This year expect Morgan Hill City Council members to work hard
to bring more dollars to the city, keep our citizens safe, beautify
our main drag and make sure our students are achieving
academically.
Morgan Hill – This year expect Morgan Hill City Council members to work hard to bring more dollars to the city, keep our citizens safe, beautify our main drag and make sure our students are achieving academically.
Members of the council voted 5-0 to set goals and policies for 2007, giving themselves and the city employees direction for the year. Items on the four-page list fall into nine domains: Economic development, public safety, downtown, environment, recreation, schools, policy making, sustainable budget, and traffic, land use and housing.
The city’s to-do list does not include precise measurements for progress in most areas. For the most part, it commits the council to holding workshops and recommending strategies by certain points in the year.
The council also ratified a list of new committee appointments and outside assignments for the five elected members.
The council will find ways to create higher paying jobs for Morgan Hill residents but did not set a standard for wages. By next month, the council’s Community and Economic Development Committee, consisting of council members Greg Sellers and Marby Lee, will bring ideas to the full elected body.
The council’s Public Safety and Community Services Committee, consisting of Mayor Steve Tate and Councilman Larry Carr, will find ways to make the police department more effective. With 33 officers, Morgan Hill has one of the lowest police-to-citizen ratios in the county.
The committee will also evaluate fire and emergency medical service levels by Sept. 30 and make recommendations as needed.
Hoping to revitalize downtown, the council – which acts as the governing board for the Morgan HIll Redevelopment Agency – will invest $20 million in RDA funds for public infrastructure during the next five years. The council and city officials will schedule a March workshop to review types of investments. By April, the Community and Economic Development Committee will evaluate options for redeveloping the Granada Theater as a community asset and prepare a report and recommendation for council and RDA action.
Downtown Association Director Theresa Kiernan suggested the community be engaged in the Granada’s future.
“The big question is what can we support there,” Kiernan said, adding community members should be surveyed to give input.
Councilman Greg Sellers said the question of viability would ultimately need to be answered by the private sector.
“The question of the viability of the theater is not going to go to the public at large but to the business community,” Sellers said. “Is there an operator, first of all, who is interested in the facility?”
The city council’s work, he said, would be to encourage both short-term and long-term uses for the Monterey Road building that could help achieve the goal of revitalizing downtown.
The city council will also develop an environmental agenda for Morgan Hill by next summer to save money on water and energy, promote healthy living and respect natural habitats.
As soon as possible, the council also hopes to reestablish the City/Schools Liaison Committee with the Morgan Hill Unified School District with an emphasis on joint planning for the city’s corporation yard and the district’s bus yard, recreation fields and facilities, long-term planning and campus security.
Kiernan said the council’s goals are well organized and even though they might not produce measurable outcomes they will lead to productive government action.
“I like how they divvied it out,” she said. “When you’re very specific about the areas you want to address, that’s what adds to your ability to stay focussed.”
HIGHLIGHTS OF GOALS AND POLICIES
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The Morgan Hill City Council’s goals and policies for 2007 fall into nine domains: Economic development, public safety, downtown, environment, recreation, schools, policy making, sustainable budget, and traffic, land use and housing.
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The council will look for ways to increase the sustainable-wage jobs for Morgan Hill residents and fill empty commercial and industrial space
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The council will look for ways to encourage short-term and long-term uses for the Granada Theater on Monterey Road.
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Police, fire and emergency medical services will be reviewed this year to see if the additional financial resources are needed.
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As soon as possible, the council also hopes to reestablish the city-schools liaison committee with the Morgan Hill Unified School District with an emphasis on joint planning for the city’s corporation yard and the district’s bus yard, recreation fields and facilities, long-term planning and campus security.
