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To get a warm and fuzzy feeling this holiday season, consider donating to a local animal care organization such as wildlife rehabilitation, pet shelter, and animal rescue group, who are always in need of that extra helping of generosity.Giving to a local organization enhances your community and produces immediate and visible results. Many of these organizations, including the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center, are supported solely by donations from individuals and companies. A donation to your favorite animal charity can make a heart warming, deeply appreciated gift and gives the giver a feeling of goodwill (and a tax deduction, too).A word of warning:  Beware of fly-by-night “charities.”  Check out an organization before sending off a check. If you’re not familiar with the organization, ask for the phone number and address. Call to see if they’re reputable or have them send you more information. The organization should have a 501(c)(3) tax exemption number. It’s your hard earned money—don’t hesitate to ask questions regarding where that money goes.W.E.R.C. wishes to thank all in our community who have generously donated throughout the year to help us help the helpless, injured and orphaned native wildlife that would not have survived on their own.Sue Howell is the Executive Director of the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center in Morgan Hill.

During the holiday season it is easy to become overwhelmed with errands and tasks that are inherently linked to this time of year, such as shopping for gifts, baking and visiting family and friends.

Music brings people together. With the holidays now in high gear, the South Valley Symphony welcomes everyone in Hollister, Gilroy, San Martin and Morgan Hill communities to celebrate the joy and cheer of the season with festive symphonic music at the “Holiday Panorama” concert at the Gavilan Community College Theater 4 p.m. Dec. 13.At this concert, we will honor the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris with a special piece composed by Sobrato High School graduate Christopher Niemann. The young man's piece is very poignant and personal, and I feel amazed that something of this quality was composed in a few days. Niemann told me he needed to write something to use music as healing for what happened in Paris. In a matter of days he completed a full-orchestral piece as a remembrance of those who died in Paris.The symphony made the decision to have the orchestra perform the new piece at the winter concert because the holiday season is a “season of giving” and the music can help people heal after a tragedy.A 2013 graduate of Sobrato where he first developed his talent in music composition, Niemann, 20, said he hopes the audience will feel motivated to move on from this tragedy after hearing the composition.“Being barely old enough to remember the 9/11 attacks and living through the aftermath, I remember the sensation of being extremely helpless,” he said. “Everyone from around the world watching such terrible events happen through the news and wanting to help when all you could do was watch. I never thought that I would have to experience that feeling of helplessness again. The idea to create a piece in honor of the victims came through the feeling of helplessness; because it’s very hard to just sit and do nothing when people around you are suffering.”Niemann has composed and conducted several pieces performed by the South Valley Symphony, including at the Oct. 10 concert a special composition called “In the Halls of the Overlook” based on the Stephen King novel “The Shining.”The selection of other pieces at the concert will give the audience a festive feeling for the holidays. Top billing at the concert will go to two guest artists—soprano Milena Georgieva who will sing Mozart’s “Exsultate Jubilate” and soloist Greg Chambers performing John Williams’ “Escapades for Saxophone & Orchestra.” The orchestra will also perform selections from Tchaikovsky’s ballet “Sleeping Beauty.” Leroy Anderson’s “Christmas Festival” will complete the concert with a medley of songs taking the audience into the festive spirit of the season.Greg Chambers is a music teacher at Sobrato High School and a master of the saxophone. The solo “Escapades” that he will perform is based on Williams’ film score for the 2002 Steven Spielberg movie “Catch Me If You Can.”Along with the Mother’s Day concert at the San Juan Bautista Mission, the symphony’s holiday concert is so popular that it usually sells out, so buy your tickets early online on the symphony’s website atsouthvalleysymphony.org or at Morgan Hill’s BookSmart store, Gilroy’s Porcellas Music and First Street Cafe, Hollister’s PostalGraphics or San Juan Bautista’s The Mission Gallery.We encourage families to share the festive fun of the holidays by attending the upcoming concert. Children can attend for free with accompanying paying adult (but the child must get a ticket to be admitted). Students with identification can also attend the concerts for free. During the intermission, I invite children on the stage to learn about the various instruments.The South Valley Symphony is a family, and we welcome everyone to celebrate the season at our Holiday Panorama concert this Sunday.Anthony Quartuccio is the Music Director and Conductor of the South Valley Symphony.

