Have a good time for a good cause
Dear Editor,
Public safety is of paramount importance to our community and we spend 90 percent of our discretionary funds to support it, all that we possibly can. It would be great to have more funding available for safety and especially for police. Morgan Hill has the lowest ratio of sworn officers to population in Santa Clara County, and there is no source of funds to bring more officers on board. So it becomes very important for our officers to be as efficient and as effective as possible in order to keep us as safe as possible. Having access to the latest equipment, training and support for our police force is one way to enhance their productivity.
Enter the Morgan Hill Community Law Enforcement Foundation, or CLEF, a group of local dedicated citizens who have created this nonprofit entity to provide resources to help the MHPD perform at the highest level. They do it by raising funds for the tools and training that increase efficiency and effectiveness.
The initial commitment made by CLEF was the reestablishment of the city’s canine (K-9) unit, which was accomplished several years ago. Pax the police dog was purchased, but that was not the end of the commitment as CLEF continues to raise funds to support Pax – his ongoing training, his medical care and even his food. Last year, CLEF was able to purchase a protective vest for Pax to protect him from gunfire.
A recent arrest was made as a result of the License Plate Reader purchased by CLEF for the MHPD last year. On a routine swing through a parking lot, the reader detected a stolen license plate and the officer was able to make an immediate arrest.
CLEF members work closely with MHPD Administration to prioritize needs for their fundraising efforts. Other examples of how CLEF has supported the MHPD include:
– A new generator for the Crime Scene Investigation trailer
– A car-mounted thermal imaging camera for operation in the dark
– Funds for the Parent Project, helping parents steer at-risk youth away from trouble
– Support for the recently implemented Volunteer In Policing (VIP) program
– Equipment to deter graffiti
– shields for protection in forced entries
Chief of Police David Swing is a big CLEF supporter. He says: “Our officers get excited about using the new technology-based tools CLEF donates, allowing them to try new approaches to crime fighting. Having the CLEF group work so hard behind the scenes has to have a positive impact on morale.”
WOW! –- what a great community resource and support group CLEF has proven to be. So how do they raise funds? Guess what – that’s where you come in! Certainly they take contributions and you can “mail it in” to the MHPD, but wouldn’t you rather have a great time while at the same time supporting this great organization? I know I would, and that is why I have purchased my tickets to the inaugural “Cops and Robbers Ball” April 27 from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Guglielmo Winery.
This promises to be a really great event, theme attire is encouraged so let your imagination run wild and dress up! Great Guglielmo wine and Mama Mia food, fun things available at silent auction and then after-dinner dancing to Morgan Hill favorite band – The Usual Suspects. What a great line-up for such a great cause. Come out, have fun and support public safety in Morgan Hill! Tickets are available through the CLEF website at: www.morganhillclef.org/. I hope to see you at the party!
Steve Tate, Morgan Hill Mayor
Downtown Morgan Hill is a fun place
Dear Editor,
Old shops,
New shops,
Trees and flowers,
Parks and grass,
Statues and murals
Lizzy Comstock, Morgan Hill, age 10
Hale Avenue extension proponent owns property in the area
Dear Editor,
Regarding Jon Hatakayama’s numerous letters concerning the “Hale Ave extension vs. Downtown projects,” he needs to disclose to the community that he owns a large commercial property that borders the proposed Hale Avenue extension. Now I am sure that Jon is not backing this project in order to enhance his property. He is truly worried about planes falling from the sky, floods, earthquakes, fires and our inability to shop at Mervyns. But others might say, “Hey look, Jon owns that big commercial building at the new roundabout on the new Hale Ave extension. Why didn’t he mention that in his previous letters?”
For disclosure on my part, I do have property and business interests in downtown.
I think the Hale Ave extension is an important project that should be done, though I also think that a lot of people who live along that corridor would disagree. The discussion is probably moot since the State of California will do it’s best to take the $19.3 million slated for those projects. If and when that happens I know the downtown will continue to be the exciting and vibrant place that it has become. If you don’t believe me just try and find a parking place.
Rich Bergin, Morgan Hill
Council should have insisted on time to consider appointments
Dear Editor,
The Ralph M. Brown (Open Meeting) Act states: “The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know.”
