RDA Needs to Purchase Blighted Granada Theatre
Dear Editor,
Kudos to Larry Carr for stating at the recent City Council retreat that the RDA needs to start acting like an RDA; specifically to purchase the blighted Granada Theatre that serves only as a community bulletin board. As the former executive director of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association I was directly involved in the organization’s effort to bring in an operator to restore the historic movie house back to its original use – a movie theatre. Yes, a movie theatre, not a night club or a restaurant or any of the other ideas trotted out by the owner and certain city officials who seem to be out of touch with the community’s wishes. The MHDA was instrumental in bringing qualified operators in on two separate efforts that did their best to come to terms with an owner who seems content to let it remain a symbol of downtown disrepair. The MHDA and city’s work downtown is bringing results with new-mixed use infill projects planned, higher quality tenants moving in and major streetscape improvements underway on Depot Street and planned for Third Street. However, what could be a beacon of this economic renewal, the vacant Granada Theatre is instead an ugly wart on Monterey Road’s face. The city needs to buy the owner out and get the theatre done – now. It is particularly revealing that the Poppy Jasper Film Festival is growing to international status, but still has no downtown theatre to showcase the event. What a loss to the community and downtown businesses. Memo to city officials — lights, camera, action!
Dan Craig, Morgan Hill
MHDA Executive Director 2002-2006
A Great Time For Dogs and Their People
Dear Editor,
Jan. 24 was a great day for Morgan Hill dogs and their owners. The fabulous new Dog Park opened at the south end of Community Park. Thanks go to Gloria Zufall and the members of Dog Owners Group (D.O.G.) for their dedication, effort and perseverance during several long years of fundraising and convincing the city that this was a must for our town. It is the best dog park I have ever seen and by the attendance on opening day it was much anticipated by Morgan Hill canines and humans as well.
As great as this all sounds, I am concerned and upset that the Dog Owners Group had to come up with a large portion of the money to build this park. Yes, the city finally agreed to contribute $20,000. The majority of the funds, however, came from the grass roots effort of Morgan Hill dog owners through fundraisers and donations. I understand that this group must also pay for future maintenance and water. Will tennis and basketball players that use the new courts at the park have to hold fundraisers to pay their part of the new construction? Will parents have to contribute money so their children can play on the new equipment? It’s time our City Council and Parks and Recreation members realize that dog owners are a large and vocal part of their constituency and deserve equal treatment as caring citizens of this community. I believe that in all fairness the city should pay for the care and maintenance of this dog park just as they do for all the other facilities at Community Park.
Barbara Palmer and Tyler, Morgan Hill
Labor Relations with Classified School Employees at Their Worst
Dear Editor,
Bravo to your Jan. 3 editorial urging Dr. Alan Nishino and the school board to “stop playing games with the classified employees.” As a classified employee with 26 years of service in the Morgan Hill Unified School District, I cannot recall a time when the classified workers have been treated so poorly. The board members seem to have forgotten their own recently adopted goals to settle collective bargaining agreements with all employee groups in a timely manner, and to respect and value all district employees. Ironically, last year Dr. Nishino made sure that he got a 5 percent raise before negotiations had even started with any employee groups. As for Dr. Nishino’s failure to respond to the Public Employee Relations Board, this has proven to be standard operating procedure in dealing with the teachers as well. Rather than meeting with the teacher union representatives to actually resolve problems, Dr. Nishino prefers delaying and not responding. For the first time in many years the teacher’s federation has been forced to file an unfair labor practice with PERB. It details seven related violations of labor law that have gone unresolved. In addition, there are two grievances that have gone as far as a state mediator to try to reach a resolution. District employees want to be true partners in educating our students and solving problems when they arise. Despite his placating comments, Dr. Nishino’s actions speak louder than his words.
Steve Spencer, Morgan Hill
Perplexed by Local Motorcycle Cops
Dear Editor,
I have lived in Morgan Hill for more than 30 years and have always felt very comfortable here until the turn of recent events. I had never noticed that we had a problem with traffic safety and am perplexed why the Morgan Hill Police Department has implemented more stringent control over how local citizens drive. Since the City of Morgan Hill purchased the two police motorcycles, the over-zealous and ubiquitous duo have relentlessly ticketed our community. Has Morgan Hill found a new source for revenue? They must be making tens of thousands of dollars off rolling stop sign violators and minor speed infractions. Can we redirect these guys to the gang task force where their services would really benefit our city? If they perused criminal activity with the same level of enthusiasm, real crime would be non-existent.
Dan Roth, Morgan Hill
