Guest View

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...

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...

Steve Glazer is a former political consultant who served as mayor of Orinda before being elected to the state Senate in a 2015 special election. Glazer is a Democrat who usually votes with others in the party’s overwhelming Senate majority. However, Glazer has a rare...

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...

In California’s fight against homelessness, the Governor just announced a $12 billion plan to end homelessness in five years. Combine that with Santa Clara County’s 5-Year Plan to End Homelessness and one might think we are making progress. But it seems the more money...

California is struggling (again) to balance its state budget. Forecasting a $31.5 billion deficit for the next fiscal year, Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed cutting $6 billion from the historic $54 billion climate budget approved last summer—and the state Legislature agrees on some $5 billion...

We are the members of Zach Hilton’s Student City Council Internship Program. We represent different genders, cultures and backgrounds. We are the first generation. Most importantly, we represent a demographic of the crippingly underserved.  We have come to let our written words lay bare, so...

The governor just released his revised spending plan for the California budget, and while he did not admit that we are headed towards a recession, he did acknowledge the state faces economic uncertainty.  His assessment of the state’s growing fiscal challenges brings a greater focus...

California enters the new year with its existential issues still unresolved, and a new one—an immense budget deficit—threatens to make dealing with them even more difficult. California has made very little progress, if any, on narrowing its shortage of housing, its levels of homelessness and...

The year 2022 is in the rear-view mirror, and on Jan. 28 at 9am the Gilroy City Council will meet for our bi-annual strategic planning session. This is where the 2023-2024 legislative work plan and City Council Goals will be established. This will be...