Opinion

At the Jan. 10 city council meeting, the council voted 5-2 to consolidate our 13 city commissions into nine commissions. For perspective with our nearest neighbors, Morgan Hill has four commissions and Hollister has six.  The decision to consolidate down to nine places the function...

For the past four years I have participated at some level with California State legislative bills, first as an advocate and now as an elected official. I have spent hours listening, reading legislative files, all while writing letters of support and testifying myself. That...

Last November, spurred by the Gilroy Dispatch story of the return of William Shatner’s wallet, I wrote a piece titled “An Open Letter to William Shatner.” I wanted him to know that, in addition to his wallet adventure, he has two other connections to Gilroy—one...

Hello Gilroy! On your ballots this November will be Measure C, a request for a quarter of a cent sales tax that will generate about $4.5 million annually for Gilroy’s Police and Fire Departments. Why does Gilroy need this added revenue? Because we can’t...

I’m sitting at my laptop, basking in the memories of last week’s camping trip to the Sierras. My camping trips actually began when I was still in diapers; after that, yearly camp adventures were part of my life. But, that magic age came for...

A decade ago, California’s political apparatus finally recognized a yawning achievement gap in its public schools, separating poor and English-learner students from their more privileged classmates. While overall, California’s nearly 6 million K-12 students were not faring very well in state and federal tests of...

At the end of each year, bright red poinsettias can be seen in homes and businesses all over. In most cases, around South County, there is a silver sticker on the side of the shiny red foil that reads, Headstart Nursery.  For more than 25...