Letter to the editor: More discussion of potential dam failure needed
I appreciated your Jan. 20 story on the Anderson Dam Retrofit, in which you summarized the report that the Santa Clara Valley Water District staff presented to their board Dec. 9, 2016. Because I live less than a mile from this huge structure and have a good view of it from my bedroom windows, I have developed a keen interest in this project. The prospect of a massive tidal wave coming from the direction of the dam has a way of getting your attention.I must admit that I was disappointed by the lack of any mention in your recent story of the catastrophic consequences of a failure of this structure, which has now been found to be so seriously compromised that the SCVWD has decided to tear it down and virtually replace it with a new dam.Since you have viewed the Dec. 9 staff presentation, I assume you know it has been determined that a large earthquake would cause the alluvial material that forms the base of the dam to undergo liquefaction, and this could cause the dam to “slump” by as much as 25 feet. The assumption here is that, if the dam is only two-thirds full, it would still have enough structural integrity to retain the contents of its reservoir. This seems to me to be a stretch. I have since confirmed with the chair of the SCVWD Board, John Valera, that a failure of this massive structure when it is completely full would create a 35 foot “wall of water” in downtown Morgan Hill, in 14 minutes. I have yet to determine how high the wall of water would be if the dam were to fail when it is only two-thirds full (between 60,000 and 70,000 acre feet of water), but I think it is fair to assume the water that would descend on Morgan Hill in such a scenario would be catastrophic.I think the people of Morgan Hill deserve to be informed of these potential dangers. But for reasons about which I can only speculate, there seems to be an unofficial wall of silence among city leaders. I have a meeting with Mayor Steve Tate coming up, and I plan to ask him why we have not heard more about these possible dangers. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there is a 26 percent chance of a 6.7 earthquake on the Calaveras Fault (which passes just 2 kilometers east of the Jackson Oaks neighborhood), and a 37 percent chance of a quake of the same magnitude on the Hayward fault by 2044. What is more, a group of geophysicists at U.C. Berkeley recently demonstrated that there is a deep connection between the Hayward and Calaveras Faults which could result in an interaction that would create an earthquake as large as the one on the San Andreas Fault in 1906.The most obvious way to dissipate the dangers this dam and these seismic findings provide would be to have the SCVWD commence the “dewatering” of Anderson Reservoir now, rather than three years from now, as is envisioned in the latest plans.I would like your help in getting the word out regarding the dangers this compromised dam presents, along with the obvious solution for making them go away.Dave Elliott, Ph.D.Morgan Hill
Letter to the editor: Wineries want to hear from you
I am honored and pleased to serve our communities and region as President of the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley in 2017. With the new year comes an enhanced commitment to serving you, our guests. We want to hear from you: your suggestions, feedback, and other thoughts you may have to help us continue to improve your experience at our wineries.One of my personal goals is to reach out to you, our local communities on a more regular basis. We kicked off the year with a strategic planning session and began a journey toward defining our brand along with our strategic priorities. An important priority is to extend our visibility throughout the Bay Area, resulting in increased foot traffic and tourism to our communities and businesses.But we need your help.Please tell your friends and co-workers about the natural countryside, fields of grapevines and views of the mountain ranges that are so spectacular from many of our winery backyards. Let them know that very likely they will meet many of the winery owners, winemakers, and others wine lovers during a visit. And that they will leave with shared stories and a sense of belonging. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, they will enjoy superb wines. While the winemaking process varies from winery to winery, excellent results extend across the region, guaranteeing that there’s a wine for every palette.Thank you and I look forward to a year of connecting.Karen Seeker, Co-Owner Seeker VineyardPresident, Wineries of Santa Clara ValleyVisit Wineries of Santa Clara Valley’s website at santaclarawines.com
Letter to the editor: Council in a rush to appoint new member
Will the new Morgan Hill City Council with an appointed member try to represent all of us?Two years ago at a City Council meeting, I commented that the problem with our elections was that we had too few candidates.Councilmember Larry Carr responded that he was "troubled" by that view. He suggested that we do not have opposition candidates because the incumbents are all doing such a good job.We just had an election with two incumbents and three challengers for two seats. One incumbent and one challenger won, with total votes cast for challengers exceeding total votes cast for incumbents: 15,350 to 11,702.Some residents are arguing that a third place finish in a two-way race is the same as finishing third in a three-way race. I look at 15,350 votes cast for challengers and see a different message. We are looking for fresh eyes and fresh ideas.Will the incumbents on the council provide a platform for fresh eyes and fresh ideas in their appointment of the tie-breaking fifth member? Or will they seek someone who will vote in lock-step with the returning council members? Those members have repeatedly claimed that they are a collegial group as they mostly vote 5-0.A little more independence of thought would be welcome.Since no appointment will likely satisfy everyone, I repeat my suggestion that the current vacancy be filled by lottery from the candidates who apply for the council position with limited vetting by the current council. An election or even a pseudo-election would give our residents a voice.But the Council is in a rush to fill the position prior to their goal-setting Workshop at the end of January.Doug MuirheadMorgan Hill
