Guest View

While December’s rain and snow show promise, water managers remember the same thing happened last year—epic early storms followed by the driest January through March in California’s recorded history.  After three dry years, all of us are hoping for some reprieve this winter. But the tough reality...

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...

A person that lives in Gilroy and works in San Jose has to invest around $9,282 and 480 hours a year just to be able to go to work. Santa Clara County could reduce cost and time of travel by optimizing the current train...

On Aug. 2, joined by my daughter, I spoke at the Santa Clara County LAFCO public hearing in support of LAFCO's staff recommendation to deny an application to expand the city limits in order to build more single-family homes.  What has Gilroy been doing over...

Gilroy Garlic. Over the years, the words have become so synonymous it is hard to think of one without the other. Growing up in Gilroy, as a member of the third generation of a “garlic family,” the association of this identity has become part...

To my council colleagues, city staff and the public, I am very excited to be a part of the many changes coming to Gilroy this year. I will continue to bring the views of my constituents to these meetings, as well as my own.  We...

Two weeks ago, the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association announced that they would not be moving forward with the traditional large-scale Garlic Festival event for the foreseeable future. The news was met by all of us with sadness, disappointment and even anger. This event, a...

The agricultural stretch of California’s Central Coast along the Salinas Valley is often called the “Salad Bowl of the World,” and for good reason. It supplies more than 60% of the nation’s lettuce and substantial portions of strawberries, spinach and broccoli.  But beyond the fertile...

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...