Former Morgan Hill mayor Dennis Kennedy’s influence on a generation of public servants and his love for swimming led the current city leadership to rename the Morgan Hill Aquatics Center in his honor at a Dec. 4 ceremony at the Condit Road facility.
More than 100 people attended the event, where Kennedy’s longtime friends and political colleagues shared light-hearted stories and memories describing the 77-year-old Morgan Hill resident’s impact on those who know him personally as well as decades of South County residents indirectly affected by his “vision” as an office holder and volunteer over the past 30-plus years.
“It blows me away,” Kennedy said of the crowd and the honor he had just received after the ceremony. “I never expected anything like this. There are so many wonderful people in our area, I find it overwhelming.”
Despite his declining health due to a brain tumor discovered by doctors in June, Kennedy appeared at the ceremony with the help of his son Matthew Kennedy and close friends. He greeted colleagues and acquaintances, and sat in the front row during the program as he gleefully encouraged speakers who thanked him for his public service.
“Dennis Kennedy has been a mentor. He has educated me about what South County is,” said Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman, a Los Gatos resident whose district on the county board includes the unincorporated areas surrounding Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy. “I can see in his eyes the passion he has for the community.”
Kennedy was mayor of Morgan Hill and one of the Aquatics Center’s biggest advocates when the City Council and Redevelopment Agency developed the swim center in 2003. City Councilman Larry Carr recalled that Kennedy’s idea at the time was to establish a “premier swimming facility” that could not only serve local needs but also attract regional competitors and events. Just inside the front doors of the facility during the Dec. 4 ceremony, swimmers, organizers and teams were preparing for the three-day “14 and Under Winter Championship” swim meet.
The swimming facility features a full-size competition pool, an instructional pool, water slides and a splash pad.
But Carr and others who spoke at the ceremony noted Kennedy’s impact goes far beyond the Aquatics Center.
“If you think about somebody who defines community, you think of Dennis Kennedy,” Carr said. “Dennis had the vision of Morgan Hill” that many residents are familiar with today.
Kennedy served as mayor of Morgan Hill from 1992 to 2006. During that time, he and the city council oversaw many of the city’s and the RDA’s popular recreation projects, including the Centennial Recreation Center and the Community and Cultural Center. After he retired as mayor, Kennedy worked as a consultant and volunteered with numerous community organizations, including as the 2014 president of Sister Cities of Morgan Hill.
“We traveled to all five of (Morgan Hill’s) sister cities together,” said Bernie Mulligan of Kennedy and himself. Mulligan, also a Morgan Hill resident, is a Sister Cities board member and one of Kennedy’s best friends. “You are a winner,” he said to Kennedy at the Dec. 4 event.
Kennedy re-entered the political stage in 2013, when the board of directors of the Santa Clara Valley Water District appointed him to fill the seventh seat on that governing body. He completed the term of exiting SCVWD Director Don Gage, and won election to the seat in November 2014.
On Nov. 4, Kennedy resigned from the water district board due to health complications related to a brain tumor.
Current SCVWD Director Linda LeZotte spoke briefly at the Dec. 4 ceremony, where she noted the board earlier that day passed a resolution commending Kennedy’s service. LeZotte, who was a San Jose City Councilmember when Kennedy was mayor of Morgan Hill, laughed that when she heard he applied for the director’s seat in 2013, her first thought was, “Good, we need another adult on the board.”
City Councilmember Marilyn Librers said Kennedy encouraged her to run for her first term on the council in 2010, apparently after he was impressed with her previous volunteer work on a citizen committee related to city recreation services.
“We all do love you so much,” Librers said to Kennedy.
In September, the city council unanimously approved a resolution to rename the Aquatics Center after Kennedy, an avid swimmer who has been known to use the facility frequently.
“It is so fitting to rename the Aquatics Center in his honor,” said Mayor Steve Tate, who served as master of ceremonies of the Dec. 4 ceremony. “He has earned it over and over again.”
Also bestowing resolutions of accolades on Kennedy were State Sen. Bill Monning and Javier Gomez, who appeared on behalf of Assemblymember Luis Alejo. Monning noted that a copy of the senate resolution would remain on display at the Aquatics Center, as an “amazing tribute to the engagement of our youth and our elders.”
Matthew Kennedy beamed with pride as he told his father at the end of the ceremony, “Dad, you have given me someone to look up to, and you’re my hero.”
