Guest View

The past year and a half has been extremely hard on everyone, but it has been especially hard on small business owners. And according to Americans for the Arts, the arts were tremendously impacted by the pandemic, with an overall expected financial loss of...

When the early settlers came out West, the first thing they did was build a church with an adjacent cemetery. That was their commitment to their new abode, then as well as in the Hereafter. Those quaint churches and cemeteries now dot our countryside, each with its own rich history and interesting stories to tell.

Thank you Morgan HillI would like to thank the citizens of Morgan Hill for entrusting me with the elected position of City Treasurer over the past 19 years (five elections).It has been a unique opportunity for me to serve the community while having professional experiences that were outside of my private sector employment and for me to meet many of you, plus elected officials and city staff, whom I may not have otherwise met.I have decided not to seek elected office this year but look forward to the spirited campaign I believe will ensue as others in the community seek this elected office.Thank you again.Michael J Roorda, City Treasurer City of Morgan Hill

2017 will be a memorable year for Santa Clara County, especially for water resources management.It was the year that broke our state’s longest dry streak with record-setting precipitation. A year of transition between extremes—from drought to floods. A year for big decisions on the future of our water supply. And it was a year to redouble our commitment to preparing for wet and dry years to ensure safe, clean water for a healthy life, environment and economy for the Silicon Valley.As Board Chair of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, I am proud to reflect on some of the year’s highlights.  A historic flood along Coyote Creek was a vivid reminder that flood risks persist in our county, and our hearts go out to those affected. Despite our investments of close to $1 billion in flood protection projects over several decades protecting nearly 100,000 parcels, our work is far from complete. The Coyote Creek flood has ignited a new urgency in our fight to reduce flood risks and help keep communities safe.This year, we completed the Lower Silver Creek Flood Protection Project in east San Jose. The project extends approximately 4.4 miles from its connection at Coyote Creek to Cunningham Avenue. When the Lake Cunningham detention basin is complete, it will protect approximately 3,800 homes and businesses.  After the Coyote Creek flood in February, my colleagues and I led advocacy efforts in Washington, D.C., to seek federal funding and support changes to the regulatory process, which has delayed many important flood protection projects. At home, we took immediate action to build short-term flood barriers at the Rock Springs neighborhood, remove invasive vegetation along Coyote Creek and remove downed trees and potential creek blockages. The board also approved new operating parameters at Anderson and Coyote reservoirs to create more storage space, further reducing the chance of flooding.In one of the most critical decisions of the year, the water district board voted to participate in the California WaterFix project to improve the infrastructure that carries water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Our board developed a list of seven guiding principles to examine a less costly, scaled-down and staged project that would serve Silicon Valley’s needs, as well as those of our partner agencies.To further improve reliability of our imported water supply sources, we applied for $484.5 million in state funding for the potential expansion of the Pacheco Reservoir. Located about 13 miles southwest of San Luis Reservoir, this project offers emergency and drought-year supply, fish habitat enhancement, flood protection and other benefits.  Another way we are preparing for the future is through expanding the use of recycled water.No doubt about it, 2017 was a forward-moving year. I wouldn’t expect anything less for the Silicon Valley, and I am humbled to have led the efforts this year. Follow more of what we accomplished throughout the year in our 2017 annual report, available at valleywater.org.John Varela represents District 1—which includes Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy and hills east of San Jose and Milpitas—on the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors. He can be reached at [email protected].

After the November 2016 election, many of us in this community watched in horror as hate crimes against people of color and Jewish people began to rise. The reputable Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracked such events, rolled out a terrifying monthly toll that climbed and climbed.Rather than sit feeling helpless, a group of us felt moved to act as so many others in our community have already done. SURJ—Showing Up For Racial Justice—is a national group that organized after Barack Obama’s election drew intense, overt racism out of the woodwork, with the belief that it is up to white people to dismantle racism—specifically white supremacy.We started a local chapter, SURJ South County, to carry on SURJ National’s mission. We do not wish to be seen as “white saviors,” but rather to educate ourselves and others about the injustices against people of color, past and present, to bring awareness to the ways in which systems of oppression work against thriving communities and to hold ourselves accountable for change.We build upon the efforts of our local accountability partners, who have already been doing important, related work, like SIREN, CARAS, Indivisible South Valley, The Interfaith Council, The Learning and Loving Center, and more. We rally together with those targeted by systems of oppression. Not only do we hope to counter, with education and love, the agenda of hate that some feel emboldened to enact, we recognize that this country is founded on a history of white supremacy, violence and aggression against people of color, including the Native Americans whose lands were stolen and lives torn asunder.Since our group is not solely comprised of white folks, SURJ South County took liberties with SURJ National’s mission statement: we are a local group of individuals organizing people for racial justice. SURJ promotes all people acting as part of a multiracial society for social justice with passion and accountability.Our group also acknowledges the intersectionality of the ways in which systems of oppression affect marginalized groups (based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, immigration status, ability/disability status, and more). SURJ provides a space to build relationships, skills and political analysis to act for change.      So if you see us standing holding signs on the street corners in defense of DACA, the “Dreamer” act, or in solidarity with any person of color who has suffered as a result of this system, know that we are here to say, as Australian Aboriginal activist Lila Watson stated so eloquently, “If you have come here to help me, then you are wasting your time…But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together."SURJ South County will host a screening of the documentary “13th,” about how mass incarceration of people of color is a modern form of slavery, at the Morgan Hill Library, 660 W. Main Ave., with guest speakers after, from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 15.For more information, email Morgan Hill resident Jordan Rosenfeld at [email protected].

My husband and I recently spent a month in Rwanda, visiting his parents who have been Baptist missionaries there for 35 years. For my husband it was a trip home, a chance to be in familiar places, to be known, and to exhale. For me it was a chance to know my husband better by experiencing where he grew up, to be on vacation for a month, to spend the holidays with my in-laws as our gracious hosts, and to explore a new country.