Guest View

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.

As the world’s fastest growing criminal enterprise, human trafficking is not something we can ignore. We hear news reports and wonder, how can this be happening in our region? What can ordinary citizens do about it? The following account, which details the victimization of a woman in Santa Clara County, sheds light on the problem. Names have been changed to protect privacy.Aesha is a 28-year-old woman from South Asia with a Master’s degree in Engineering. She left her home to live in Santa Clara County with her new husband, Robert. Before marrying Aesha and bringing her to the U.S., Robert promised her a wonderful home and opportunities to pursue a career. Shortly after arriving, Aesha discovered Robert had a fiancée and his real purpose in bringing Aesha was to have a cook and maid to serve his family, and a nanny to care for his younger brother.From day one, Robert and his live-in parents emotionally and physically abused Aesha. Her workday began at 6 a.m. and rarely ended before midnight. Robert raped Aesha regularly. His parents sometimes beat her. They kept her under constant surveillance. She had no car or money of her own. She became desperate to return to her home country but was not free to leave the house. She had no one she could turn to.Federal law defines human trafficking as the act of recruiting, harboring, transporting, obtaining or providing of a person by means of force, fraud or coercion, for the purpose of sex or labor exploitation.Act: Robert courted and married Aesha under false pretenses, transported her to the U.S., and harbored her in his house, denying her the means to leave or to communicate with her family.Means: Robert resorted to put-downs, threats and physical abuse to force Aesha to comply with his demands. He confiscated her passport and controlled her through isolation, constant surveillance and control of household finances.Purpose: Robert intentionally defrauded Aesha, then exploited her for labor, forcing her to act as a domestic servant and caregiver for his family, while denying her basic freedoms and rights.Even a well-educated person can fall prey to a situation where he or she is deceived, abused and exploited.In reality, the same factors that increased Aesha’s risk of being trafficked prevented her from leaving the situation. Nearly every aspect of Aesha’s situation was a red flag indicating that she was a victim of human trafficking. Robert ensured that Aesha was dependent on him for survival. Her lack of familiarity with U.S.  systems, resources and protections further isolated her. Aesha was unable to attain financial independence, because Robert kept her from obtaining employment and didn’t pay her.  Fortunately, a neighbor noticed bruises on Aesha’s arms when she was working in the yard and connected her with Community Solutions, a South County nonprofit with offices in Morgan Hill and Gilroy. The local organization provided Aesha with confidential services and a way out of exploitation.Learn more. Attend an anti-trafficking workshop at the Morgan Hill Library, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 27. To report a potential case of human trafficking, call the National Human Trafficking Hotline 888-373-7888 or text BeFree (233733).Perla Flores is Director of Solutions To Violence at Community Solutions. Sharan Dhanoa is Coordinator for the South Bay Coalition to End Human Trafficking. This guest view is part two in a three-part series on human trafficking in Santa Clara County. To read part one, visit morganhilltimes.com.

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].

April 22 marks the 47th Earth Day—a day created to celebrate our planet, environment and wildlife. Every Californian has a story to tell about how nature has made their lives richer. For some, it is regional food, lakes and rivers, or a beloved local park. For others, it is the ties to ranches, working farms, forests or our magnificent public lands. The ecosystem is one of California’s greatest assets. We have a unique and diverse climate and geography, and some of the most extraordinary plants and wildlife in the world.Today, the fight for a clean environment continues with increasing urgency, as the effects of climate change become more and more apparent. Earth Day 2017 provides an opportunity for all of us to do something meaningful for our planet by giving back in our communities. Thousands of volunteers will be needed throughout California to assist with projects such as campfire center improvements, habitat restoration, native garden conservation, fence building, trail maintenance and beach cleanup.The idea for a national day to focus on the environment came to Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after he took a trip to Santa Barbara following a devastating oil spill off California’s central coast. Upon returning to Washington, D.C., Nelson introduced a bill designating April 22 as a national day to celebrate the Earth. The date was chosen to help commemorate the birth of California naturalist and conservationist John Muir, who was born April 21, 1838.In 1970, the first Earth Day celebrations took place in hundreds of communities across the United States, bringing together millions of Americans who supported environmental reform.  By the end of that year, Earth Day had led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.  By 2000, formal events celebrating Earth Day were being observed in 184 countries, and more than 500 million people participated in those events. It now is considered the largest secular observance in the world, celebrated by more than one billion people every year.Earth Day is a day of action designed to change human behavior and provoke science-based policy changes, and serves as a reminder to us that our planet’s future is in jeopardy. The science is clear: climate change continues to harm our planet and has led to rising sea levels, warmer oceans, rising global temperatures and increased incidences of extreme weather events. I encourage everyone to attend local Earth Day events, which are planned throughout the month of April in communities throughout California. Help do your part to restore and care for the places where we live, work and play…for this and future generations. Seize the opportunity to ensure that nature continues to sustain us in the 21st century.Monning represents the 17th Senate District, which includes all of San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz counties, and portions of Monterey and Santa Clara counties.

