Letters

The letter to the editor written by Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Education President Adam Escoto on Sept. 26 is naive at best; and at worst another effort to manipulate the public.  He claims, “We ended the fiscal year with a surplus of...

Morgan Hill is not immune to the conversations related to the immigration issue we find ourselves in the midst of. While we as community members and city leaders have no control over federal Immigration laws and efforts, we do have control over what we...

Yes on Measure BI was very pleased to read the “Guest View” about Measure B and pleased to read that our local Chamber endorses it. I learned about Measure B many months ago, and saw the immediate potential for South County. There are several components of the measure that turned me and many others into advocates for the its passage. These benefits are positive, (and long overdue) outcomes to South County Transportation:One is the completion of plans to widen the Hale/Santa Teresa corridor between Long Meadow and Fitzgerald, and along the DeWitt and Main corridor. This would give us the badly needed west side bypass that would help calm our downtown traffic.The second of these positive results would be funds available for general road maintenance, something that our city urgently needs. Over the life of the measure, we would share approximately $54,082,927 from Measure B funds when this measure is passed.Finally is the desperately needed improvements along the Highway 152 corridor west of Gilroy and to the SR 25 corridor into San Benito County. These improvements are a MUST DO for the very southern portion of the county!There are many more potential benefits. Please visit yesmeasureb.com/ for complete information.I urge you to vote YES on Measure B!Swanee EdwardsMorgan Hill Low teacher pay is students’ lossI am a concerned citizen in this community, and you should be too. My concern is why it seems acceptable to not pay our teachers enough to survive in this district. We are expecting our teachers to give nothing but the best to our children yet we are not giving them the same in return.Instead of offering them a fair raise they are being offered teacher housing, with the potential of having to live surrounded by other teachers. I had to live in similar situations when I was in the Army; in my experience that environment never works. It only causes tension and conflict in the work environment. That also takes away the chance for them to one day choose a suitable home for themselves to purchase, which is the American Dream, right?I don’t see how these teachers are being denied a 10 percent raise when the majority of the board is working on a four-tier pay scale that starts at $160,000. The raise these teachers are asking for still puts them well under half of that. They don’t want to abuse the system; they just want to stay and teach in a district they love and be able to live comfortably when they do.I went to a school board meeting a couple weeks ago and it was brought up by the board how this school district is one of the top in the country, and how they had a surreal trip with Washington officials praising Morgan Hill.My question is, how can they then come back and tell these teachers that to be able to receive this much needed raise they have to work longer days? Has their work not spoken for itself? I then question, if this is their business approach to this scenario, how are other crucial matters being handled? What I mean by that is, if they are being praised by how great this district is, why would they return and then degrade these teachers by denying them a well deserved raise or require more effort than they already give to receive one?I want the best for our youth, and to achieve that we need to give the same to our teachers. They should be able to live comfortably so their focus is solely on educating rather than worrying whether they can afford to stay in this district.My fear is that we are going to lose great, qualified teachers within the next school year, which will be a shame for these children.Stephanie HuizarMorgan Hill

A city councilmember gets arrested, accused of domestic battery. Days later, the Times reports that the same councilmember had a prior arrest and conviction for a similar charge, along with another alleged, but unreported, domestic incident.  Other than two councilmembers and one public speaker, the community goes silent. No other community leaders are speaking up. No victims advocates are speaking up. Not even those who unsuccessfully stood as potential community leaders to be selected for a vacant council seat are speaking up. I, too, am guilty of not speaking up, although I did speak out in emails to members of the council to express myself.To be clear, I'm not talking about speaking out publicly to crucify Mr. Carr. I agree with those who say the public shouldn't be judge and jury, that Mr. Carr deserves his right to due process and his day in court. Yes...for his case.  As a publicly elected official, however, if he willing sought community judgment on his character and integrity when he campaigned in 2016 and accepted the community's jury vote that gave him the council seat, then I see no reason to dissuade public opinion in judging his character and integrity now.It would also seem hypocritical, given Mr. Carr's recent campaign to plead his case in the public forum of his councilmember social media page.But debating Mr. Carr's guilt or innocence is irrelevant to me. What I'm questioning is the apparent lack of community involvement and discussion about a topic that currently hangs over our city's leadership, and is one at the forefront of social discussion on a national level.I've watched Morgan Hill residents unite to walk downtown for pedestrian safety when a child was injured. The community rallied on immigration issues, for the protection of Dreamers. The community has discussed minority rights and promoted diversity in the past. The community has participated in anti-bullying campaigns.  Why does it seem the community is not open to a discussion about violence? And all types of violence—physical and emotional, domestic and otherwise.While the highly regarded Mr. Carr is unfortunately in the spotlight, his position or social standing shouldn't be a barrier to public discussion about violence issues, identification of networks and resources for victims, and for making a statement that this community is proactive in tackling difficult, emotional issues openly and without waiting for the judge's gavel to drop.Chris MonackMorgan Hill