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Q: We have a terrible gopher problem in our yard. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to trap these varmints. So I talked to a garden expert who suggested poison. But I’m afraid our dogs will get some of the poison, and I know that could be very dangerous. Any suggestions?

It’s an inspiring story of a quest for freedom, high-stakes risk and love. This week’s column is dedicated to Ana Lelescu and her California Passport company, based in Morgan Hill. California Passport offers an upscale leisure travel experience for small groups of people anywhere from South San Jose to Big Sur.  

I have a personal policy of not responding to comments regarding any of my writings or posts in social media. As a City Planning Commissioner and one who is involved in several aspects of the community, I have to hold myself to the highest level of behavior (and it’s pretty much just who I am). In my experience, even my most benign response can quickly devolve into a hostile conversation led by those who don’t adhere to a civil dialogue or resist twisting words. Too bad really, since I do believe in a good conversation.So I have broken my silence in responding here because I just cannot sit and watch some of the misinformation propagated by so few that is seen by so many.Mark Grzan has insisted on misinforming others about the Agricultural Preservation Set Aside; and yes, he is the author of the gross example of the misinformation I mentioned in my last column.I want to introduce simple facts if I could, so here is the exact Agricultural Preservation Set-Asides language:Policy CNF-3.14 Agricultural Preservation set-Asides. Set aside at least 300 allotments for housing that may be applied anywhere in the City through 2035. Recipient projects must directly establish permanent agricultural conservation easements within the City Limits or within the City’s Priority Agricultural Conservation Area.Zoning Section 18.78.060.D.1 adds: Easements must be established within the City’s Sphere of Influence and in a manner consistent with the Citywide Agricultural Lands Preservation Program. The number of allotments granted will be commensurate with the community benefit obtained from the resulting preservation of agricultural lands. No more than 35 set-aside allotments are available for agricultural preservation projects within a single year.Let me interpret a little here, from the top.“Allotments”: an allotment is the permission to apply to build a residential dwelling unit. An allotment does not assure the right to build; you must still meet several criteria before you have the right to begin building. One allotment is needed for each dwelling “unit” (a dwelling for one family).“Housing that may be applied anywhere in the City”: you can only build on lands designated for development and you can only build what is zoned for that land (examples: free standing homes or townhomes) and at the density allowed (example: five houses per acre, or maybe 15 depending on zoning).“Agricultural conservation easements”: a restriction you place on the land so that no development can ever take place except for normal agricultural related structures and a single family dwelling unit per existing lot.“City’s Priority Agricultural Conservation Area”: this is an area of farmland identified in the 2014 Agricultural Lands Preservation Program and incorporated into the Citywide Agricultural Lands Preservation Program. It is essentially all in the Southeast Quadrant area. Still with me?So in simpler terms: if you protect priority agricultural lands you can build anywhere in Morgan Hill where allowed, without going through the RDCS competition. However you must protect an equal area of farmland that you propose to build on (one-to-one in acreage) and you must still receive a passing score of at least 80 percent in the RDCS competition criteria; you just don’t have to compete or wait for the competition, which takes place only once a year.A developer skips competing for allotments, which makes life easier for them, AND the region gets agricultural lands protected in perpetuity from development. Looks like a win-win here.This is almost exactly the opposite of what Mr. Grzan is saying—and there is no way that Measure S implies that we can build outside of the city limits. We can’t, and Mr. Grzan knows that.We need to be careful what we say in public and the letter by Mr. Grzan either indicates that he is not at all familiar with the document and commonly used terms, or is intentionally misleading potential voters. His stint as a councilmember should have educated him to the meaning of everything I repeated here.Please check out the included snapshots of Mr. Grzan’s comments on social media that expand on his assertions. I leave it up to you to decide what his intent is.Thank you for your time, and please read the Measure S document and ask real questions of those who are informed.John McKay is a Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance. This op-ed is a response to the most recent letter to the editor authored by Mark Grzan. 