Mayor Tate appears not to agree. He used the “subcommittee exception” to keep the names of the five non-council candidates on the new Economic Development Corporation (EDC) board secret not only from Morgan Hill residents but from the other council members as well. At the meeting prior to March 7, the Mayor suggested that he had a list in mind, but would not disclose the names to the council. The staff report submitted for the special March 7, 2012 EDC meeting (as of the preceding Saturday) did not name the initial slate chosen by the Mayor.
I understand the importance the council attaches to the ability to work well together. But members of the council are elected by city residents, not appointed by the Mayor.
The council is supposed to be a deliberative body. It should have insisted on time to consider qualifications of the named individuals as well as adding other qualifications and ranking their appropriateness in public in the spirit of the Open Meeting Act.
The defense by Mr. Carr (comments as seen on TV and reported in the March 9 Times) is misguided. His comment that this was not the first time this was discussed is misleading because there was not a discussion about having a public discussion of the qualifications. The council only agreed to form a subcommittee to consider candidates for the board. Mr. Carr’s comment that the appointment process was not typical because they were not appointing a commission (but members of a private nonprofit corporation) is even less convincing, given that those non-commissioners are being handed control of 10s of millions of dollars in properties and cash.
In his State of the City speech, the Mayor urged us to Get Engaged! Look for your “Mayor Sez” rubber stamp in your next utility bill.
Doug Muirhead, Morgan Hill
West side story now playing in Morgan Hill
Dear Editor,
Approximately 45 percent of our residents live on the west side of Morgan Hill. This section of town has the highest concentration of public and private schools, convalescent care facilities, churches, health care offices and city and public facilities including City Hall, public works department and our Library, than any other part of Morgan Hill. This fact generates thousands of automobile trips to this part of town daily.
It would not be hard to imagine the balance of Morgan Hill’s residents, whether they live in Jackson Oaks, Madrone, Holiday Lakes, San Martin, Coyote Valley and beyond who don’t frequent our west side of town.
Due to this traffic, this side of town suffers significantly as the north and south side of this section of town are not connected directly by any road. This forces all destination traffic to zig zag through residential streets, interfacing cars with the elderly and children participating at this area’s aforementioned destinations. Those of you who have driven up to Main and Peak when El Toro Elementary School lets out, or on to Peak Avenue by St. Catherine Church during a funeral service know what I’m talking about.
Add to this, the many residents living in these neighborhoods trying to back their cars out of their driveways to go to work, find this very difficult with this traffic, creating potential accidents daily.
The completion of the Hale Avenue extension will provide more benefits to all of Morgan Hill than any proposed RDA project now before us. Among these benefits are:
– It will draw traffic from the neighborhood streets on the west side eliminating most of the unnecessary pedestrian-auto interface.
– It will allow for quicker response from the El Toro Fire Station on Llagas Avenue to serve the south side of town.
– It provides a more efficient dispatch of ambulances to Saint Louis Regional Hospital and Kaiser Hospital for the entire west side of town.
– It provides an improved access for the Morgan Hill Police Department located off Tennant Avenue to access the entire west side of town.
– With the Morgan Hill Unified School District’s bus barn located on the southwest side of town, Hale Avenue extension will vastly improve access to MHUSD’s many schools on the north side.
– It provides a needed alternative to our citizens should U.S. 101 becomes unusable due to major accidents and traffic jams.
– It will take through traffic off busy downtown Monterey Road, providing downtown diners and shoppers a safer, more relaxed atmosphere.
– By connecting to the newly widened, pedestrian/bicycle friendly West Dunne Avenue, Hale Avenue extension will open up the entire residential west side of Morgan Hill to support our downtown activities, restaurants and businesses and local festivals with the potential of not overly burdening existing downtown parking.
– It provides better access to the present main campus of Gavilan Community College in Gilroy and future access to the proposed high tech orientated Gavilan College campus in Coyote Valley.
– It provides a means for receiving mutual aid from our neighboring communities in times of need.
Let’s urge our City Council to use our RDA funds to make the Hale Avenue extension a reality. It provides safety, aids our public education, helps police and fire protection all of which is in line with our Community’s needs and family values.
Let the West Side story play in Morgan Hill!
John Hatakayama, Morgan Hill
