Why not donate?:
”
I have it from a source that the city of Gilroy at Wheeler
Auditorium in the basement, they have cots and blankets that
they’ve been storing there in case of a crisis, quite a number of
them. And I understand someone has decided to clean house and throw
those out.
Why not donate?: “I have it from a source that the city of Gilroy at Wheeler Auditorium in the basement, they have cots and blankets that they’ve been storing there in case of a crisis, quite a number of them. And I understand someone has decided to clean house and throw those out. I was questioning why they wouldn’t be donating those items. It just doesn’t seem like a wise thing. What if we have a problem, the answer to that is the Red Cross would have all of the equipment if there was a disaster. But what if the Red Cross couldn’t get here? That’s it. Thank you.”
You have keen powers of perception caller. You are right – the Red Phone confirmed that the city is indeed planning on tossing the cots and blankets stored in the basement of Wheeler Auditorium, one of the city’s emergency shelter sites.
Mike Dorn, Gilroy’s administrative services director, said the Red Cross has taken over responsibility for providing emergency shelter and will provide their own supplies.
But take note that the blankets and cots aren’t being tossed without good reason.
“Many of them are mildewed, Vietnam War-era cots and blankets,” Dorn said. “They were not appropriate for use and we decided to dispose of them.”
Letter needs a response: “I’m just calling because I’m hoping to challenge somebody who has less children and more time than I do to write in a letter commenting on the letter that Chris Vanni recently wrote in. I hope that someone who has great vocabulary skills and writing time can write in and respond to what they had to say. Chris wrote in slapping the wrist of our supervisors … because of the action that the board took as far as not looking at the Valley Miwok project. I am so happy that the supervisors took the stance that they did. All Chris is thinking about is the money they could potentially earn from this. They don’t know the suffering of people who get involved with gambling … think about the families and the lives that are destroyed by gambling.
I hope somebody else can write in … There are plenty of people who are going to want to do business in Gilroy because it’s a beautiful and wonderful location.”
The letter referred to written by business owner and Miwok casino investor Chris Vanni was published Feb. 9 and titled, “Supervisors have a duty to review proposal for an Indian casino thoroughly.” For anyone who missed it, it can be found on our Web site, www.gilroydispatch.com.
Do not block citations: “Hi Red Phone, keep up the good work! On the driveway blocking issue for fire and ambulance exits and entrances, isn’t there a vehicle code or law against stopping and blocking the entrances and exits for emergency vehicles? If so, perhaps hefty fines would get the folks’ attention. Plus it’d be good city revenue also. I think it would be great and get the city a lot of dollars. Thanks.”
Your trusty Red Phone contacted always helpful Traffic Officer Joseph Crivello with Gilroy Police Department to find out what officers do when they come across someone stopped right on the great big white letters that say, “Do Not Block.”
“Officers will issue citations for vehicles blocking area in front of fire and ambulance exits,” Crivello said, but added that it’s up to the officer whether to cite or not.
“The infraction is basically left up to each and every officer’s discretion,” he said. “Most officers will not cite if AMR or fire personnel are not in the station during the offense.”
Crivello said he has issued citations for such infractions.
“I recently went to traffic court on a citation I issued for blocking the AMR station at Church and First streets,” he said. “The traffic judge did find defendant guilty. I don’t recall what the exact fine amount was; although
I remembered thinking it
was high.”
According to Sgt. John Sheedy, with GPD, the fine for such a citation is $30.
Crivello continued and said that people just need to pay better attention.
“Motorists need to realize that the next time emergency personnel are responding to a crisis, it could in fact be one of their loved ones,” he said.
