The growth of Morgan Hill is shaping up to be a central issue in the Nov. 8 race for two city council seats, and candidate Armando Benavides is critical of the current body’s efforts to control it.
“I think there’s a general consensus that the rate of growth has been a little too much,” Benavides said, referring to the time since about 2013, when the economy improved enough for developers to gain financing to build previously approved homes.
He thinks the city’s streets infrastructure woes are a result of this surge in residential construction. City staff have reported that Morgan Hill is short about $5.8 million per year in funding for street repairs and maintenance, just to maintain the infrastructure at its current level.
If elected to the council, Benavides said he would like to re-examine that number, and consider cuts in other services funded by taxpayers before asking voters for more money with a sales tax or other local funding source.
He added that when it comes to growth, which is regulated through the city’s Residential Development Control System (also on the Nov. 8 ballot as Measure S), the city should seek to tie the annual growth rate to the state of the streets and roads.
“My platform is ‘responsible growth,’ based on the most important factor that it can be sustained by the infrastructure on a short-term and long-term basis,” said Benavides, a local trial attorney who specializes in civil law. “I don’t think our current leaders have done an investigation of how much growth our infrastructure can sustain.” He didn’t specify a number of housing allotments he thinks the streets can support.
Benavides, who ran for Morgan Hill Unified School District trustee in 2014, added he has “concerns about the (city’s) budget.” For example, he thinks the council shouldn’t have spent $425,000 of former Redevelopment money on public art for the new downtown garage.
Benavides has also been active in Morgan Hill’s Latino community, working with various parent groups and leaders.
He led an effort last year to force MHUSD to change its election system from at-large to by-district electing. He said he does not plan to do the same with the Morgan Hill City Council, but he thinks the city should figure out how to achieve “more outreach and more engagement” from underrepresented sectors of the community.
Benavides, a resident of Morgan Hill for 16 years, is married and has two sons—one attending San Jose State University and one at Live Oak High School.
This article is part of a series of profiles on the five candidates running for Morgan Hill City Council in the Nov. 8 election. Candidates are incumbents Larry Carr and Marilyn Librers, and challengers Mario Banuelos, Armando Benavides and Rene Spring. There are two seats open in the election, and voters will get to select two candidates on the ballot. The top two overall vote getters will win the seats. Click the links at the bottom of this page to view the other candidates’ profiles.
