Guest View

By Mattie Scariot The Poppy Jasper International Film Festival will take place virtually from Wednesday, April 7 to Tuesday, April 20 this year. This longtime, internationally acclaimed, local festival in Morgan Hill, San Martin, Gilroy, Hollister and San Juan Bautista will feature fantastic films, panels,...

By Mike Wasserman I hope that you and your families are safe and healthy during this pandemic. These are truly unprecedented times and while the majority of residents are not infected, we are all affected. My staff and I compiled some resources for Santa Clara...

Aug. 26 has been designated as National Women’s Equality Day to honor the women who fought tirelessly for the commissioning of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. The day also stands as a strong reminder that we need to continue to advocate for equality for all women.

You may not have realized this, but the City of Morgan Hill is updating its zoning code. In the proposed code, the city will allow hotels near U.S. 101 to be as high as 65 feet. (Chapter 18.24.030). One may ask, why do we need 65-foot hotels in Morgan Hill?Perhaps you’ve heard the argument we need taller structures because land is scarce. This type of development will not ease the housing crisis nor provide affordable housing. Instead, it will increase the wealth of developers at the expense of harming our existing hotels and changing our landscape forever.The city’s proposed height requirement is a reminder to local hotels that they “doth protest too much.” In 2015, when the city attempted to provide a $2 million windfall to an out-of-town developer by changing the zoning to more valuable one, the Morgan Hill Hotel Coalition collected more than 2,500 signatures for a petition for referendum. The city refused to place the ordinance on the ballot, and spent nearly $200,000 of your money fighting against your Constitutional right to approve or reject the ordinance. The court of appeals agreed that you have the right to vote to approve or reject the zoning ordinance, but instead the city asked the California Supreme Court to review the case, thereby spending more of your money.When it came time to update the zoning code, the city decided it would allow any developer to build a hotel twice as tall as the current hotels. If you drive on Condit Road, nearly every hotel is 35 feet high and three stories tall.The city admits it restricted us. In fact, the 35-foot height restriction still applies to every other type of building other than hotels under the proposed zoning code. So the city is clearly singling out hotels.Under the new code, newly developed hotels would have a huge economic advantage over the current ones because they will build twice as many rooms on the same amount of land. When the current hotel owners expressed their concern that the city was providing an unfair advantage, the city’s response has been, “too bad, times have changed.” The hotels even suggested a compromise at 50 feet, but the city declined.Why are hotels different from all other commercial buildings? Is this the way we treat family businesses that have invested in our community for decades and employed dozens of people?  Or is this what happens when the hotels stand up to the city?Perhaps, you really want a series of 65-foot hotels lined up along the highway? When you drive by on 101, instead of El Toro, your view will be changed to high-rise buildings. Is that how you would like people to remember our town? I hope not.Asit Panwala is a spokesperson and attorney for the Morgan Hill Hotel Coalition. He can be reached at [email protected].

The California State Senate has recognized May as Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Month with the passage of Senate Resolution 34, which I was proud to have authored. This designation will help bring attention to this life debilitating disease.  Cystic fibrosis is the most common fatal genetic disease in the United States, with 30,000 people currently afflicted and 1,000 new cases diagnosed every year. One out of every 3,500 babies born in America has cystic fibrosis, and more than 75 percent of people with the disease are diagnosed before the age of two.  Prompt diagnosis of the disease can lead to better treatment of the symptoms and control over the disease, which is defined by a thick buildup of mucus in the lungs, pancreas and other organs, causing persistent infections, lung damage and respiratory failure. And while there is no known cure for this chronic and progressive systemic disease, there have been advancements in research that have produced promising leads in gene, protein and drug therapies that have led to longer life expectancy and better life quality.In the 1950s, cystic fibrosis was almost exclusively found only in children, few of whom lived long enough to even attend elementary school. Through early diagnosis, advancements in medicine and a better understanding of the disease, now over half of those with cystic fibrosis are 18 years of age or older and have a life expectancy into their early 40s.According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 12 million Americans are symptomless carriers of the cystic fibrosis gene, and if both you and your partner have the gene, it greatly increases your child’s chance of having the disease.I applaud the work of the researchers and advocates who work for a cure every day and create innovative ways of treating the disease. Through their efforts, those afflicted with cystic fibrosis can pursue their life goals, whether it is a particular career path, marriage, children or all of the above. Please take a moment to learn more about cystic fibrosis.Sen. Bill Monning represents the 17th State Senate District, which includes all of San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz counties, and portions of Monterey and Santa Clara counties.