Credibility is a precious thing.
Credibility is a precious thing. That’s just one of the reasons Gilroy Mayor Tom Springer’s self-described “joke” – his last-minute suggestion to build the community’s second Gilroy Unified School District high school at the Southpoint Business Park – is so disturbing and disappointing.
Springer made the 11th-hour proposal to place a high school at the site on the east side of town, near GUSD headquarters, to people attending a meeting to look at various site proposals. To say he blindsided school district officials who are nearing the end of a two-year process to select a new site, would be a gross understatement.
The business park site suggestion was so off-the-wall as to be ridiculous – just for starters, no students live near the site – and the mayor’s action threw a wrench into the process, which had narrowed the choices down to five sites. It also gave false hope to neighbors who oppose placing a new high school at the front-running location for a new high school – 50 acres southwest of Day Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard.
Now the mayor is furiously backpedaling with the dubious claim that it was all a joke meant to point out flaws in the site selection process.
We have two choices: Take Springer at face value and accept that it was all a poorly thought-out joke; or doubt him, which means he originally thought the last-minute business park suggestion was a good idea, but is trying to disclaim ownership of it given the negative reaction it caused.
Either situation ends up as a poor reflection. If there are flaws in the school site selection process – and we’re not conceding that point – the time to point them out has long passed. The manner Springer chose to highlight those alleged flaws was adolescent at best, certainly not befitting his position as mayor of this fine community.
If he made a serious suggestion that he now regrets, then he is not being honest with Gilroyans about the “joke,” and his ability to work cooperatively with other community leaders is in doubt.
As it should be, the people of Gilroy take the mayor seriously when he speaks. His position is one of authority and leadership.
Gilroy citizens deserve a leader who can put aside ego, who doesn’t always have to be the generator of the winning plan, who can put the good of the community first. The sad high school site “joke” episode casts doubt on Springer’s ability or willingness to do just that.
Instead of putting the good of Gilroy first, he seems to need to be the bride at every wedding, the corpse at every funeral.
Gilroy citizens also deserve an affordable, well-placed second high school. The Day Road location offers just that. The land is owned by one seller – a willing seller at that – eliminating the need for expensive, time-consuming and frequently unpleasant eminent domain proceedings.
It’s located in the Northwest Quad where the city’s growth has occurred. It would give Gilroy a high school facility on each end of town, likely reducing transportation costs for the district and transportation times for parents and students.
Need more in the plus column? The Day Road site is located on a main thoroughfare, which should be able to handle the traffic a high school would generate, and would likely satisfy the Field Act, California’s stringent rules governing the siting of public schools.
The site Springer says he really, truly prefers (he means it this time) – a group of parcels between Kern and Wren avenues south of Vickery Avenue, near Antonio del Buono School – is likely to be much more costly. As much as half of the needed land is owned by multiple unwilling sellers – raising the spectre of eminent domain expense and delays. District officials also say land costs and mitigations required to satisfy CEQA – the state’s environmental quality law – are likely to be higher at the site.
We urge Gilroy’s citizens and leaders to put aside the regrettable “joke” suggestion – for now – and seriously and soberly finish the business of choosing the best high school site for the entire community.
As election season heats up, however, Springer’s “joke” and what it means about whether he should be re-elected will be important issues to revisit.
For now, however, we think the Day Road site is the top location for Gilroy’s second public high school, and we urge trustees to choose it at their June 19 board meeting.
