Editorials

Downtown Gilroy’s getting a bookstore and the town is abuzz.Crazy, right?Maybe not.When we heard how excited people were about a used bookstore relocating here, we shook our heads. A used bookstore? Is that going to save our struggling downtown? We already have a Barnes and Noble in the big box store ghetto on the other side of the freeway. And let’s face it, while we love books, they are not the big force driving business they once were. They are like the hit rock band that now plays county fairs. Lovable, but not in their economic prime.But then we had a vision.A day doesn’t go by when we don’t hear someone say that Gilroy’s downtown doesn’t have the class of Morgan Hill’s and they wish we had the outdoor chain restaurants that have taken over our northern neighbor and made it a destination. We’ve watched it happen in Campbell and Willow Glen, which have grown from sleepy, antiquated downtowns to hot night spots.And, yes, Gilroy could do the same. Why it hasn’t is a mystery.But maybe it shouldn’t. Maybe there’s another tack. Maybe we should play on our strengths.Gilroy has the genuine feeling of an old, quaint town with locally owned businesses you can’t find anywhere else.Maybe we need to celebrate that and market it more. We’re not just the Garlic Capital of the World, which is a big drawing card, but we are also one of the last real California towns. We keep it real. Yeah, we have chain stores, but we keep them on the other side of the tracks.Take a stroll on Monterey Road downtown and you will find an archery store; a funky, lovable bowling alley with a restaurant that serves food from around the world; a great Mexican bakery and several Mexican restaurants that are like a trip south of the border; a sewing shop; a pottery studio and store; two exquisite American food restaurants in historic buildings; an auction shop; a high-end kids resale shop; garlic specialty shops and restaurants; a classic car shop; amazing antique stores; and soon, a high-end used bookstore.It’s all a great start and it should be marketed better.The owner of Garbo’s Collectibles once told us that he took out ads in Los Angeles for his business and was shocked by how many people came here, loving the city’s old California feel. What many locals see as underdeveloped and embarrassing, outsiders praise for its authenticity.So what else can we do to improve it?We need more public spaces downtown. Mayor Perry Woodward is pushing for an amphitheater where the billiards hall is now and that’s a good step. But what we really need are places to bring kids to after they see a concert or play there.We need a museum downtown, or an attraction that will bring in families. We need more benches and more shade, so people can stroll and stop. We need more outdoor dining. We need more ice cream and pizza shops for families.We also need someone with the vision to bring it to life. We’ve got the history, the local shops and plenty of empty storefronts to fill. We need more activities to attract people downtown, like farmers markets and concerts. We can be proud of the good things we already have. We have a vibrant mix of local shops and cultures, Mexican and American, that is pure and real and not tacky.This isn’t Napa or Disneyland. It’s an agricultural and historical city with things you won’t find anywhere else.

On June 1, 2015, the Mayor of Gilroy admitted contritely that he had not done his budget homework before suggesting big cuts in city funding to the Gilroy Welcome Center. He then reversed his position, which magically changed the votes of his three well-leashed city council allies. Mayor Don Gage did the right thing, but not before causing unnecessary grief and anger that brought to the surface pent up frustration with the mayor and the City Hall minions that appear too often to snap to his heel. A few days earlier, the mayor told Dispatch Reporter Chris Foy that his idea to cut Welcome Center funds was a“mistake;” that after meeting with center director, Jane Howard, and a local hotelier, he’d seen the light and reversed his position, he told Foy.When the budget was adopted on Monday, $300,000 a year for two years remained intact for the Welcome Center, which works hard and efficiently to promote Gilroy to the world and by doing so brings tax dollars to the city and other immeasurables that contribute to the general welfare.That unanimous vote to continue funding deserves a job-well-done to the council. The fact is, three members never wanted the funds cut. They are Dion Bracco, Cat Tucker and Roland Velasco. They deserve credit for seeing the right path. It takes guts to stand up to bullying and a wrecking crew. But when a mayor who has drawn a huge cumulative paycheck from taxpayers for years as an elected county official, and has sat though more hours of budget hearings than Christopher has garlic, does not do his fiscal homework and then, shooting from the hip, angers many by suggesting drastic cuts to a community asset, it kind of makes you wonder, what’s going on in Gilroy?The mayor wanted to take money from the Welcome Center and help at-risk youth, even though the city shares $2 million in grants to help youth. His explanation did not ring true. His critics are convinced it was mayoral revenge for the defeat of Measure F, a city sales tax increase whose biggest booster was the mayor. He denied it.Auto dealers ponied up big bucks to pass F, now the mayor is pushing for improved roads for easier driving to the dealerships. Friends and family of the mayor voted against F but never told him for fear of retaliation, according to several.During the F campaign, a merchant who was the face of the anti-F opposition and who had a makeshift storage unit at his shop for years without incident, suddenly received a citation for the unit.The Gilroy Chamber of Commerce opposed Measure F. After it failed, the mayor abruptly ended his practice of attending chamber breakfasts. He also cut off long-time friends and allies who opposed the measure, to their dismay and frustration. When the mayor demanded cuts in Welcome Center funding, just about everyone figured it was because the center director is related to the merchant who was cited but continued his vocal opposition to F. It’s a coincidence that kind of makes you wonder, what’s going on in Gilroy?Here is the other thing. When Mayor Gage originally suggested cuts in Welcome Center funding, three  council members, Terri Aulman, Perry Woodward and Peter Leroe-Munoz, agreed and voted with him to direct staff to rework the budget to include the cuts. A week later, when Gage explained his unpopular action by saying he didn’t understand the center’s operation and didn’t do his homework, those same three council members flip-flopped, too. The Welcome Center has been the most visible of many issues that have people unhappy with City Hall and this administration and what some describe as its arrogance. They ask why the mayor and City Hall are so anti-business, why it takes years to get permits, why some departments seem to badger and not help customers, why the mayor and his council allies are so unwilling to compromise, and how one person’s vision and petty likes and dislikes seem so easily to blind or dismiss the views and visions of others.The very real hope that swelled Gilroy’s collective community pride when local-boy-makes-good Don Gage gave up  his comfortable Santa Clara Valley Water District director position to come home and be the mayor again now is sadly deflated. It kind of makes you wonder, what’s going on in Gilroy?*With a nod to William Allen White, 1868-1944.