Think it only makes sense. The Council directed city staff ask
the residents on Princevalle Drive whether they wanted the goofy
traffic-island barrier preventing through traffic traveling across
town from continuing on Princevalle at Sixth Street removed. And,
of course, only 4 of 55 replied,
”
Of course we don’t want special treatment for our quiet street,
please remove the barrier immediately.
”
But what about surveying the residents on Miller Avenue and
Church Street who have to deal with all the crosstown traffic that
Princevalle residents don’t get? What do those residents want? Or
is this just another perfunctory wave at an issue by a Council
terribly uninterested in doing what’s best for the entire
community, while it’s so wrapped up in its own internal drama and
inner squabbles?
Think it only makes sense. The Council directed city staff ask the residents on Princevalle Drive whether they wanted the goofy traffic-island barrier preventing through traffic traveling across town from continuing on Princevalle at Sixth Street removed. And, of course, only 4 of 55 replied, “Of course we don’t want special treatment for our quiet street, please remove the barrier immediately.” But what about surveying the residents on Miller Avenue and Church Street who have to deal with all the crosstown traffic that Princevalle residents don’t get? What do those residents want? Or is this just another perfunctory wave at an issue by a Council terribly uninterested in doing what’s best for the entire community, while it’s so wrapped up in its own internal drama and inner squabbles?
No squabbling, thankfully, means that Officer Cherie Somavia will be back on school campuses this fall after the school district stepped up and covered some of the salary costs. Nice call and hats off to Chief Denise Turner and the district for working through the challenging budget details. Trustee Denise Apuzzo hit it right on the head saying, “This is a need, an absolute need.”
Not an absolute need by any stretch were the 5 percent raises authorized for the City Manager Tom Haglund and City Clerk Shawna Freels. No reflection on either of their job performances. That’s really not the issue. What is the issue is a City Council that’s so far out of touch with this community because it’s so focused on its own little world. The Council should have reviewed their job performance and said collectively, “We have to hold the line on expenses at this time and cannot authorize a pay increase.” Instead, MayorAl made a plea for authorization to hand out raises and everyone, save Craig Gartman, drank the bitter Kool-Aid.
Speaking of bitter … it appears that the district attorney’s office has dropped the “investigation”, such as it was, into Mr. Gartman’s handling of the Memorial Day Parade finances. Gartman and Councilman Bob Dillon, who voluntarily ran the parade for seven years, can file this under the “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished” tab. Meanwhile, what the public should know is that Gartman kept far poorer records than he should have – and he should have known better. Also, politics got very dirty here as his detractors went full bore anonymously to discredit him. That’s ugly. There was never enough evidence to make such a stink, and the end result is likely a bitterness between Council members that will never go away.
Another issue that won’t be going away anytime soon is the proposal to put a medical marijuana facility in Gilroy. The police department doesn’t want it, and the Council’s not sure what to do. How such things get to such a messy state is beyond me. Step 1: Legitimate doctor says patient needs a drug for medicinal purposes. Step 2: Patient goes to pharmacy to pick up drug … The system is in place, the drugs are regulated and tested. That’s how it should be. Let’s dispense with the issue until the laws get straightened out.
One law that needs straightening out – and I promise I won’t dance around this issue for fear of getting arrested downtown by Officer John Sheedy – is the silly city code that says: It shall be unlawful for any person to give, conduct or carry on a public dance or to open or maintain a public dance hall without first having procured from the city administrator a permit in writing to do so. … and in that Gilroy city code public dance is defined as: A gathering of persons in or upon any premises where there is participating in dancing, or dancing is carried on, either as the main purpose of such gathering, or as an incident to some other purpose, and to which premises the public is admitted.
Honest officer, I wasn’t really dancing on Monterey Street after a good bowl of tempura udon at the Gilroy Bowl and hearing the news that the temporary relocation of the Gilroy library might actually move to downtown instead of setting up in a ridiculous location on Leavesley Road. But, let me get this straight, if I want to take in a band and have a beer at the Gaslighter Theater downtown and dance with my sweetie, we could be arrested? Hopefully, Police Chief Denise Turner will get out front on this silly law ASAP and get the Council to rescind it … C’mon, folks, we should be dancing …
In such a progressive town as San Juan Bautista, city leaders allow dancing (on the tables at Daisy’s Saloon, too) … this I know after receiving a flyer from “Fast” Eddie Guaracha reminding me of the 3rd Annual Chicken Festival and Parade on Sept. 19 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. where they will no doubt be engaging in my mother-in-law Pat Midtgaard’s favorite … yep, you guessed it … The Chicken Dance …
Not chicken, but rooster is Y.E. Yang, the South Korean with the red rooster emblazoned on the back of his golf shirt who beat Tiger Woods in a major golf championship Sunday, head-to-head, rooster-to-rooster. Wonder if Tiger’s new Nike shirts will include a roaring Bengal on the back?