Can you hear me now?Listen up. There’s an event happening in America that’s sweeping children and teenagers’ lives that’s causing deafness. It’s been happening for the past 25 years. It’s not a virus; it’s a socially accepted technologically driven addition conveniently made available. Communication devices for school learning and online testing, and music enjoyment are being strapped to the ears of youths from kindergarten through college and beyond that is deafening Americans.Your children are at risk. Oh, it’s less than the CDC recommendations of 85 db, you might convince yourself. And I’ve purchased a limiting feature, so I’m covered. Ah, strapping those headphones on your little children’s’ ears sends a message to them that it’s OK to listen in this manner. When they become stubborn, independent teens with the newest earbud and listening device marketed to us, “Mom’s nowhere in sight, hearing this piece of music loud is fantastic!” Oh, yes it is. This is how the deafening of our children occurs. It’s gradual.My first son started using headphones as early as 6 years old in 1992 and continued through high school with each advancing music device marketed—new headphones, new earbuds, loud music listening occurred at school, on the school bus and in his bedroom. The devastating announcement made to me from the audiologist with my 15-year-old son sitting in the doctor’s office went like this: “I’m sorry to tell you, but your son has considerable hearing loss, and it’s permanent and he should never use headphones again, because it just furthers his hearing decline.”Then the ENT doctor went on to tell me that sound should never be delivered next to the human ear, because it wears the ear out and causes deafness.One thing had changed since I grew up—the loud music coming from our bedroom stereos is now turned inward, pumped right into the ear canals of my sons, and I didn’t hear a thing.Sneaky little devils, aren’t they? The way a new device is marketed to us under the fantastic name of “technological advancement?’’One thing has not changed though—our human ears. Our ears are not built to receive sound close to the ear for repeated periods and at loud volumes. Irreparable hearing damage occurs and only worsens with aging. Hearing loss is cumulative, and most people, including my teenagers, had to be dragged to the auditory specialists for a hearing test.  When was the last time you had a hearing test? Mine was two years ago and I have hearing losses due to living with the abundant increase in listening devices due to the onslaught of technology, loud concert music events (oh, I loved those!), and loud movie theaters.I recently took my 5-year-old to the local theatre and he complained, “This is too loud Mom, I do not want to go back!”The tears of mothers dwell in rivers. My first son, soon to turn 29, has deafness caused by technology’s great advancement of headphones and earbuds. Your child came into this world new and wonderful. Isn’t it our responsibility to keep them safe and as healthy as possible?Please take some time to read the facts that no one is talking about. If we ignore JAMA’s (Journal of American Medical Association) current data studies and doctors’ recommendations, then in the future, are we going to ignore the educated recommendations of the very children we are currently educating? If a glass of water is poison, is teaching our children to take small frequent sips of it still okay?I hope you gain some insight from my experience and these medical facts, so you can make an informed decision about whether you want to begin your child’s hearing loss or not.  Sincerely,Carol SternMorgan Hill

It is with whole-hearted enthusiasm that I submit this letter of support for the renewal  of Charter School of Morgan Hill’s charter. I am a proud parent of a seventh grader at Charter School. Our daughter has been a student there since kindergarten, and my husband and I could not be happier with the education she’s received since day one.Charter School is a true community that consists of students, faculty, support staff, parents and families. The strong family involvement and community interaction is the foundation of our school’s successful learning environment.Through project-based learning (PBL), which is at the core of the school’s curriculum, our daughter has been able to be immersed in a variety of amazing educational experiences.  In first grade, she traveled back in time for “Now & Then Day” and learned how people truly lived in the past.In second grade she took a trip across the seas for “Ellis Island Day” and experienced the immigration process first hand (please note Ellis Island Day represented the experience of ALLimmigrants to the United States). Our daughter was born in China, and she experienced that day as a Chinese immigrant, just as thousands of Chinese immigrants came through Angel Island to find work and start a new life in the U.S.In third grade she learned problem solving through deductive reasoning by solving a "teddy bear" crime scene. In fourth grade she panned for gold as a 49er in Placer County. In fifth grade she experienced life as colonist in the hamlet of “Charterburg,” running a business as a seamstress and forced to pay taxes to the King. In sixth grade she went spelunking and discovered ancient cave paintings.  