Prediction: The Butterfield Boulevard extension will open in time for the Frys.com tournament at the Institute in 2019 …
Really enjoyed the letter to the editor from John McKay in the Times a few weeks back that brimmed with enthusiasm for our town’s economic future with the building blocks based on attracting visitors. It’s a good strategy given what we’ve got to sell – very good restaurants downtown, youth sports facilities – field and aquatic variety, abundant parks and lakes, great roads for cycling, friendly and fine wineries … it’s just a matter of keeping focus, intertwining the assets in creative ways and putting some money behind the ideas. One concept that could help vault the visitor attraction meter skyward is getting satellite winery tasting rooms downtown. There’s real cash magic in having multiple tasting rooms downtown within walking distance of each other. Doubters or those interested in seeing the model, should take a drive to Murphys, CA in the Gold Country and spend the night. Quaint tasting rooms abound downtown, existing in harmony with the larger winery facilities out in the country. You can wander, taste, wander, taste, shop, taste … then walk to dinner. It’s wonderful – and we already have the restaurants in place. Tasting rooms beget foot traffic which, in turn, creates boutique business opportunities, which …
Gets me on the pirate ship which I’ve wanted to do for some time reading the stories about this soiree and that party in Rich Firato’s backyard. It’s a western theme on the pirate ship, so this strikes right at the heart of the two things I wanted to be at age 8 or 9. Tough to beat the pirate-cowboy combo, and besides it’s a bene for the Chamber which needs a little dough to get things moving in the right direction. It’s $50 for the whole shootin’ match evening on Saturday, June 8 at 5 p.m. – BBQ, beverages and dancing. Tickets at the Chamber, 17485 Monterey Road, or lasso a pair on the phone at (408) 779-9444. Wonder what hat to wear with cowboy boots and an eye patch …
They’re all wearing eye patches, that must be why it takes PG&E, America’s worst public utility disaster corporation, to sign off on the permit for John Fry’s Math Institute/Alhambra Castle building because there’s an underground gas pipeline 40 feet or so away from the 170,000-square foot complex. Oh, yeah, and don’t worry PG&E that there’s a PGA golf tournament hanging in the balance, a tournament that pours charity and visitor money into our community. PG&E loves to put the public spin on everything, hide its operations from public scrutiny as much as gaseously possible and declare what they’re doing is all for the greater good of mankind. Bull puckey. Seven months to work out how to maintain a pipeline there are already easements for? Seriously? There are detailed building plans, look at them, walk the property, figure it out, get off your overcharging rear ends and come up with a reasonable solution.
U.S. 101 between Morgan Hill and Gilroy is a rattle-trap mess in need of a solution, especially in the truck lane. Isn’t that what we pay the huge gas taxes for? Perhaps mayors Steve Tate and Don Gage can get together and make a few serious phone calls to get the pavement properly paved over.
Glossed over is what’s going on with the summary dismissal of Live Oak High School’s wrestling coaching team, Robert Fernandez and Armando Gonzalez. Principal Lloyd Webb has it wrong – the community deserves an explanation that connects the dots. Why is a budding program on the verge of becoming wildly successful losing its dedicated coaches? By all accounts except Webb’s, the decision came out of the blue. If there’s more to the story, say so. It’s not about embarrassing anyone, it’s about being upfront with the community. Yes, that subjects decisions to scrutiny, but that’s what being a leader – a principal – is all about.
It’s all about adding a cool space to downtown for the neat coffee shop with the incorrigible name. Still, have to hand it to Grinds, Vines and All Kinds of Mobiles – formally known as Grinds, Vines and Automobilia or GVA for short – for latching on to the space next door and converting it to a lounge area that can be a quiet working space, a meeting place and a venue for local musicians to perform. Very downtown cozy, very smart and way better coffee than the ubiquitous S-bucks.
The buck right now is in CordeValle’s court to save the Frys.com Golf Tournament. Supervisor Mike Wasserman should bring the heat … remember when the county granted that use permit? It would be good karma for CordeValle to reciprocate.
Reach Editor Mark Derry at
ed****@mo*************.com
