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Warming Migration

By Michael Chatfield

Always interesting to see how government operates when the kitchen gets hot – and the proposed Cordoba Islamic Center in San Martin is a scorcher. Santa Clara County planning department staff, after beaucoup studies and years of back and forth with the project’s backers recommended approval. Percolation tests were done, the regional water board said A-OK, concluding flood issues were phantom and … and then came the flood of public opinion. Three meetings were set – all lined up in a row this week. The San Martin Planning Advisory Committee, the South County Joint Planning Commission and the Santa Clara County Planning Commission. But the flood came. And it wiped out the staff recommendation for approval – at least for now. More tests are needed to address the latest concerns voiced by the public is the official government word. Really? Years going through government bureaucracy and “more tests are needed”? Wish I could say I was surprised. Can say that I feel for the project’s backers like Hamdy Abbass, a Gilroy Rotary Club member, and Sal Akhter, a Morgan Hill resident for 20 years. Five years ago – way back in 2007 – the Muslim community, which meets regularly in Morgan Hill’s community center, held an open house to reach out to the community. Said Akhter at the time, “We’ll talk a little about our membership, who they are, how long they have lived in the community. We are people who have been here 20, 30 years, and not immigrants who just came and started something new. … I guess (the project) is controversial, but I don't understand the controversy. We have our principles we go by that we are a tolerant nation and so forth, but I think sometimes that tolerance gets tested. And then trying to bridge those gaps and create better understanding is the best thing to do.” Well, the court of public opinion is the harshest of all and getting beyond it to the point of true understanding can be a very tough thing to overcome even if you’ve been working at it for years.

As I finish this column on the Monday after the Connecticut school shooting tragedy, I just dropped my daughter off at her school with more nervousness and trepidation than ever before. Like most people, I am filled with the sadness and sickness that comes with this horror.  And, like most parents, I am terrified by a thought too horrible to completely manifest, but one that we have all had in the last few days.  

Don't forget that this coming Wednesday, July 4 is the Morgan Hill Freedom 5000 5k Run/Walk. The race starts around 8 a.m. and you can register at the race finish line. Print out the registration form, show up and Just Run.

Union for the firefighters and the police officers took it on the chin in San Jose and San Diego Tuesday. Voters in both major urban centers, tired of lavish pensions enjoyed at the expense of taxpayers and other city services, voted overwhelmingly to enact significant pension reforms. Despite San Jose clearly being a Democratic stronghold, more than 70 percent of voters approved Measure B which requires employees to pay more into the current retirement plan or change to a more reasonable plan. It also limits benefits for new hires. At last a breath of common sense. The looming unfunded liabilities will eventually catch up to all California cities and, as more cash is needed to fund those luxurious pensions, the less money will be available for cities to provide services.  Meanwhile, back in the real world, a city summer recreation Little Skill Builders soccer “camp” offering that runs for five days from 9:30 to 11 a.m. for 4 to 6 year olds will cost you a whopping $90. Not surprisingly, only hours after the crushing defeat in San Jose, the “new elite” – the public safety union employees – filed lawsuits to stop the reforms.