Charter’s Math, Science, Art, Agriculture, Music and Spanish curricula weave seamlessly into the PBL subjects. Watching this type of teaching and learning take place year after year is almost magical. All our teachers are dedicated and talented individuals who give of themselves to make Charter the remarkable school it is.My husband and I are both Latino and it was important to us as parents to find a school that reflected the diversity of our Morgan Hill community. Public education in a diverse and positive learning environment is extremely important to us, so Charter was our first choice for our daughter. My husband grew up in San Jose and is the son of farm workers. As a child, he and his family lived and worked in the fields. He was fortunate to attend an elementary school that had caring and loving teachers.  Because his parents worked during the day with no one at home to watch him, his teachers went the extra mile and allowed him to stay after school to do homework and get the extra support he needed. He is the first in his family to earn a college degree. He often says the environment at Charter is much like the environment of his elementary school.  My father immigrated to this country from Latin America to seek educational opportunities for himself. He was profoundly grateful for those opportunities which allowed him to become one of the first Latino neurosurgeons in the U.S. He never let us forget the importance of a free and equal education, which allowed him to better himself and our entire family.Both my husband and I feel the Charter community has the diversity needed to enable its students to become culturally competent adults. In our daughter’s seventh grade class are students of Latino, Asian, Filipino, Portuguese and Middle Eastern descent. Our daughter has the unique distinction of being of Chinese ethnicity, raised by Latino parents, and at Charter she is just Caroline. To us, this demonstrates that her classmates respect and embrace cultural diversity.It is evident that Charter School students are learning and thriving through the PBL curriculum and dynamic environment.  Your vote to approve renewal of the charter should be without question. A vote to deny renewal is a vote to deny students within your own school district an exceptional learning experience that educators throughout the area strive to emulate.

A Letter to Our NeighborsDear Morgan Hill Community,Specialized Bicycle Components would like to apologize for the inconveniences caused by the large number of cyclists that ride each day from our company and the lack of riding etiquette while out on the roads of Morgan Hill. Effective immediately we have changed our lunch ride route so it no longer goes through the Paradise Valley Neighborhood. We are working directly with Specialized employees to educate and enforce the California State Vehicle Code regulations as they pertain to cyclists.We are working closely with the Morgan Hill Police Department to create safer road situations for both cyclists and motorists and will be working together to plan a safety course in the near future.To further emphasize the importance of riding safely and respecting community we have developed the How We Roll guiding principles:How We Roll-RESPECT for all traffic laws, like responsible and intelligent adults-RESPECT to all those we encounter: motorists, riders, runners, kids incrosswalks, etc.-BE COOL and say hello to everyone we meet while out riding-DON’T FORGET that when we ride we are representing both Specialized and cyclists at large-BE RESPONSIBLE and have the courage to remind anyone that is not riding in accordanceSpecialized takes pride in being a part of the Morgan Hill community for over 35 years. Our ultimate goal is to promote health and fitness through the sport of cycling and hope to encourage more people to join. We are a company of passionate people who believe in the power of the bike. Going forward we are committed to following the rules of the road and being better at sharing with other people out and about.Please join us for the monthly community ride we host the first Monday of each month to continue the dialogue and join a ride.If you have any questions or would like to send feedback please email [email protected] or call (408)779-6229.Sincerely,The Team at Specialized

The Morgan Hill City Council voted to ignore a lawful petition signed by more than 10 percent of the registered voters in this city demanding that the city council either reverse its proposed zoning amendment (proposed Ordinance No. 2131-NS) that would unnecessarily further deplete our already disappearing industrial land, or else put that question on the ballot for the voters to decide in a referendum election.  