint city council member, Peter Leroe-Munoz as mayor pro tempore.The item was not on the night’s agenda and three people from the audience spoke up, including the chairman of the city’s Open Government Commission, Walt Glines, who had some succinct words of advice for the council, “If it’s not on the agenda, don’t do it.”With that, Woodward recanted, saying, “Ok, you’ve persuaded me.” The mayor pro tem will be selected at the next city council meeting.The city's attorney had counseled Woodward earlier to appoint a secondary mayor right away in case Woodward had to miss a meeting. Woodward, a local lawyer, has served on the Gilroy City Council since 2007, the last 3 years as Mayor Pro Tem.

Christmas came a day early for Gilroy homeowner Erin Cerdan as she was handed a check for $27,836.14—more than a decade’s worth of overpaid taxes—from County Assessor Larry Stone.“I’m ecstatic,” said Cerdan, an administrative assistant at Pacific Point Christian School who welled up with tears talking to the press. “I invited all my neighbors over. Because we’re a family in this neighborhood. We built our homes together and we were all struggling together for a while there.”Stone, a politician’s politician, orchestrated a media event on a slow news day for the giveaway, like a Publisher’s Clearing House ad, minus the giant check and balloons. “You don’t usually see the assessor giving away money,” he said to the cameras before walking up to Cerdan’s door in the Los Arroyos neighborhood.He was only allowed to go back four years of assessments, but got a special order from the County Board of Supervisors to make up the money for those who had been shorted longer and pay interest on it. Cerdan bought her home in 2002.“We regret this error. It was an innocent error but we have the obligation to make it right,” he added, giving a tearful Cerdan the money. Some 216 Gilroyans will also get checks over the next weeks for a total of $3.3 million as a result of reporting errors that no one has been blamed for.The Los Arroyos neighborhood includes “sweat equity” homes, where the owners helped build the two-story ranch houses in return for below market rate mortgages. Others got a low rate on the condition they wouldn’t sell their home at market rates. The trouble occurred when they were taxed at full market value. Neither the builder, South County Housing, which has built hundreds of other low-income homes without the same problem, nor the city, let the assessor’s office know that these should be taxed at their lower value.Cerdan, whose husband Gabriel works two maintenance jobs from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. to afford the house, said the money will take the pressure off him and allow him to spend more time with the family. It will also help pay down some debts.She was the first to notice that her taxes had jumped higher than she was led to believe when she bought the house. Her mortgage payment jumped over $300 a month and was told by the bank that it was for property taxes. Further calls told her that all the neighbors were having their rates raised. When she told them it was a sweat equity home, the county didn’t have paperwork to prove it.Cerdan began organizing the neighbors, some of whom had to choose between buying food and paying the high taxes, and contacted officials including Gilroy Mayor Don Gage, who she thanked for his help.“I don’t blame anyone,” she said. “Fate happens. Nobody’s perfect. Government’s not perfect,  but like Larry said, when a problem does come you try to get it resolved as quickly as you can. I believe they did that.“Cerdan gave Pot of Gold chocolate bars to officials and neighbors to celebrate.“All of us were having a hard time with everyday life. That’s everybody,” she said. “I’m not saying just people with low incomes are the only ones. Things happen in life. I had a lot of medical things come up and I kept charging, charging charging. And with the mortgage, I thought we might lose our home, the home we built. So I just kept at it, contacting people and getting the word out.”The next question is how much tax the families will have to pay on the refunds. Stone couldn’t answer that and advised them to speak to tax experts.