Dear Editor, Great article! Only a few vendors are actually from
Morgan Hill. This is why we purchase most of our fruit from Andy’s
Orchard!
Shop local, buy local given lip service
Dear Editor,
Great article! Only a few vendors are actually from Morgan Hill. This is why we purchase most of our fruit from Andy’s Orchard!
By the way I have the same feelings about Taste of Morgan Hill. Most, if not all, vendors are from out of town and where is our money going? … out of town. I have tried to enter as a vendor for a game (Water Wars – balloon catapult) for the Taste of Morgan Hill several times and have been told that they have a contract with and entertainment company (out of town) to provide games. In fact, this year there’s not even an application for such vendors.
The real bad taste is the fact that I purchased the game from a vendor who continues to provide another game at Taste of Morgan Hill and he is not part of the “entertainment company.”
The other bad taste is the fact that the Chamber of Commerce is partly funded by the City of Morgan Hill. There should be some type of priority for those of us who live and support Morgan Hill.
Pete Apor, Morgan Hill
Buying local goods should extend to the Morgan Hill Farmers’ Market
Dear Editor,
Over the past 15 years, I have grown to admire and believe in Morgan Hill’s “Buy Local” movement. It only made sense that we should support our local business owners whenever possible. They are our friends, neighbors and families. Why wouldn’t we give them our dollars in good times, to become successful, or during hard economic times to help keep their heads above water?
I go to Rocca’s Market for meat (where I live), cruise through Michelina’s Boutique (now gone) for clothes, shop for gifty items at Carta Luna, Organix for skin care, and buy any hardware items at Ace Hardware. Of course, any books or toys I buy at BookSmart. With that in mind, I was painfully disillusioned when walking through the Saturday Farmer’s Market in Morgan Hill and could not find a single local vendor. I was looking for produce from Morgan Hill or San Martin and came up empty handed. I didn’t buy a thing.
Now, after reading last week’s article about attempts by local businesses to join the Farmer’s Market, a vendor’s disgusting response to a Kiwanis flea market fundraiser, and the bigoted, uneducated response by the manager of the Farmers’ Market who brought a business owner’s country of origin into the equation, I have decided to tell all my friends, who also believe in “buying local,” to boycott the Farmers’ Market. I’d also like to add that I find the city of Morgan Hill’s spineless response to this dilemma ironic and a prime example of double standards. I buy “local.” Do they?
Donna Brodsky, Morgan Hill
Issues at play this summer will remain in play come November
Dear Editor,
I am writing to thank all who supported my recent campaign for the State Senate. I was pleased to spend so much time back in Morgan Hill, and pleased to have carried the Santa Clara County portion of the district in the runoff election.
In a period where there is great disenchantment with the political process, it was heartening that over a thousand people volunteered on my campaign, and over two thousand made a financial contribution. But a mid-summer special election in a gerrymandered district was just too high a hurdle to overcome.
The issues that motivated support for my candidacy – support for public education and environmental protection, ending the budget gridlock, and bringing back jobs to the Silicon Valley and the central coast – are issues still at play in the November election.
I urge voters to support Proposition 21 to save our state parks, oppose Proposition 23 to save California’s landmark greenhouse gases law, and support Proposition 25 to lessen budget gridlock.
I look forward to continuing to work together on issues that benefit Morgan Hill and Santa Clara County.
John Laird, Santa Cruz
Good reasons opposition quickly mounting to high-speed rail plan
Dear Editor,
It is important for our community to be aware of the very recent comments coming from many cities and jurisdictions along the proposed 800-mile High Speed Rail system …
- City of Belmont (mayor): “The blight of an 80-foot wide elevated concrete structure with electric lines at least 32 feet high above the rail line, and the subsequent negative impact on our city’s economic base and economic development will be devastating to us.”
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Santa Clara County Farm Bureau: “… the impact of building a HST station in prime farmland would extend far beyond the footprint of the platforms, parking facilities, and the station itself. An east Gilroy station would also lead to increased traffic congestion in the area, disrupting agricultural activities.”
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Union Pacific: allowing HSR on or near their right-of-way “… could result in one of the worst rail accidents in American history.”
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Gilroy Community Pulse Survey: “Should California abandon or press on with the High Speed Rail Project?” 1,546 voters: 78% “abandon” only 22% “press on.”
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City of San Carlos: “Seismic safety is a concern with the aerial viaduct design alternative. We understand that adjacent roadways may need to be closed after an earthquake until the viaduct is inspected and declared safe. This would have a significant impact on transportation systems during the critical period following an earthquake.”
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City of Orange: signed a Resolution opposing High Speed Rail’s push to take property in their city by eminent domain, for an under-funded transportation project.
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Gilroy Councilwoman Cat Tucker: “Just from a day-to-day quality of life aspect, everyone in Gilroy is going to wish it wasn’t there.”
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Palo Alto Councilman Klein: The city should now consider high-speed rail as a “threat to our community – not just our community but the region and indeed the state.”
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City of Mountain View (mayor): “It’s all the implications, not just for the neighborhood around the station but the entire city.”
The California High Speed Rail Authority (and it’s countless consultants) have lost all credibility to design and deliver the intended system. What they are attempting to wedge through our communities is a complete departure from the “concept” supported by the voters. These irresponsible and unrealistic engineering maps have already tainted property values. HSR for California has become a fatally flawed process and plan. However, it would be interesting to understand why only south of San Jose wasn’t considered for stimulus dollars to upgrade (electrify) our Caltrain segment. Such a project would generate local construction jobs, increase ridership, get commuter cars off the roads, grow our downtown commerce and put “green” electric trains on existing tracks.
Yvonne Sheets-Saucedo, Gilroy Resident
Opposition isn’t about the mosque, it’s about the religion
Dear Editor,
When I read Lisa Pampuch’s article “Opposition to mosque ignores core values,” I realized what a loss to our community it was when Cynthia Walker moved to Pleasanton.
Pampuch writes that anti-mosque opposition is based on fear and ignorance that has been spewed from the national stage by people like Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, et. al. I follow these two, and I have never heard either say anything that indicates fear or ignorance on their talk about the mosque in New York City.
Pampuch’s claim reminds me of the age-old adage – “the pot calling the kettle black.”
Pampuch sees or hears just about what she wants to hear or believe amplified by her liberal leaning.
Have you heard opposition to a Jewish synagogue or Catholic cathedral? A mosque or synagogue and a cathedral have similar structures and functions. The buildings are inanimate, but express messages to the public. The synagogue’s message is love of mankind based upon the Mosaic Law, the Ten Commandments. The Catholic cathedral expresses the love of God with all its heart and mind, and to love one’s neighbor as one loves one’s self. This is an impossible command to fulfill. There is a big difference between the influence of the Jewish synagogue and the Muslim mosque on our people.
Have you ever heard of a Jewish suicide bomber?
The opposition to the mosque is not directed toward the physical structure, but the religion the mosque represents.
We hear of a 12-year-old Muslim girl wrapping a bomb around her waist, going into a restaurant and blowing herself up, along with 20 other innocent people.
There is also a young lady that married outside the Muslim religion against the wishes of her parents, and was stoned to death.
The challenged mosque is in itself a harmless structure; objection to the mosque is not through fear or ignorance as Pampuch claims. It is the religion the mosque promotes.
Cynthia Walker, where are you when we have all this opposition to the mosque?
I would remind you again, have you ever heard of a Jewish suicide bomber?
J.G. McCormack, Gilroy
