Guest View

On Jan. 21, 2017, I joined what are now estimated to be 800,000 other people at the Women’s March on Washington, D.C. (and an estimated four million fellow marchers around the U.S. and the globe). The results of the Presidential election sunk my hopes for this great country, and inspired personal fear as a woman, a person of Jewish descent, as well as for the many marginalized folks whose rights Donald Trump staked his campaign on overturning.I felt alternating bouts of rage and despair that we elected a president who is on record making abusive and derogatory statements about women, people of color and the disabled, as well as bashing our venerated intelligence agencies, to name just a few. Not to mention he has no prior experience in any political office.At first, I was more nervous than excited—I feared reprisal from Trump supporters; I feared that in this frustrated and angry time, a tightly-wound lone shooter might express his dissent in bullets.Fortunately, that was not the case. If the counter-protesters were there, I never saw them. I was packed densely into the center of the National Mall, near Independence and Fourth Streets, with a direct view of the nation’s Capitol. My friend and I arrived by 8 a.m. Saturday morning, and by 8:30, you could no longer see streets in any direction—just bodies upon bodies carrying clever signs announcing their fears and concerns, many bedecked in the now-iconic pink hats.For five hours I stood and listened to fierce, passionate, committed speakers and artists plead for the rights of women, the disabled, the LGBTQ community, and against a Muslim registry and a wall at the Mexican border. Speakers included Gloria Steinem, Angela Davis, Michael Moore, Ashley Judd, Alicia Keys, Van Jones, California Sen. Kamala Davis, D.C. Mayor Muriel Brown, the mothers of slain black children and so many more activists, politicians and entertainers.Despite this enormous outpouring of energy and effort around the country, people are criticizing the movement. What did you want to say? What purpose did it have? Why can’t you all just shut up and accept things as they are?Last I checked, this country is still a democracy, albeit one that’s under threat. The Trump administration has already made clear it is hostile to media criticism. It has made steps to defund women’s health and climate science, and to repeal healthcare. Protest and demonstration are our Constitutional rights and one of the many ways we can create change.Change comes when we the people put pressure on our leaders to let them know what matters to us. As President Trump’s loss of the popular vote by nearly three million votes reveals, he doesn’t speak for many of us.The Women’s March was a fierce rallying cry as we launch into the beginning of many battles: for women’s bodily autonomy, for civil rights, for a decent world where we take care of our own and stay in good stead with the rest of the world.I’ll be bringing the same fierce energy to my own community in the days to come.Jordan Rosenfeld is a local freelance writer and author of seven books. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Although many of the farm fields and orchards that once covered the valley floor are long since gone, agriculture remains an important part of Santa Clara County’s heritage and its future.As in the past, the availability of water to grow crops and raise livestock affects individual farmers and ranchers as well as the economy of our county. Because of this, the Santa Clara Valley Water District continues to offer support to farmers, through the open space credit, which offers a credit on water rates to account for the benefits the larger community receives from that open space.Additionally, the district supports agriculture through its planning efforts performed in partnership with local jurisdictions such as the South County Recycled Water Master Plan. Recently updated, this master plan, completed in partnership with the South County Regional Wastewater Authority (SCRWA) and cooperation with the cities of Gilroy and Morgan Hill, addresses a variety of options for expanding the use of recycled water in South County.Most of the farming in Santa Clara County takes place in the southern portion of the county, where farmers, residents and businesses rely almost entirely on groundwater. The amount of groundwater pumped each year far exceeds what is replenished naturally by rainfall and other sources. So, the water district carefully replenishes the groundwater basin there, to ensure there is enough water. We do this using a mixture of water from local reservoirs and water imported to our county through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.In addition to refilling the groundwater basin through percolation ponds and creeks, the water district also works to reduce the amount of water that needs to be pumped through water conservation and recycled water programs. For example, every gallon of recycled water used is a gallon of groundwater that doesn’t need to be pumped.To fund and implement the projects in the master plan, the district hopes to continue our partnership with the two cities and SCRWA, with the eventual goal of recycling 100 percent of the wastewater treated in South County, thereby decreasing local reliance on groundwater and bolstering our water supply.Richard P. Santos is Chair of the Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Valley Water District. John Varela is Director of District 1 of the SCVWD. They can be reached at [email protected].