The right to decide questions of public interest in a democratic vote is guaranteed under the California State Constitution and built into the very fabric of our elections laws. It is the reason that most ordinances do not go into effect for at least 30 days after they are approved by the city council. This is the time period during which concerned voters can file their objections to a proposed ordinance, but this city council is trying to deny our citizens their constitutional right to vote on this issue.The Morgan Hill Hotel Coalition works hard to make the hospitality industry better for all. The hotels and motels in Morgan Hill, many of which are family owned businesses that span generations, have generated approximately $10 million in transit occupancy tax over the past five years. The Coalition welcomes all who care to join the hospitality industry on a level playing field.The Coalition publicly supported both the Stone Park Capital hotel project (La Quinta Inn) and development of a new downtown boutique hotel. Each of those projects are situated on lands that were zoned for commercial use (which allows hotels) when the projects were proposed. These two projects alone will increase our city’s available higher end hotel room inventory by nearly 40 percent.We advocate for sustainable growth so our local economy is less susceptible to boom/bust cycles that have crippled us in the past.Industry means jobs—good paying, manufacturing jobs that will benefit the citizens of our community as a whole, now and in the future. So we need to carefully protect our industrial land to make sure that there will be a place for people to create jobs when our children become working age.  According to the City of Morgan Hill’s own statistics, there is only about a 19-year supply of industrial land remaining within the city and there is currently a miniscule 3 percent industrial property vacancy rate in Morgan Hill.The Morgan Hill Hotel Coalition objected to the proposal to take industrial land and convert it to commercial use just so an out of town developer can build another hotel. More than 2,000 voters in Morgan Hill agreed and showed their support by signing the petition demanding that the city council repeal the proposed zoning change or put it on the ballot for the voters to decide. The city council should have allowed the voters to decide.Asit Panwala is a spokesperson for the Morgan Hill Hotel Coalition. His father owns Comfort Inn on Condit Road in Morgan Hill. The MHHC has started a group on Facebook titled "Morgan Hill Speaks," which encourages residents to become more involved in important land use issues and other local government business. 

Open letter to Mayor Steve Tate,On April 30, 2015, an article appeared in the Morgan Hill Times reciting “a lengthy April 28 e-mail blast” outlining various aspects surrounding City Ventures’ approaching acquisition of an existing “Purchase Option” related to 95 East Third Street or, as you all coin it, “The BookSmart Site.”Essentially your remarks provide a diversion from the issues germane, while attempting to do a great job of confusing a general reader. The fact is, the City of Morgan Hill RDA acquired the Purchase Option on the Book Smart Site for $1.7 million and has agreed to sell it to City Ventures (with additional covenants) for $100,000. That’s a $1.6 million dollar loss!Many local residents are very familiar with what they perceive as the past squandering of RDA money (with seemingly no oversight).What is necessary to define upon reflection is: Why the City Council is now willing to throw away $1.6 million of taxpayer money. I really do not believe this is what Governor Brown had in mind when dismantling the RDA statewide.Your email also noted the city “is committed to assisting the impacted businesses” but has “absolutely no obligation” to do so. The $1 million relocation package you describe is funded by leftover RDA cash. Why don’t you let the community know that the “leftover RDA cash” is TAXPAYER MONEY? The City Council seems to treat it as if it is MONOPOLY money!Under the existing agreement, City Ventures will be handed for $2.1 million (option sale price of the site plus the purchase cost of the property) what was once, according to various newspaper accounts and City Council commentary, an asset worth about $3.7 Million.Did anyone—the City Council, staff, or whoever was representing the City of Morgan Hill in this “transaction”—attempt to encourage City Ventures to pay a portion of its net profit from sales proceeds (it is indicated that they will be building “condominiums and townhouses”) up to the $1.7 million original option price? In the Asset Management industry, when we sell a property at a below-market price and/or a “deep discount,” we generally require a percentage of proceeds as a “kicker” in nearly all circumstances.For the Morgan Hill City Council to GIFT City Ventures a $1.6 million dollar equity stake in this property at taxpayer expense is a blatant slap in the face of every taxpaying resident. Add to that an additional $1 MILLION of relocation expense (although you claim it includes tenants of Granada and Downtown Mall as well), the cost for another boondoggle in the downtown now escalates to $2.6 million! And, add to that the proposed repair of Fourth Street, and the rework of Third Street—who knows the total cost.It is the City Council’s fiduciary responsibility that the sale of the Book Smart option to City Ventures be placed in abeyance, or cancelled outright, unless and until the total amount of $1.7 million which the city expended for the purchase option is recoverable under ANY option sale.If the property is appropriate for the planned improvements and the financial feasibility of the project is acceptable to them, then guess what: City Ventures will go along with a participatory agreement.Regardless, the City Council of Morgan Hill must, and I believe is required to safeguard and judiciously protect taxpayer assets.Richard KhanMorgan HillKhan is a banking, mortgage and finance professional who has served in various capacities in commercial finance, commercial real estate lending, asset management and consumer finance.

