Guest View

I am proud of the future housing plan that the Gilroy City Council, Planning Commission, staff and the public have approved.  We committed to advancing the 40 opportunity sites for multi-family homes, downtown expansion district and First Street mixed-use corridor flexibility program, 429 corner lots...

By John Varela Early next month, Valley Water will take a significant step toward fixing Anderson Dam so it can safely withstand a large earthquake.  The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered Valley Water to begin lowering water levels in Anderson Reservoir starting Oct. 1. This effort...

With our nation’s democracy facing existential threats, California’s duty to protect and empower every eligible voter in the state has never been more urgent. Although we often lead the nation with innovative laws designed to defend voting rights, thousands of eligible voters continue to...

There was an opinion piece in the March 19 Dispatch that led the reader to believe that the Gilroy City Council is ignoring a plan that could end homelessness. That is a misleading statement. What the opinion leaves out is that the Gilroy City Council...

The summer of 2020 will always be remembered as the season of the largest, most destructive wildfires in the history of California. Our Golden State lost over 4 million acres that were ravaged by more than 8,200 fires. Thirty-one lives were lost, along with...

Driving around Gilroy, I still see remnants of Valentine’s Day. Glittery hearts have replaced Christmas decorations, colors of red and pink delight neighborhoods and banners blow in the wind saying “I love you more” or “Love you to the moon and back.” Think about that...

When federal government and state governments passed laws governing wages, working hours and other workplace conditions prior to World War II, agricultural labor was exempted. Many years later, after the 40-hour work week became standard, California’s Industrial Welfare Commission decreed that farmworkers could work up...

The ever-continuous magic question: “Is now the right time to buy?” Is it?  My response has always stayed the same: “if the time is right for you.” How do you determine that in an ever-changing and evolving market? Many considerations, economics, interest rates and of...

In March 1870, the California state legislature approved an act allowing Gilroy to incorporate and become a full-fledged city. The Gilroy Advocate, our first newspaper, began publishing a weekly edition only a year earlier. The Dispatch, which came later, absorbed the Advocate in May...

Recently, I was gazing out the window of our VRBO, two tall flights above the narrow, cobblestone path below. Florence’s early-morning street view was certainly a lot quieter than our previous one in Rome! Off to the right, I spied two colorful bicycle wheels...