Opinion

As a community, should Gilroy be concerned about the new outlet mall opening in Livermore attracting away a significant chunk of business?

As a community, Gilroy should be worried about the huge, brand-spanking-new outlet mall opening in Livermore.

Proposition 38 a dramatic 12-year tax increase that will cause pain across the board

When it comes to electing public officials, bankruptcies matter.

• Yes. While bankruptcy is many times unavoidable, it still likely reflects some fiscal irresponsibility in getting there. It certainly would cause me to take a closer look at what may have been the reason and then a judgment as to their ability to understand city financial matters. • Yes. Public representatives should be held to a higher standard of care since they having direct control over our health, safety and welfare and the potential to abuse the power entrusted to them! • No. Especially if the bankruptcy was many years ago.  We need to concentrate on current issues and concerns. • Yes, somewhat. While I try to keep in mind that often bankruptcy is unavoidable, it does give me pause and make me consider their candidacy a little more. • Yes.  Personal fiscal responsibility reflects a person's ability to be fiscally responsible with our tax dollars. • Yes. I don't think knowing a candidate filed bankruptcy in the past would keep me from voting for them, but the voters need to know all the information that helps us make an informed decision about a candidate. Someone who filed bankruptcy may not be the best candidate to run our city. • No. I have voted already. That said we are asking candidates to manage city budgets so this could potentially be a deciding factor. • Of course it should. There’s judgment involved and we need our Council people to make good decisions and fiscal issues are critical to the health of the city. Spending all the city funds and declaring bankruptcy would not be a good idea. • No. However, personal monetary decisions made public through declaring bankruptcy can sway people into believing that this will transfer into the candidate’s decision making processes in a public servant position. I don’t believe this is true, given personal money issues have many factors that we may not be aware of nor should we be. • No. The bankruptcy itself would not change my vote. If I knew the reason why it occurred may change my vote.

Anyone else having trouble with Gilroy’s ‘Pet Data system’ for licensing a dog in the city?

• No. As long as at least one on-duty dispatcher is present. It would be interesting to know how a multi-lingual city such as San Jose handles this. It seems very unlikely that every 911 dispatcher in San Jose speaks English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Tagalog. • No. Our system has worked for years as is and with no crisis reported due to a language issue. Let it lie and inform the public that we have an activist running for the council who will do all she (Rebeca Armendariz) can to create problems where none exist. • No one who works in a public capacity needs to know another language necessarily, although it truly is helpful, especially in our city of Gilroy, to know Spanish. To require this as part of the job will limit job opportunities for people, and if someone is calling 911, they do know the basics of their need such as their address or place where they need assistance. • Given the demographic of Gilroy in 2010, yes. As long as English is their primary language I think it’s a good idea for Gilroy dispatchers to speak Spanish. • No, but a bilingual operator should be available on every shift. • No. I don’t think all of them should be Spanish speakers. At the very most, enough for one per shift seems adequate. • Yes. It would be nice if everyone moving to the United States learned to speak English, as I would expect to have to learn the native language of any country I moved to; however, that being said, the safety of our residents should be most important. • It depends. How many dispatchers are working at a time? If more than one, then at least one of them should be bilingual. If there is only one person at the helm, they should be fluent in Spanish. I would hate for someone to not get the help they need. We should look at other languages in our community as well. • No.  At least one person per shift should speak fluent Spanish to cover emergency calls from Spanish speaking and limited English speaking callers. • Emergency dispatchers should be fluent in English and Spanish with the first response being in English, but the ability to communicate in Spanish as necessary. That should be a basic requirement and not a skill that requires additional pay. Emergency dispatchers make a fine living already. • No. I think there should be a dedicated line for Spanish speakers only. • No. I do believe there should be one person on each shift required to be fluent, but not all dispatchers.

Obama is not competent or a leader