Editorials

There were quite a few firsts bringing a finale to this school year. With graduation commencement ceremonies drawing to a close last week, it’s always assuring to know that the graduating classes of 2014 will leave behind a legacy that no Gilroy students ever have. Combined, graduates from Gilroy High School, Christopher High School and Mt. Madonna Continuation School contributed more than 50,000 volunteer community service hours. Setting the groundwork for youth community involvement is a great way to fill a need with volunteer organizations as well as provide a foundation of stewardship, giving everything from nonprofits, service groups and churches an extra helping hand. Kudos to a class of young volunteers.

More than 2,400 years ago, the Athenian leader Pericles offered a tribute to fallen soldiers that still applies to the more than 1 million Americans who have died in combat: “Not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions, but there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men.”

Attorneys with the Gilroy’s legal firm of choice, Berliner-Cohen, and the city administrator are penning their way around state law and holding up multiple efforts by the Gilroy Dispatch to obtain the names of six public safety retirees who claimed an industrial disability within the past five years.

Perhaps a reminder is in order why the First Amendment of the United States Constitution reads, in part, “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.”

Making a switch to hire an in-house city attorney – and putting the days of city reliance on a huge San Jose-based law firm, Berliner-Cohen – has the potential to be a very good thing for Gilroy.

The Editorial Board has serious concerns about the direction the fledgling “Quality of Life” sales tax or bond proposal is headed. What began as Mayor Don Gage’s idea to see whether Gilroyans would support some sort of tax increase to pay for capital improvement projects has morphed into a tax hike that would support city operations, specifically police and fire protection.

Trustees should not back away from the requirement for Gilroy high school students to log 80 hours of community service prior to graduation. That’s 20 hours a year to give back to the community. It’s a reasonable expectation, and one that builds community spirit. To paraphrase the late President John F. Kennedy, “Ask not what your community can do for you, ask what you can do for your community.”

In the best case scenario Saint Louise Regional Hospital, which is on the market along with the entire group of hospitals owned and operated by the Catholic Daughters of Charity, will be sold to a compassionate organization intent on providing quality health care to South County residents. In the worst case, scenario, there would be no takers and Saint Louise would be shuttered.

The crumbling red barn on the ranch side of Christmas Hill Park may or may not be traceable to one of the area’s most prominent historical figures, cattle baron Henry Miller. While that matters to a degree, the point remains: the red barn is still a part of Gilroy history. The real question is how much the community values that history.

… Yes, Virginia, there was an editorial about the credibility of Santa Claus, appearing more than 100 years ago in The New York Sun. It was written by Francis Pharcellus Church, an assistant to the paper’s editor. A true Christmas classic, it has outlived its writer, the recipient, and the newspaper that gave it life. Its most famous phrases are often recalled and sometimes parodied.