As I look at my calendar for April I see lots of things going on, not the least of which is April 15—a date that still sneaks up on me every year no matter how often I prepare myself.So compared to dealing with the only other thing that I can’t avoid besides death, everything else looks pretty good. But then everything I’m about to mention is pretty good.I’ve been working on an oversized wooden resort chair that should be unveiled soon as part of the downtown public art mini-grant projects.This is a nine-foot-tall Adirondack chair so it will be hard to miss once it’s parked. This is just one piece of several soon to land downtown this month with the promise to add more elements of interest to the downtown placemaking effort.Down the street where the old liquor store used to be on Third Street and Monterey Road you will see a mini-grant mural revealing itself as soon as this weekend. But besides art the old liquor store will also be the home of something else new—a “bike HUB.” What is a bike HUB? Thought you’d never ask…I’ll define bike HUB for this location as a place where bicyclists can gather, park their bike and maybe get some minor emergency repairs or adjustments performed. Part of each Saturday starting in April the location will be staffed so you can feel comfortable knowing your bike is safe while you stroll around the downtown shopping and dining. As part of the downtown art mini-grants, there will also be a bike fix it station out front along with a very cool old time map of California bike routes. A local bicycling advocacy group, “Bike Morgan Hill,” will take care of the bike racks and volunteer staffing. With the increasing numbers of bicyclists downtown the bike HUB is sure to add a convenience that will be appreciated by many.Last weekend was the first “Indie Market” put together by the folks at the Morgan Hill Downtown Association. The west side of Monterey Road between First and Fourth streets saw colorful canopies erected by local independent home based businesses now offering a great outdoor venue. The event drew crowds of people and there was more activity downtown on a Sunday than most of us are used to—but could very easily get accustomed to. This will be repeated again on April 26.This is also the month when those of us who love wine turn our focus to downtown.Wine Week will kick off April 19 and is loaded with more events than ever. This year will also include a celebration of the numerous awards our local wineries are winning with a special event along with the exceptional slate of wine education, wine maker dinners and wine tastings established for this week. Wine Week will end with the Wine Stroll which annually brings more than a thousand visitors to the downtown sampling wine and getting exposed to the Morgan Hill we know and love.Get ready for April, that date in the middle is always a rough one but on either side are days filled with fun things to see and do in your town.John McKay is a longtime Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and a member of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

Like the rest of our countrymen we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The difference is that we add in a huge dose of local pride and make it a patriotic event done the Morgan Hill Way—and then we invite the world to come visit us.Back in the old days it was usually the local government that put on the big Fourth of July events. We’ve defined the Fourth with the imagery of parades and fireworks, and maybe a picnic with watermelon too.Most of those sources of funding are long gone and in most communities the parades and fireworks are gone too. But not in Morgan Hill! We now have more going on in our “little” community than ever.The grandest local events surrounding July 4 are put on by the Independence Day Celebrations (IDC) nonprofit organization. They have not only shouldered the work of organizing the parade but are also solely responsible for making sure that our nighttime sky is still filled with fireworks to complete the day of memorable patriotic images.I couldn’t go to all of the events but from all reports I can tell you that on the evening of July 3, the IDC started throwing a party!Sunday’s Patriotic Sing was punctuated by remembrances of former mayor, and dear friend, Dennis Kennedy, and local attorney William Brown. Both men are known for their giving to the community and are sorely missed.I was there for the Family Street Dance and I’m telling you that bringing it back to the downtown was the right thing to do—not easy but right. The move back downtown was for the benefit of the community, but it put a huge burden on the IDC staff. They needed to break down all of the stages and tents, and clean it all up before the next day’s parade—a huge job that doubtlessly leaves many volunteers sleepless that night.The next morning everything looked great; of course, it was a little difficult to tell since the streets were buried under tens of thousands of people (maybe 50,000 I heard?).Our 140-year-old parade is officially the epicenter of Santa Clara County on July 4. By extension I think we can claim that we are Silicon Valley’s official Fourth of July Parade.  So it was an incredibly beautiful day and the parade had over 150 entries—it was the perfect day and place to sense that small town America still means a lot to everyone.I was on the Downtown Association float and I’m telling you that we had an incredibly cheerful crowd in attendance. We had decorated our float to look like the ever popular pop-up park, which everyone seemed to recognize, so it was almost a given that we would feel nothing but love. I’ll never forget that parade it was like being in an old-time movie.We missed the fireworks since we spend every Fourth of July evening with our dogs. They fear those loud explosions and stuffing them back into their skins can be mighty tough.We might have missed the fireworks but we got an opportunity to reflect on a great day and toast our community for countless reasons. Here’s a toast to Fourth of July done right.John McKay is a Morgan Hill resident, interim president of the Downtown Association, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.