Gino Borgioli says it’s not a matter of if, but when. As in when he unseats incumbent Larry Carr in the upcoming election to represent Morgan Hill City Council District A. As such, Borgioli has already made some big promises.
“I’m running to give a voice to the people at the city level,” he said. “We need bold leadership, and I promise voters I’m going to be their voice and advocate, because right now they feel no one is listening to them. I will not let projects like Trammell Crow pass without voter support and I’m not going to vote for massive bond measures. And just bringing in the Shoe Palace without public input is not why we elect officials.”
Instead of proposing massive bond measures, Borgioli said he has an alternative plan to finance the city out of its massive deficit: bring in tech business parks, attract diverse businesses and make industrial and manufacturing jobs a priority.
“What I’m going to focus on in my four years is to go into Silicon Valley and target high tech business offices instead of a distribution center that is wreaking havoc to the existing lifestyle of Morgan Hill residents,” said Borgioli, a former Morgan Hill Unified School District Trustee who made an unsuccessful run for the Santa Clara County Board of Education Area 7 Trustee seat in 2018.
High-tech office space, Borgioli reasoned, comes with high-paying jobs.
“That means more people can spend money in our town and businesses can help pay the city’s impact fees,” he said. “It’s also a way to increase our tax base, which is needed because our citizens are just too heavily taxed right now.”
Borgioli said Morgan Hill has grown too much too fast. In regards to the Lillian Commons Project proposed on Juan Hernandez Drive, Borgioli emphasized that the developer should not be allowed to build any residential units until the city receives written assurances that the other phases of the project—such as the 55-bed hospital and 10,000 square feet of retail space—will be completed first.
Rising crime rates are also an issue, Borgioli said, as he claimed from FBI data that 1 in 56 people in Morgan Hill will be a victim of either a violent crime or suffer property crime.
“I already have a relationship with the MHPD,” he said. “I went to a four-and-a-half month training program called CPA (Citizens Police Academy) which went into every aspect of running our police department including budget, emergency services, S.W.A.T., gangs, drugs and simulation assessment that police officers go through where they have to make split-second decisions. This relationship will enable me to bring a better understanding of the crime issues and how we can collaborate to bring solutions and changes to make Morgan Hill a safer place.”
