Politics

Gilroy City Council, despite hearing from nine concerned business owners and residents, strengthened an already existing ordinance to altogether ban a wide variety of signage, from prohibiting A-frame signs within city limits to excluding costumed sign-waving human advertisers from public property.

Gilroy's only overnight homeless shelter closed on March 31 and is slated to reopen in December. Now, the hundreds who used the shelter each day this year may have no other legal—or secure—place to sleep in town.

The General Plan Advisory Committee, tasked with revamping Gilroy’s vision and guiding principles over the next two decades through the General Plan, will be holding a public workshop April 2. Members of the public who participate will have a chance to share their own ideas about Gilroy’s future with City officials at 6:30 p.m. at Eliot Elementary School.

City Council has scheduled a special meeting next week and the items on the agenda will be closed to the public, as they involve union contract negotiations.

The Gilroy City Council is adding teeth and toughening up Gilroy's sign ordinance to include a ban on a wide variety of signage, from prohibiting A-frame signs thoughout the city – including downtown – to axing costumed sign waving human advertisers on public property.

On the heels of a letter sent by City Council and the Cities Association of Santa Clara County, Assemblyman Luis Alejo recently met with local officials and listened to concerns about a double-digit increase in crime in Gilroy associated with Assembly Bill 109 – the Public Safety Realignment Act.

The City Council has hammered out their overarching goals over the next five years through nearly 15 hours of discussion at its annual retreat facilitated by a Florida-based consulting firm. No. 1: financial stability, followed by revamping downtown.