Morgan Hill City Councilman Rene Spring delivered the following comments at a June 1 rainbow flag raising ceremony at City Hall Plaza on Peak Avenue. “As I prepared for what I wanted to say at our local ceremony, I googled around and came across an amazingly well written speech by Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Tom Guest. His words speak for themselves. I found them so fitting for our ceremony. He's one of my heroes!,” Spring said, including portions of Guest’s speech in his comments at the local ceremony. The flag will continue to fly over City Hall throughout June, commemorating the month as LGBTQ Pride Month in Morgan Hill.Good morning. My name is Rene Spring. I am Morgan Hill’s first openly gay councilmember.Thank you all for coming. We are here today to celebrate the beginning of LGBTQ Pride Month, as it’s being celebrated in many communities across our region, throughout the country and even in many countries all over the world.It is great to see so many of you joining this event today and to show your solidarity and respect for the LGBTQ community! I did not expect this great turnout! Homophobia, biphobia and transphobia still exist. Events like today are a signal that we need to change that and need to embrace each other even more.In my short speech today, I will use the generic term “gay” instead of the acronym “LGBTQ.”Partly because it is the word I am most comfortable with, it is the word I feel is most universal and it is the word I am least likely to get tongue tied over.PRIDE. What exactly do we mean by GAY PRIDE? Does that mean we are proud to be gay? Isn’t that sort of like being proud to be short, or proud to have blue eyes? We really have nothing to do with the fact that we are gay.I started to realize I was different at about the age of 12 or 13. By the age of 16 or 17, I was certain I was gay. I was never PROUD of it. I was ashamed; I was embarrassed; I was afraid. I came out to my family and friends at the age of 17, and to my surprise, their response was: “Well, finally, we knew!” I was lucky to be embraced by a loving family and wonderful friends, but I also realize not all are that lucky yet.We are born gay. And if you are gay, you can deny it, you can pretend, you can act. But you cannot change that fact.Gay pride is not about being proud of the fact that we happen to be gay. It’s about NOT allowing others to make us feel shame because we are gay. It’s about NOT allowing others to define our worth based on our sexuality,It’s about NOT allowing others to define the love we share as less pure, less real, less deserving of recognition.Gay pride is about owning who we are. Gay pride is about valuing the diversity that is humanity in all its varied presentations.According to the Flags of the World Project, which unravels the history behind many of the world's flags, the original Pride Rainbow Flag was designed by a San Francisco individual named Gilbert Baker who just recently passed away. The rainbow flag is also symbolic because of its diversity.As you know, Morgan Hill is a very diverse community, in many ways. I believe that strength and solidarity can be found in diversity. Through this strength and solidarity, we can build communities which are based on the foundations of acceptance and inclusivity. Diversity is not just about recognizing our differences; rather it is about acknowledging our uniqueness and individuality.In acknowledging this uniqueness, it's evident that we're actually very much the same. We are people with different identities and layers—but people nonetheless.Welcome to LGBTQ Pride month in Morgan Hill—the first one ever in Morgan Hill!