Guest View

On Oct. 31, 1517, a fairly obscure professor and monk posted theses for an academic discussion. That action—and Martin Luther’s life of writing, teaching, preaching and standing up to the emperor and pope—sparked a Reformation that changed the world.Luther asks some of the most basic questions of human existence. He was on a quest for the right relationship between God and people, and how to show love for others in need. This speaks to the basic universal hunger we have to find our ground of being and to find an orientation that helps us to explain, “Why am I here?” and, “Where am I going?” and that then has an impact on how we actually live in this world.As we mark 500 years, I would like to personally invite you to any or all of three big community events this month hosted at our congregation, Advent Lutheran Church.• Faith of Our Neighbors: Christianity in the Lutheran Tradition presentation, sponsored by the Interfaith Community of South County, 4 p.m. Oct. 15• Reformation Hymn Festival, 5:30 p.m. Oct. 22• Catholic–Lutheran Common Prayer Service, 7 p.m. Oct. 30.Luther is an example of how one can stand up on the basis of one’s faith against institutions and individuals who are hurting people. When Michael King, Sr., visited Germany in 1934, he was so inspired by how Martin Luther changed society without a call to take up arms, that he changed his name, and his son’s name, to Martin Luther King. Ideas do matter.We will claim Luther and at the same time we will disagree with Luther. Along with my church denomination, I refute in the strongest terms Luther’s anti-Jewish writing late in his life. Luther himself was a clear example of one of his teachings: that each person is at one time both a saint and a sinner.He was simultaneously the most loved and most hated person in the Western world. No one in history left behind a more detailed written record—130 volumes—and no one seemed to feel the need to edit him. Nearly 1 billion Protestant Christians in the world today have been influenced by him.His influence extends far beyond the church. He unleashed new ways of thinking that profoundly shaped the secular world. For example, as a vocal advocate for the universal education of children, including girls, Luther paved the way for the now-ubiquitous public school system.He was the first to prove the power of the media to amplify the marketplace of ideas and to provide a check on government. He set in motion cultural changes that would lay the groundwork for democracies in the U.S. and Europe.I joyfully participate in the life of our South County community alongside people of many faiths. In the worship, teaching and life of today’s Lutheran church, we continue to share faith and service from Luther’s insight into the grace of God in Christ Jesus as attested in the scriptures. Five hundred years later, we may well be at another hinge of history. Our time, too, requires deep theological and ethical reflection to lead to courageous living.Anita R. Warner is the Pastor for Advent Lutheran Church of Morgan Hill, 16870 Murphy Ave. She wrote this guest view for the Morgan Hill Times. For more information about this month’s events and the church, visit advent-lutheran.org.

When I first entered high school four years ago, I thought I would drop out. I thought high school would be like it is in the movies: everyone fooling around, learning things that you would never need in life, hanging out with friends and going to class when you wanted, IF you wanted.High school was not what I thought it would be. My first two years were not my best, due to my actions of ditching, drinking, not caring for me or my peers’ education.We were on a road to dropping out.Midway into my sophomore year, I woke up and realized that to get where I wanted to be I needed to be present and trying to succeed in class.  Slowly, what I began to understand is that we all need to be present—not just physically, but also mentally in a classroom. Why? A classroom is where we are all connected and can make a better future for us and our family. We help each other out, we have our amazing teachers to help us in any situation we have.Coming to Central High is a blessing. It gives us a second opportunity for our education, and our teachers here are our family. They care for us not just in education but outside of school as well.I also began to understand that we all need to be present in life. We need to be willing to go into tough situations where we do not know everything, and be willing to accept the challenge to fight through and be OK with being uncomfortable.You do not have to be perfect in life to succeed. A close friend, a brother figure once said, “Success isn't measured by the position that one has reached in life, but by the obstacles they have overcome while trying to succeed.”I owe the biggest thank you and appreciation to some key adults who helped me realize I needed my education: Saul Gonzalez, Veronica Diaz and Dori Ann Prado as well my mother, all of whom help me change and grow. They never gave up on me.  I'm thankful for my teachers Mr. Lines & Ms. Charlebois for teaching me about Economics and Civics. I thought these subjects would not be a part of my life. I’m glad I got my education from them because now I know how to fill in my taxes and make a resume, and I know about politics and my rights as a citizen. I learned to speak my mind and make my ideas count by giving sound reasons for my thoughts, by defending my position and standing up for what I believe.Having skills like this has prepared me for college as well as for life and for my future. I am the first one in my family to graduate from high school. I will be the first one in my family to go to college. And I will be the first one to GRADUATE from college!High school was not what I thought it would be. High school is where I woke up and realized I need my education.So to all my fellow class members, remember education is the key to everything and may God be with you through the years no matter where life takes you.WE DID IT, SI SE PUEDE!Jerry Juarez, Class of 2016, delivered the commencement speech at Central High School’s June 2 graduation ceremony. This piece is a slightly edited version of his speech.

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.

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.