Dennis Kennedy’s water article listed Santa Clara Valley Water District’s efforts for weathering the drought. The term “weathering” implies that plentiful times will return. I disagree; I and others believe this is not a cyclical weather phenomenon but a rude awakening of our future of climate change. It is so important that we look at this drought with that ominous perspective.Climate change is here. I visited Glacier National Park in August 2014 and the glaciers are gone. Nine of the 10 hottest summers ever were recorded in the last decade. You have to go to the weather extremes to be visually impacted by its effects. Yet what happens outside Morgan Hill can and will affect our needs and it is not limited to just water.At the moment SCVWD relies on 55 percent of its water from sources outside our county. When those resources dry up (literally), you might have to buy water from as far as Canada, and even arctic glaciers under the Golden Gate Bridge. There are even considerations to build a dam under the bridge just to prevent delta salt water incursion as the oceans rise.The City of Morgan Hill is paving over farmlands for housing and considering adding 30,000 new residents in a mega effort of urban sprawl. We will add more residents to Morgan Hill in the upcoming decade than we did in the previous century. Where will you get the water to support that growth and the growth throughout the county when we don’t have water to sustain what we have? Sure you can build salt water desalination plants but those require great amounts of electricity. And where does California get 33 percent of its electricity? We get it from the sierra snowpack in the form of hydroelectric power. That snowpack is gone and unlikely to return to previous levels for any sustainable time.This drought does not mean that we temporarily water our lawns less or import our water from other resources such as Bakersfield as Dennis Kennedy suggests. It requires an entirely new approach to water conservation and management. It is going to require a change in our lifestyles, values, public policies, and a major investment in new projects and infrastructure. It requires a different way of thinking, a new mandate with different people leading that effort.To begin, we need an Adaptation and Mitigation Plan (AMP), which almost no one has or even understands. The AMP identifies how climate change will affect our region and city. It is not just greenhouses gases or a look at higher temperatures but a comprehensive view of all the effects from our economy and jobs to the invasions of insects and diseases which will prey upon heavily distressed flora and fauna. The plan helps us to understand and deal with the devastating effects of climate change. We can’t prevent it but we can adapt and mitigate its effects if we act now.Our elected officials are lost in translation and rely on myopic approaches with pleas of conservation and higher water rates. Doing more of what we are already doing is not going to solve this problem because it is not solvable. It is a new way of life. Adding 30,000 new residents to Morgan Hill in a sprawl approach would only exacerbate the effects of climate change. This is a foolish growth policy by the Morgan Hill City Council. A policy based on hope that rains will return is just as foolish. Hope is not a strategy, and urban sprawl that destabilizes our community is irresponsible leadership. Mark Grzan is a longtime Morgan Hill resident, former City Councilmember and Mayor Pro Tem.

