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City Council will discuss Monday whether a measure to increase Gilroy’s sales tax rate from 8.75 to 9.25 percent should be added to the November ballot. If the council adopts the measure—and voters approve it during the election—Gilroy would have the highest sales tax rate of all cities in Santa Clara County.

After 30 years as a volunteer for the Gilroy Garlic Festival, Morgan Hill resident Steve Padilla has nothing but praise for his fellow volunteers and South County residents who have made the festival a world-renowned marquis event.Padilla, 65, started volunteering for the festival in 1984, worked his way up the ranks just as he did in his career as a firefighter. In his first few years, he picked up garbage and poured wine. At last weekend’s 36th Garlic Fest, Padilla served as a member of the advisory committee, which acts as the glue that holds all the different moving parts of the three-day festival together, he explained during a break on festival grounds at Christmas Hill Park July 27. He has been involved in the management aspect of the festival since 2000, once serving on the board of directors, said the retired San Jose Fire Captain. Garlic keeps him busy year-round, he said, as he and other volunteers are already planning next year’s festival. Padilla has lived in Morgan Hill since 1977, where he raised three daughters and has six granddaughters. For the last five years, he has also volunteered for Morgan Hill’s annual Fourth of July Freedom Fest. His brother Manny Padilla convinced him to join that effort. Steve said he was initially inclined to volunteer for the Garlic Fest 30 years ago through word-of-mouth buzz about how unique and generous the festival is. The vigorous involvement of the South County community—from the 4,000 volunteers to the more than 80,000 attendees—is what keeps Padilla volunteering at the Garlic Fest today. “There’s a waiting list to volunteer” for the Garlic Fest, Padilla exclaimed. The local enthusiasm is highlighted at nighttime during every Garlic Fest, as local homes and businesses surrounding the festival grounds liven up with parties and unofficial festivities. Over the past 36 years, the Garlic Fest has raised more than $10 million for area nonprofits and organizations, according to festival organizers. The 2014 festival raised more than $1.7 million in revenue. As a member of the festival’s advisory committee, the biggest part of Padilla’s job is to act as a “liaison” between festival organizers and the hundreds of food and merchandise vendors, ensuring everything meets health, safety and fire codes. That includes providing the vendors with “everything they need” as far as water, electricity hook-ups and supplies. “One thing about this festival is they really cater to their vendors,” Padilla said. Throughout this past weekend, he was also seen helping with sponsor hospitality behind the festival’s Cook-Off stage, and directing patrons through the waiting area for shuttles to off-site parking lots. “It’s addictive, when you see the involvement of the people,” Padilla said. “I just kept wanting to get more involved, and help give more money back to the community.” 

Some part-time teachers at Gavilan College are outraged that their hourly pay—and often their courses—are being cut while top administrators receive bonuses and increasing salaries.

Two of the three Gavilan College trustee positions that represent the San Benito County area are up for re-election this November and one of the incumbents has decided not to seek a second term.

WEDDING: Oerman/Snyder: Stephanie Rose Oerman and Joseph Hibbert Snyder are engaged to be married.

A team of educators, volunteers and administrators involved with the Gilroy Unified School District’s free educational summer camp want to prove that children born from low-income households and those already struggling in school are not destined for failure.

Domestic violence survivor Aidee Portillo Fernandez stood stoically before a roomful of South County media, law enforcement and nonprofit representatives as she described the horror her former spouse once inflicted on her.“My abuser tried to kill me three times,” Portillo Fernandez said in Spanish at the July 23 grand opening of the Santa Clara County Family Justice Center. “I wanted my children to heal.” Portillo Fernandez continued to describe how, once her abuser was in custody, it was inconvenient to travel to multiple offices throughout Santa Clara County to seek victim services and protection from her former spouse. The new Family Justice Center, located at the offices of Community Solutions, 16264 Church St. in Morgan Hill, is designed to help alleviate that burden. The center, established as a pilot program in April, serves as a one-stop-shop for domestic violence victims to gain access to all the services they need—from advocacy and case planning to filing restraining orders. “Frequently, survivors come into our office and have concerns about their partner's probation, violation of restraining orders or general questions about a criminal case so they can better plan for their safety,” said Perla Flores of Community Solutions. “By bringing all (the participating agencies) under one roof, we can do that all during one visit here at one location. It’s kind of a wrap around model that is intended to best support survivors, and it's convenient to them.”More importantly, Flores said, the Family Justice Center offers a “transformative” and victim-centered approach to domestic violence. The participating agencies—which have always helped with victim assistance but not necessarily under one roof—share “the same mission and philosophy in how we’re going to support the families affected by domestic violence.” The geographic location of the Family Justice Center in South County is not a coincidence.  Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, who spoke at the July 23 press conference, said South County faces a higher per-capita rate of domestic violence cases than other areas of the county. In 2013, Rosen’s office filed more than 240 domestic violence cases in South County, he said. “It is now much easier for victims to access services,” Rosen added. Flores added that Community Solutions serves about 1,500 domestic violence victims per year, though she doesn’t expect the Family Justice Center to serve that many for the foreseeable future. Also present at the July 23 press conference were representatives of the many partners who staff and support the Family Justice Center. These include the Morgan Hill and Gilroy police departments, sheriff’s office, D.A.’s office, county probation, Family Social Services, Victim Witness Services, Supervisor Mike Wasserman’s office, Community Solutions, and the Step Forward Foundation, a nonprofit that supports victims in need of immigration related services. MHPD’s on-site law enforcement partner at the Family Justice Center is Det. Mindy Zen, a 17-year police veteran. Zen currently investigates and follows up on domestic violence cases in both Morgan Hill and Gilroy, and serves on the Police-Victim Advocacy Committee and the Domestic Violence Death Review Team. She also trains officers and service providers on issues of domestic violence.  Rosen added that the creation of the Family Justice Center was not expensive. Funding included the rental cost for the Community Solutions office, and staffing is provided by the different agencies participating in the center. Those supporting the Family Justice Center and domestic violence victims also praised the cooperative spirit that made the service center a reality. “There is absolutely a can-do and entrepreneurial spirit in South County,” Rosen said July 23. “We are in the works of replicating this in North County.” The Family Justice Center is currently open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Wednesday, and has served 39 individual family violence survivors, Flores said. In the long term, the Family Justice Center’s goal is to find a larger facility to support the growing need for its services all over the county.