If attending City Council and commission meetings were a
prerequisite for election to the Council, Mark Grzan would have it
made.
If attending City Council and commission meetings were a prerequisite for election to the Council, Mark Grzan would have it made.
As it stands, he is having to run for one of two seats on the Council along with three other challengers who have showed up at far fewer meetings – and with incumbent Councilman Larry Carr who has been to most.
The 10-year resident, with a city administration background and a strong interest in preserving Morgan Hill’s rural atmosphere, pops up at council meetings when the budget or clean water are on the agenda, and many other times besides. He is a committed citizen, willing to ask hard questions and demand answers.
Grzan favors adhering to voter or council-approved plans as much as possible. He spent three years on the general plan’s update committee in the early 1990s and prefers following the Fire Master Plan that recommends building a third fire station near Butterfield Boulevard and Diana Avenue, finding the money to staff it somewhere.
He does not think council should rezone the Walnut Grove area to allow another auto dealership.
“We should not compromise general plan or rezone for revenue,” Grzan said. “There are other sites.”
Grzan also says that residents’ opinions are of critical importance to council decisions, a matter that was raised recently when council considered where to build a new library.
“The decision to place the library at the civic center was made some time ago and it should have stayed there,” Grzan said. “Though I disagree with the selection, that is where the public wants it and that is where it should go.”
He says he treasurers the city’s rural atmosphere and is reluctant to chase after big box stores just for the sake of revenue.
“Residents like what Morgan Hill is,” he said. “I don’t believe they want to be a Gilroy or a Cupertino with a proliferation of retail outlets, strip malls and auto dealerships impacting our streets and neighborhoods.”
Chasing after sales taxes, of course, brings in revenue to pay for police and fire protection, plus recreation and other important services. How should the council attack the budget deficit?
“We must live within our means,” he said, not using reserves to fund deficit spending. “I will not sacrifice our rural character for revenue.”
Grzan is a member of the Urban Limit Line Advisory Committee, often facing off with property owners who see lost income from a potential ban on developing their land.
“Property owners should be participants, not decision makers,” he said. “The land outside the (urban limit) line will remain as unincorporated county land and can be developed in accordance to county guidelines.”
Grzan says he has a strong commitment to Morgan Hill and all its residents, including people new to the country and those who have been here a while.
Carol Holzgrafe covers City Hall for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at ch********@*************es.com or phoning (408) 779-4106 Ext. 201.
