From My Perspective: Fear, faith and fire
Where do you spend most of your time...in fear or faith? You have a “natural” faith of things: awakening each morning knowing the sun will shine or putting your foot on the brake trusting the car will stop. You have faith when you board...
Guest view: Why we celebrate the Spice of Life
The enjoyable part of serving as president/CEO of the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce this past year is working with our board of directors selection committee in choosing the people and businesses of the year.
Our committee solicits feedback and nominations from the local business community...
Zach Hilton: How our electricity provider benefits the community
What makes Gilroy strong is our community. With 59,520 people calling Gilroy home, our community is made up of families, neighbors, businesses, schools, service organizations, parks and more. However, there is one member of our community that may surprise you—our electricity provider.
Silicon Valley Clean...
Guest View: These bells don’t jingle
When we think of monuments unfit for our current era, we draw our minds to the Confederate statues. While controversial conversations surrounding these statues are not exclusive to the East Coast, California has been largely kept out of the picture. Yet, we have a...
Guest View: Things about mental health everyone should know
There’s a lot going on. In the last two years, we’ve endured political upheaval, the fallout of systemic racism, the growing impact of climate change, and genuine loss and collective trauma brought on by the pandemic, which drastically altered our social lives and school...
Guest view: Valley Water makes progress at Anderson Dam
It has been just over two years since Valley Water broke ground at Anderson Dam with the promise to protect the public and secure Santa Clara County’s water supply. Since then, our agency has made tremendous progress on this vital public safety and water...
Guest View: Unique communities stand above the rest
Part 1 of this article, “Steps needed to create a thriving community,” which was published in the May 20 edition of the Gilroy Dispatch, covered the first five common characteristics of thriving communities.
This final installment will discuss the remaining four steps and stress why...
Guest View: Assembly must pass critical small business protections
When small businesses are protected in the State of California from unjust attacks, so too is the California economy. For decades, small business owners have been embroiled in litanies of legal battles that forces them to stare down the prospect of financial ruin. Why?...
Guest view: Amah Mutsun oppose building on Betabel land
For our tribe, the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, Betabel is much, much more than a vacant lot conveniently located by a Highway 101 offramp. Positioned at the confluence of the San Benito and Pajaro Rivers, where earthquake faults also meet, the Betabel area is a place of power where, for countless generations, our people came together for healing and renewal.
Guest View, Zach Hilton: Transit-oriented projects improve quality of life
I write on behalf of my Gilroy City Council Member Office, in support of Valley Transportation Authority’s Transit Oriented Development in Gilroy and in response to a recent letter from Gilroy Growing Smarter (Gilroy Dispatch, May 21).
1. Downtown Gilroy is the urban core of...






















