Dear Editor, Morgan Hill’s schools and city government face
severe layoffs and service cutbacks due to the current financial
crisis. The quality of education and the quality of life in our
community is jeopardized.
Good time for collaboration and to step up and volunteer
Dear Editor,
Morgan Hill’s schools and city government face severe layoffs and service cutbacks due to the current financial crisis. The quality of education and the quality of life in our community is jeopardized. Like everyone here in Morgan Hill, the Parks and Recreation Commission does not wish to see this happen. We decided to step up to the plate and be proactive to prevent this problem from happening.
At the March 16 PRC meeting, the commissioners discussed with Morgan Hill School Superintendent Dr. Wes Smith and many community members potential ways to work together to save our schools and our city services. The meeting was highly productive. It laid a foundation for enhancing communication to create innovative activities to use school and city facilities for the benefit of the entire community.
Tuesday’s PRC meeting also set the cornerstone for developing partnership programs to encourage more Morgan Hill residents to share their time and talents as volunteers to preserve and enhance sports, arts, theater, and fitness in our schools and through our Parks and Recreation Department. A key component to achieving this will be the Volunteer Morgan Hill nonprofit organization, a spin-off from last year’s Leadership Morgan Hill class’s Volunteer Fair project.
On Monday, I will represent the PRC at Volunteer Morgan Hill’s monthly board meeting. We will focus on creating better communication and marketing activities to encourage effective volunteering to save our schools and city services.
I encourage the Morgan Hill Times editorial board – and also all Morgan Hill residents – to support building this partnership between our schools, city and citizens. There’s been too much negativity in the news lately. I believe we as a community are at our best when we put aside our petty squabbles and focus on helping one another.
Divided, we will fall. United, we will create a vibrant community.
Martin Cheek, Morgan Hill resident and Parks and
Recreation Commissioner
Socialism appear to be alive and well in Morgan Hill
Dear Editor,
Remember that line from the “Music Man,” “we have pool, yes pool, right here in River City.” Well, we have Chicago politics, the Delphi technique and Socialism right here in Morgan Hill. I was notified by the city of Morgan Hill in which I do NOT reside that I should attend a workshop about changes that would affect property just next to mine. This workshop was held Feb. 18 and was to provide information on the Southeast Quadrant project and gather public input.
My husband warned me not to go as it was already a “done deal.” Well, he was right. We had to sit through a presentation by a so-called farmer who in reality was an arrogant Socialist, who probably worked for some private environmental group. He was presenting a land trust proposal that would “preserve” agriculture on the outskirts of Morgan Hill. Although the meeting had been promoted as gathering input from those affected, in reality it was a classic example of the Delphi technique.
More and more, we are seeing citizens being invited to “participate” in various forms of meetings to “help determine” public policy in one field or another. They are supposedly being included to get “input” from the public to help officials make final decisions on taxes, education, community growth or whatever the particular subject matter might be. Sounds great, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, appearances are often deceiving. You, Mr. or Mrs. Citizen, decide to take part in one of these meetings. Generally, you will find that there is already someone designated to “facilitate” the meeting. Supposedly, the job of the facilitator is to be a neutral, non-directing helper to see that the meeting flows smoothly. Actually, he or she is there for exactly the opposite reason: to see that the conclusions reached during the meeting are in accord with a plan already decided upon by those who called the meeting. The process used to “facilitate” the meeting is called the Delphi technique. This technique was developed by the RAND Corporation for the U.S. Department of Defense back in the 1950s. It was originally intended for use as a psychological weapon during the Cold War. However, it was soon recognized that it could be very valuable in manipulating any meeting toward a predetermined end.
It is funny, this past year I saw land that was in cultivation that I had never noticed before. Now, they, whoever they are, want an agriculture persevere, that we as taxpapers will pay for. I am a firm believer in property rights but to give those rights to some bureaucracy with regulations and restrictions, is not for me. It was those mitigation fees, along with all of the restrictions and regulations that was presented at the end of this propaganda spill for a land trust that were quickly glossed over. We are in a game in which we are forced to play but we don’t know who the other players are and we don’t know the rules. We only know that we have to play and eventually pay.
On the notice, my property was just outside the Southeast Quadrant, but when I saw the map, the lines had been changed and we were in the area and had already been submitted for annexation. My property can be annexed into the city without my vote. My property could become more valuable in one sense, but also more restricted by regulation, taxes and costly permits, all of which I have no control over. Welcome to the old Soviet Union. Oh, and about that public input – sorry they didn’t have time for that.
Anyone who shares the same concerns and want to get some honest answers, call me 779-7133.
Carol Neal, Morgan Hill
