Guest View: Struggling artists take note—and take to social media
The past year and a half has been extremely hard on everyone, but it has been especially hard on small business owners. And according to Americans for the Arts, the arts were tremendously impacted by the pandemic, with an overall expected financial loss of...
Guest View: A stimulating discussion
You may hear there was a lot of conflict at the Sept. 20 City Council meeting, but I suggest a different perspective.
The focus was on a time capsule, part of the Covid-postponed celebration of Gilroy’s 150th anniversary as an incorporated city. The committee that...
Guest View: The misconceptions of homelessness
Living in the Bay Area for any period of time, the discourse around the housing market is a hot button topic of conversation, mostly because it costs more than a car to live in a car-sized apartment every month. With the explosion of wealth...
Guest View: Are we invisible?
We are people of all genders, of Ohlone, Black, Filipino, Portuguese, Mexican/Chicano, Chinese and Japanese heritage. We have grown prunes, sugar beets, tobacco, apricots, tomatoes, chili peppers, onion, corn, cucumbers, raspberries, grapes, cherries, and run dairy farms. In 2020, 43 different languages were spoken...
Guest View: Delta surge, research shows it’s time to support public virtual charter schools
Like many parents across America, I watched the struggles of students, parents and teachers as the Covid-19 lockdown forced schools to adapt and find new ways of keeping their students engaged and on track. I saw the results of that evolution as well: social...
Guest View, Stephanie Hernandez and Sarah Manjra: Advocate for the unhoused
Being a resident of Gilroy my entire life, it is disheartening to witness the growth of our homeless population over the past several years. Knowing how much the pandemic has affected millions of people all over the country, we have also seen its effects...
Guest View, Miguel Villa: Trade one box for another
After time with the criminal justice system in 2010, I experienced the job rejection that many like myself deal with upon re-entering the workforce. While I was more than qualified for job after job, as soon as they saw the box checked for a...
Guest View, Marie Blankley: Considering the future of the transit center
With my support, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority held two community meetings in Gilroy to introduce the possibility of and receive feedback on an affordable housing project at the Gilroy Transit Center. However, the project described in their request for approval to authorize...
Guest View, Johnny Khamis: Can we fix CEQA?
If Bay Area housing stakeholders are to ever address factors that have led to construction delays and the rise in costs for constructing desperately needed housing, we must delve deeper into how a well-intentioned law has inadvertently led to difficulty in producing sufficient housing....
Guest View, Beverly Kirk: Gift Shop has been eliminated
On May 28, there was an article in the Dispatch about possible changes for the Senior Center. The article indicated that these changes could hinder operations of the longtime gift shop or close it all together.
This is not just a possibility, it is indeed...