Like all communities, public safety is of utmost importance here in Morgan Hill. At the top of the public safety list is our police department. They not only enforce our laws; they do so much more to establish a feeling of safety in our community. By being out on patrol, officers establish a sense of comfort and safety for our residents. Our officers are in our schools, interacting with kids on a personal basis, forming personal relationships that pay dividends in avoiding gang involvement.Although our PD is fully staffed, we need all the help we can get to assure that the feeling of safety in Morgan Hill stays vibrant. Volunteers are a huge part of making that happen. Our volunteer CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) is trained and ready to help on emergency situations. The Explorer program trains and uses young adults to supplement our officers when additional personnel are appropriate. The Volunteers in Policing (VIP) program trains citizens to support the department by doing administrative tasks and supplementing them on patrol. The PD also relies on residents to form Neighborhood Watch groups and report any situations requiring police intervention.The notion of community policing is that everyone is involved in keeping our city safe.There is one other group that is extremely supportive of our policing efforts: the Community Law Enforcement Foundation, or CLEF.  They raise money to donate to the PD for very specific purposes. The most notable example is our canine unit—the dog, Basco, his training and all his food and equipment is funded by CLEF.  CLEF also funds equipment, like license plate readers, that allow our officers to take advantage of the latest technology for law enforcement. Another area of funding provided by CLEF is for training, not only for our officers, but for citizens as well, including the very successful Parent Program.So you are probably wondering where CLEF gets the funds it uses to support our PD? Well, take out your wallet and prepare to have a whole bunch of fun! The annual Cops and Robbers Ball is coming up April 30 and it is truly a BALL! What better cause can there be than to support public safety in your home town by providing funds to this great organization that does so much for the MHPD, making us all safe.And what a great evening it is. CLEF has been doing this for a number of years and event chair Sharon Daniel knows how to do it right.  A great dinner followed by a brief but meaningful presentation of the annual Public Safety Award, honoring Mike Johnson and Frank Thomas for their stellar support of CLEF and our MHPD, followed by dancing. There is a live and a silent auction and some additional fun opportunities to spend money in support of this great cause.Please treat yourself to a really fun evening while helping to keep Morgan Hill safe.The Cops and Robbers Ball will take place 5:30 to 11 p.m. April 30 at the Community and Cultural Center, 17000 Monterey Road. Tickets cost $95 and are available online at morganhillclef.org or from Craig C. Van Keulen at Van Keulen & Van Keulen, 17600 Monterey Rd., Second Floor, Morgan Hill, CA, or by calling Sharron Daniel at (408) 891-7795. Steve Tate is the Mayor of Morgan Hill.

We celebrate the 4th of July because that's America’s Birthday. When I think  about the 4th of July, I think of Morgan Hill’s 4th of July Parade, and our whole community gathering together to celebrate America’s Birthday. I think of the 4th of July...

Here in Santa Clara County, more than half the water we use is “imported,” meaning it’s conveyed to us from other parts of the state.Most of that water starts out as snow in the Sierra Nevada. When it melts, it makes its way into large reservoirs like lakes Oroville and Shasta.From these reservoirs, the water flows in rivers to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta where it is then conveyed through state and federally run infrastructure known as the State Water Project and Central Valley Project to us and other southern, central and coastal parts of the state.That close to half the water we use in Santa Clara County comes through the Delta means the health of the Delta is extremely important to us and should be a concern to everyone. But the Delta is quavering under pressure from aging levees, sea level rise and human and environmental demands. So we have been working with other water agencies, state and federal agencies, and other stakeholders to evaluate options.There have been a number of plans throughout the years to improve the health of the Delta and to try to meet the demands of urban and agricultural users and the environment. The latest is a pair of proposals by the state, called California WaterFix and California EcoRestore. The WaterFix plan aims to change the way water moves south through the Delta in an effort to safeguard drinking water and improve water flows for the environment. The EcoRestore plan aims to restore at least 30,000 acres of habitat by 2020 to benefit the Delta environment.The Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors is poised to make a decision on whether to support the WaterFix plan and whether to participate in it sometime this year. But before we can do that, we want to be sure we—and the public—fully understand it.That’s why we held a special workshop Jan. 26, where we invited representatives from the state Department of Water Resources, the California Natural Resources Agency and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to present more information on this plan for the Delta. If you missed it, our board meetings are webcast and archived online for later viewing.Board members asked a number of questions, ranging from cost to governance to environmental impact, and we also heard from members of the community who voiced concerns and asked questions. This is an important part of the process, and we have more workshops and committee meetings planned to learn much more about this proposal and what benefits or challenges it could pose to our county, as well as how much it would cost to participate. These workshops and meetings are open to the public, and we invite you to attend so you too can learn more and provide input. The state of our water concerns everybody.Our next discussion of the plan is scheduled for a Feb. 22 meeting of our BDCP Ad Hoc Committee. Check back at valleywater.org for final dates and times. You can submit feedback to [email protected] Varela is Vice Chairman and District 1 Director of the Board of Directors for the Santa Clara Valley Water District. For further information, contact Varela [email protected].