News

In the tradition of the excessive parties thrown by Jay Gatsby—the character from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby—The Gilroy Foundation named its 27th annual dinner and auction, held on Oct 1, after that famous book and encouraged guests to indulge and give generously. The foundation has been raising funds for local charities and providing scholarships for local students since 1980.

The landmine-like potholes on First Street are on the way to being fixed, years ahead of schedule and after years of complaints.Mayor Perry Woodward, with support from Councilman Dan Harney and former city traffic engineer Henry Servin worked out a clever system to have license registration fees that go to the state shifted quickly to Gilroy’s street of most need.Without their efforts, the work might not have begun until 2021, but it will now be finished—if the last hurdle is cleared—by the middle of next year.“It’s the worst street in town,” said Woodward. “This needs to happen. It should have never gotten this bad. It’s been neglected by Caltrans for so long, we have a crisis. I’m glad we will get this addressed when the rain stops.”The potholes on First Street are one of the biggest complaints by the city’s residents. The trouble is, the street—which is also known as Highway 152—is maintained not by the city, but by the state, and it isn’t as big a priority for them as it is for the locals.Caltrans didn’t even include the street on its current list of repairs and it couldn’t be added until 2020-2021. The three Gilroyans, led by Woodward, who sits on the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority board, are in the process of getting the board to front $5.5 million for the repairs, which will then be repaid by license fees, speeding up the process.The roadway will be worked on into the spring, as the state adds water, sewer and electric lines under it. Then, beginning in April, new pavement will be added.“It’s fantastic news,” said Harney, who is running for council in Nov. 8. “It s a big deal. If Perry and I hadn’t done that, we’d still be stuck where we were. The way it is now, we can’t even repave the potholes.”While the proposal has been approved by the VTA, it still needs Caltrans approval, which Woodward is working on. He is optimistic about that final step.The city also set aside $2.5 million to fix some of the other worst streets in town at last week’s council meeting. Those streets are being decided by a computer model that ranks streets most in need of repair.

Local Scene

The year was 1971 when two young college freshmen at San Jose State University would meet. Evelia Morales and Pedro “Jaime” Rosso didn’t yet know it, but they had found their hearts’ desire, unmistakable partners in life and business.The two young lovers, each with a different story and background—together would make an immeasurable mark in their community. They own the biggest local premium furniture retailer in the South Valley, with locations in Gilroy and Morgan Hill.

A candidate has dropped out of the race for three seats on the Gilroy school board but missed the deadline for removal, so his name will be on the ballot.

On its first play from scrimmage, San Benito found the end zone when Hunter Raquet hooked up with Adam Mendoza for a 22-yard touchdown. That pretty much summed up the Haybalers’ 45-0 win over Christopher Friday in a Monterey Bay League Gabilan Division contest.

They make the most money upon graduating from college and retain that edge over the course of their careers, so if you are a parent or teacher of college-bound students, take another look at engineering.Last week, Gilroy middle school and high school teachers got the inside scoop on STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) pathways and how they can utilize available resources to inspire students to pursue careers in these lucrative and in-demand fields.“There’s no better area in the whole world to pursue a STEM career than in Silicon Valley,” said Jeff Sosa, head of product at a stealth mode startup and speaker at the free Bite of Science session by the Center for Excellence in Education on Sept. 27 at Hilton Garden Inn in Gilroy.Sosa, a Gilroy High School alum, shared his experience with nearly two dozen middle and high school teachers from Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Hollister and Salinas.The successful software engineer turned product manager and entrepreneur got his start at Gavilan College where he studied for two years before transferring to Sonoma State University to pursue a degree in mathematics.It was a computer programming class during his junior year at college that turned him on to software engineering.Tracy Serros, who teaches biology and biotechnology at Gilroy High School, said the session was interesting as it gave teachers an insight into what Silicon Valley jobs are all about. She added that she’d like to see more partnerships between the school and local companies for student internships.“It’s great, especially in the biotech context to get real world experience,” she said.Promoting STEM is not just for high schoolers. Getting younger students to “light up” while trying to solve a particular problem is a highlight for Barbara Kalman, who teaches 7th and 8th grade science at Brownell Middle School.“Getting them exposed to how we use technology in the world, researching online, building models, having them work in a team is huge,” she said. “It’s always exciting and interesting to see them light up when they solve a problem.”The session also introduced the various resources available to teachers who want to push the envelope.Both teachers cited the opportunities for instructors at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Moss Landing. The nonprofit oceanographic research center promotes a peer relationship between engineers and scientists and offers training workshops for teachers, as well as classroom kits that address real-world issues like ocean acidification and the role plankton plays in our ocean ecosystem.“Teachers always like resources,” said Kalman.

Hartnell had two 100-yard rushers against Gavilan en route to a 44-14 win at Gilroy High School Saturday.

Gilroy fell in a tie breaker to Monte Vista Christian on Wednesday, with MVC taking the match thanks to the score of its sixth player.

“The need for affordable housing in this county and Gilroy in particular is tremendous,” began Jennifer Loving, the director of Destination: Home, the San Jose-based nonprofit that has successfully championed housing-first solutions for the region’s homeless and is one of nearly 100 organizations across the county that have endorsed Measure A.The $950 million bond would fund affordable housing in the county, and was unanimously placed on the ballot by the county Board of Supervisors as a way to mitigate the region’s housing crisis by freeing up money for the acquisition or improvement of real property and first-time homebuyer programs.A countywide poll conducted earlier this year found two-thirds of likely voters would support a measure that built affordable and supportive housing for homeless, seniors, low-income families and other vulnerable populations.At last count in 2015, there were 439 homeless residents in Gilroy, up from 379 two years earlier.Gilroy Mayor Perry Woodward, who endorses the measure and is one of more than 130 individuals across the county to do so, said the way Measure A funds are used is largely up to the community.“It allows flexibility for cities to devise their own course on how they spend the money,” he said, adding that the money toward supportive housing for the city’s homeless would help address public safety issues as well, resulting in fewer quality-of-life calls fielded by Gilroy police.“We can focus a lot more on community policing,” he said.The $950 million in general obligation bonds would result in $700 million to be spent on the county’s most vulnerable populations, including supportive housing for the homeless; $100 million for low-income families; and $150 million for working families and first-time homebuyer programs.The annual cost over 30 years to property owners would be about $12.60 per $100,000 in assessed property value, according to the San JoseMercury News this summer.Thanks in large part to the advocacy work done by Loving and support from county representatives who spearheaded a housing task force that spurred the measure, there has been momentum in recent years to find lasting solutions to chronic homelessness and home insecurity in a region with rising home prices and a housing supply that cannot keep pace with increasing demand.At Monday’s City Council meeting, a five-member council (Cat Tucker and Roland Velasco were absent) voiced its support for the measure, with Councilman Peter Leroe-Muñoz saying the monies set aside for first time homebuyer programs would help the young workers who flock to Silicon Valley technology companies, many of whom he is in direct contact with during his day job as Vice-President of Technology & Innovation Policy for the industry lobby group, Silicon Valley Leadership Group.“We are in a housing crisis,” said Loving. “Here is a solution.”Measure A needs a two-thirds majority vote to pass.