When word of the Morgan Hill/Gilroy neglected horse herd launched on Facebook in response to the mistreatment of more than three dozen horses on two South County ranches (in the summer of 2014), we knew that they needed the help of the equine community, so we stepped in.Since Santa Clara County Animal Care and Control was doing nothing to assist in the seizure, rescue, and placement of these horses, we worked side by side with the Center Horse advocates and San Martin Animal Shelter to ensure each horse found a safe rescue, sanctuary, foster or forever home. The whole thing was a huge debacle because of ACC’s negligence in addressing this case. Horses were taken off of the property, new horses appeared on the property, and most horses did not end up in rescues in Santa Clara County.We decided that with the help of a few friends, we could take on one of the pregnant mares.  That’s when Cinder came into our lives.Cinder and several other horses from this herd used to belong to a local breeder in the performance horse industry. Most of these horses were registered Quarter Horses with outstanding pedigree and careers in the cutting industry. Cinder had a successful career as a cutting horse, but eventually this sport wore her down. They turned her into a broodmare for years, producing foal after foal, year after year.Eventually, they discarded her and that’s how she wound up with the South County herd.  Cinder’s story began the day she was born to a 23-year-old mare, who died after her birth.  Like so many of the horses from this herd, Cin came to us pregnant, her conception date unknown due to the fact that this herd was living with numerous stallions and mares together on a small lot on Center Avenue in Gilroy.Cin got the best care she could get in the months following her departure from Center Avenue. Her board was $315 per month for her to stay at Lakeview Stables in San Jose. The first thing we did was have a vet out to assess her. She was not only pregnant, but had a significant limp that was found to be caused by Navicular, a debilitating syndrome in horses, and fused hocks—most likely the result of the physical demands of being a cutting horse. The extra weight of her foal made her very uncomfortable so we purchased special boots for her to ease some of the pain. Cin adjusted to her new life at Lakeview. The owners agreed to let us build her a stall and a paddock on the hill where she and her new foal would live safely.  All along, we knew Cinder was at risk.Our daily routine included taking her for walks, letting her graze, and feeding and grooming her. She loved to roll in sand arena, but even this was becoming too difficult for her. I still cherish the times I spent braiding her hair as she grazed on the hillside. She loved her life at Lakeview, and we loved her.On April 1, just before midnight, Cinder finally delivered a very large, very healthy filly. The delivery was quick and all seemed well. We were relieved, but this relief did not last long.  Within hours CinCin started showing signs of distress. We rushed her to Steinbeck where she received several transfusions due to a ruptured uterine artery. She was bleeding internally. She fought all day to stay alive, getting up time and time again, calling to her foal. But they couldn’t save her. I can still see the pain and longing in her eyes…she’d fought so hard to deliver her foal despite the neglect and abuse she’d suffered. We decided to name the foal Belle because after all, she was Cinder’s belly.Belle required round the clock care with feedings every two hours. We managed to recruit our Lakeview family to help with the feedings and care of Belle that will go on for several months.  We were able to find an older mare at the ranch to look after her in her stall and teach her how to be a horse. But Belle is still an orphan...no person or horse can replace her mom.Belle is a very healthy young filly who reminds us of her beautiful mother. She will grow up in our care and she will never go hungry. But raising an orphan foal is never easy; she will require a lot of extra time and effort. Her formula alone is averaging over $500 per month.This is the story of just one of the horses from the South County herd. We have spent countless hours rehabilitating and caring for this mare and her foal because we have a broken system that refused to recognize the need for tougher laws and enforcement.  We cannot continue to expect the horse community to pick up the pieces. It has to be controlled at a state and county level.We MUST change the way we manage our horses in this county. We need to have our own county rescue and partnership so that we can take in horses in need sooner. It is time to reform Santa Clara County ACC.Loera will give a presentation on the aftermath of the 2014 South County abused horses case at the May 14 Santa Clara County Animal Advisory Committee meeting, which takes place 6:30 p.m. at the County Government Center, 70 W. Hedding Street, San Jose. Rivas, the owner of the nearly 40 malnourished horses, was convicted of felony animal abuse in January.