Belated kudos to Connie Rogers and Gilroy Historical Society! A
month ago, the Dispatch reported that the Society, in common with
practically every person and institution in the city, state, union,
and world, was suffering fallout from the economic meltdown.
Belated kudos to Connie Rogers and Gilroy Historical Society!
A month ago, the Dispatch reported that the Society, in common with practically every person and institution in the city, state, union, and world, was suffering fallout from the economic meltdown. In fact, the Gilroy Museum faced no budget and probable closure. But the Society, in conjunction with the city, took two very sensible actions.
They had already identified an item in the Museum’s collection that really had no historical relevance to the City: an ornate Belle Époque vase bearing a portrait of the Prussian Kaiser Wilhelm II. I remember this vase vividly. When the kids were small, and particularly during the year we studied California history, we visited the Gilroy Museum quite a few times. The vase was in a glass case in the center of the room. Most of the exhibits of Victorian clothing, century-old toys and school books, old copies of the Dispatch, were obviously of historical and Gilroy-esque interest.
The 44-inch-tall vase was ornate, delicate, and totally incongruous. So the Society, with the donor’s blessing, decided to see if they could auction off the vase, and lo and behold, they got $37,500 for it. The money will begin the Museum Endowment Trust Fund.
The second sensible action, when city layoffs deprived the museum of its two part-time employees, was to call in volunteers to keep the museum open nine days a month. It is this kind of can-do spirit that will enable us to survive the next few years, as a city, as a nation.
Connie Rogers is doing an excellent job keeping the Museum afloat in troubled times. My only suggestion is that if the Society would like to increase its hours of operation they might consider partnering with like-minded associations. Groups with an interest in history, such as the Daughters of the American Revolution or a quilting club, might want to hold their meetings at the museum for a few hours each month. The associations would gain a meeting place. The Museum could be open during those hours since someone would be there to keep an eye on things. Just a thought.
I think that all government entities should be looking long and hard at their assets, just as the Museum did. One asset that immediately springs to mind is land. One half of the land area in the state of California belongs to one or another branch of the government. City parks are generally manageable in size. County parks are huge, poorly maintained, and under-utilized. State parks are worse. And the Federal lands are biggest and worst.
I am not talking Yosemite. Heck, keep Yosemite. We have millions of acres of BLM lands, national “parks” without access roads, “wilderness areas” that are not particularly wild, huge tracts of desert of no use or interest to the public. At present, these lands cost the taxpayer for upkeep.
If a judicious selection of the lands were sold to private parties, the government agencies would get immediate revenue, plus be freed of the burden of maintaining them, plus generate property tax revenue from land that currently pays no property tax.
Locally, the City of Gilroy should be considering selling Old City Hall, the Wiley House, and Bonfante – sorry, I meant Gilroy – Gardens for whatever the market will bear.
In contrast to the sensible actions of the Gilroy Historical Society, city administrator Tom Haglund should be fired for his preposterous handing out of merit raises to city employees making more than $100,000, while simultaneously laying off lower echelon workers. It was an extremely bad judgment call, an amazingly bad use of resources. We need someone with good judgment at the city helm.
When the city survives the current downturn, when the good times roll again, I think we need to remember LeeAnn McPhillips, Human Resources Director.
Mr. Haglund gave her an $8,000 merit raise on top of her $163,000 salary. As of March 13, she gave it back. For now, she has our thanks.
Cynthia Anne Walker is a mother of three, a mathematics teacher and a former engineer. She is a published, independent author. Her column appears each Friday.
