Seven mayoral and city council candidates answer questions from
public
Morgan Hill – Seven Morgan Hill candidates running for mayor and city council in this November’s election got an opportunity to describe their ideas and demonstrate their leadership skills at a public forum Thursday afternoon.
Among the issues addressed at the candidate’s forum held at the Golden Oak Restaurant were Morgan Hill’s fiscal state and the city’s future growth. The forum was sponsored by the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce and was attended by about 80 people.
Candidates Dennis Delisle and Steve Tate are now running for the mayor’s seat, as current Mayor Dennis Kennedy choose not to seek re-election. Candidates Chris Borello, Alex Kennett, Marby Lee, Greg Sellers and Al Tervalon are competing for two seats as city council members.
Delisle said that his experience as an “entrepreneur” in the accounting business he and his wife started gives him the knowledge to encourage more businesses to come to the community and thus generate revenue without raising taxes.
“Morgan Hill has a reputation of being a non-growth, non-business community so a lot of business go south to Gilroy and we lose a lot of revenue (there),” he said.
Mayoral candidate Steve Tate, a retired IBM engineer who is finishing his eighth year as a city council member, said economic growth in Morgan Hill must be done in a “suitable manner” that residents will accept. He does not wish to see big, box retail stores here and wants to limit the number of car dealership.
Like Delisle, he wants to increase city revenues through economic development to balance the budget instead of increasing taxes. He also wants to see more dialogue between residents and the city through the “community conversation” input on fiscal and other issues.
“I don’t know how to get out to the city and find out what the citizens want without something as structured as community conversation,” he told the public.
City council candidate Chris Borello said he has lived in Morgan Hill all his life, growing up on a farm that his grandfather bought in the 1940s. He’s running on a platform of increasing revenue without increasing taxes, he said. His plan to do this is to increase the number of businesses in the community, especially along the Condit Avenue area.
“I’m running for city council to insure Morgan Hill’s identity today,” he said. “I believe fiscal responsibility is the key to future success in the city.”
Alex Kennett, who runs a coaching and mentoring business, said his experience in a variety of leadership roles such as serving as a director Santa Clara County Open Space Authority, gives him the credentials to serve on the city council.
“I love Morgan Hill, and I believe we’re at a crossroads of where we need to go,” he told the audience. “I think I’m the best choice for leading us where we need to go.”
Marby Lee, a 10-year resident who owns two jewelry businesses, said she’s running for council because she thinks the city government has not listened enough to citizens about the community’s needs.
“The main goal of city government is public safety and infrastructure,” she said. “I believe to put anything before that is not to the interest of the community.”
Candidate Greg Sellers now serves on the city council and is running for his third term. He told the public that past decisions to keep the city’s financial reserves high during the booming years of the 1990s have helped pay for the construction of various city projects focused on recreation.
“We have today the healthiest financial situation in Morgan Hill’s history,” he said.
Al Tervalon, a disk drive and medical devices engineer, said he moved to Morgan Hill in 1999 because he thought the community was a good place for him and his wife to raise a family. He serves as the chair of the parent organization at Mount Madonna School. He said he joined the city council race when he read an editorial in the Morgan Hill times asking for more candidates.
His fiscal focus is to grow business revenues in the town by making the community more “business friendly,” he said.
