Guest View

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...

Yes, a very happy new gear to all! Did Santa bring you a new bicycle last month? Spectacular! Send me a picture of you and your new ride—landscape is preferred over portrait—and I’ll try to feature it in a future column.  Have you signed up for...

Happy New Year, Gilroy! 2024 is sure to be a big year, beginning with a milestone birthday for me in February: 60 years old. Yikes! 2023 was a year of many accomplishments for Gilroy, and 2024 shows no less promise. In 2023, we saw the...

With 40% of jurisdictions in California pending State approval as of June 30 on how well their local housing policies and programs comply with statewide goals, it’s no wonder that questions and concerns regarding the implications to our local communities continue to grow. I...

As a lifelong resident of Gilroy (since 1964!) whose family comes from farming throughout Santa Clara County, I’ve lived through the change of our once prevalent orchards to today’s Silicon Valley. As Silicon Valley developed and job opportunities soared, so did the cry for...

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...

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 to these meetings not just the views of myself but those of my...

And just like that, it’s 2023! Halfway through my first mayoral term, it is my pleasure to share with you all that we’ve accomplished despite the setbacks of Covid, and what we have to look forward to.  In 2022 we began a five-year street maintenance...

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...

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...