Simple rules governing when those tapes would be released would
easily have ameliorated any concerns about lawsuits, property
negotiations or personnel review, but the secrecy sect won out
again.
JEERS for the Gilroy City Council which recently voted – again – to deny the people the right to transparency in local government. Only Council members Peter Arellano and Perry Woodward voted in favor of videotaping closed sessions of Council proceedings. Simple rules governing when those tapes would be released would easily have ameliorated any concerns about lawsuits, property negotiations or personnel review, but the secrecy sect won out again. A year ago, some of the same Council people harped and harped on how expensive and cumbersome the city’s Open Government Ordinance would be. That’s hardly been the case. Let the people see how and why decisions are made – it’s their government.
CHEERS for Gilroyans Chris Pauley, a nurse, and Chris Castleman, an Air Force soldier, who both helped out in the post-quake relief efforts in devastated Haiti. Reading first-hand accounts from people in our community only strengthens our collective resolve to help.
JEERS for the Santa Clara Valley Water District for the implied threat related to the possible protest of the groundwater charges by South County well owners. The district, after losing a lawsuit and being ordered to refund $4.6 million to the Great Oaks Water Company for illegal “pump tax” charges, now says that if a majority of well owners opt to protest the tax, the district will halt the groundwater recharge program in South County. Well, if so that would settle the debate. Many longtime farmers and ranch owners in South County believe the recharge program does little – if anything – for the aquifer here anyway. But the SCWD threat is, unfortunately, typical.
CHEERS for Gilroy High School Principal Marco Sanchez who is leading a concerted effort to raise the bar when it comes to high school mathematics. In Gilroy, many students take stretched-out math classes. For example, Gilroy students take what would be a semester’s worth of algebra over a year-long period. Our students are not only penalized on standardized test scores because of the weak structure, but they lose out when it comes to college and life preparation.
JEERS for the California High Speed Rail Authority which is woefully unprepared to deal with real life in urban areas when it comes to 200 mph trains. What were California voters thinking when they approved this? Certainly not that trains were going to be speeding through cities on elevated tracks spewing noise pollution with each pass. Honestly, it might be best for the HSRA to reconsider the Altamont Pass route.