Letters: FBLA food drive, housing for teachers
Thanks for helping the communityThe Live Oak High School Chapter of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) thanks the community for its generous support of the Thanksgiving Canned Food Drive for the 125 underprivileged families in the Morgan Hill Unified School District. Through your efforts, they were able to have a happier Thanksgiving.It all began when you donated money and cans to the students who stood in front of the two Safeway stores in town Nov. 12 and 13 and asked for your contributions. In addition, cans and non-perishables were collected in the classrooms at Live Oak throughout the month—over 3,700 items. A small group at Martin Murphy Middle School also helped toward the cause. A former FBLA member who has scoured her neighborhood for over 10 years brought in over 500 items. The names of the families were acquired from each of the schools in the district.All of the sorting and packing into the huge apple boxes and a large grocery bag for each family was completed Nov. 21 and 22. On Nov. 23, the pickups, vans and cars were loaded and the deliveries were made to each of the 125 families with the help of the Morgan Hill and San Martin Lions Club members as drivers who took two students with each of them.Each of the 125 families received a huge apple box (approximately 60-70 pounds); a large grocery bag full of potatoes, rice, beans, tortillas and non-perishables; a loaf of bread; a turkey; and laundry detergent. Over 400 man-hours were spent for this successful endeavor!Kiki Nakauchi, FBLA AdvisorMorgan Hill Take care of teachersI think it’s about time our teachers are taken care of.Time and time again, education is the first to get cut one way or another, and it’s upsetting. It is known information that a teacher’s salary is rather low in comparison to other professions, which can be discouraging for those who are innately qualified to teach our children.As a result, our children lose out. Offering low cost housing to educators will certainly relieve them of some stress, and will surely give them a reason to stay. Less stress often equates to happier life, and a happier person tends to perform better at work. This means that the children will have better education.My family is part of a different district and I hope this sets the bar for other districts within the county to start taking care of the people who give so much to create leaders.Claudia CortezSan Jose
Letter to the editor: Join 4-H for youth development
There is a rising interest in animal husbandry and agriculture, and the government run organization 4-H is partly responsible for this rising interest.4-H is a youth development and leadership program that encourages youth to pursue their interests and to step up and lead fun events where other youth get to connect and share experiences. Our country needs a strong generation of youth who are able leaders, and 4-H is doing just that, creating youth who are passionate about what they do and helps them develop the skills to lead.4-H clubs are everywhere, and a local club is the San Martin 4-H club.This club has started up for its 2016-17 year. The club has grown and plans to participate in more local events.We have many projects that help grow experience and provide an outlet for members to socialize with people who have similar interests. One of things that makes San Martin 4-H unique is it is the only club in the county that currently has a dog training project. Some other projects are sheep, goat, leadership, public speaking, cavies, veterinary science, equine-horse, poultry, sewing, swine, arts and crafts, gardening, rabbits, livestock judging, robotics, beginning 4-H (which is for clovers) and cooking.If you want to check out the club, they meet the first Thursday of every month at the Lions Club in San Martin (12415 Murphy Ave.) or check out their website at sanmartin4h.clubStuart BettencourtSan Martin
Letters to the editor: Thanks to the veterans
MH is grateful for veteransThank You, Thank You, Thank You!I would like to thank our community, our young families, Eddie Bowers, and our veterans for the gift of our annual Veterans Day and Memorial Day Ceremonies.Our community, with the support of our local police, gathers in the median of Monterey Road at First Street to honor our local military and to express our thanks for their service and sacrifice. Young families bring children to experience what Veterans Day and Memorial Day represent—not just a sale at the mall, but a tribute to the members of our Armed Forces.Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, and Girl Scouts proudly wear their uniforms to show their respect and patriotism.Eddie Bowers, whose idea it was to build and retain our Veterans Wall at the intersection of First and Monterey, deservedly was recognized as the "Veteran of the Year" by the California State Assembly. He graciously shared his recognition with the veterans of our audience who were greeted with applause and cheers.We live in an amazing community. Morgan Hill represents a community standing together in its grateful thanks to our veterans. We are passing our traditions into the future through our children. These children are learning to honor those who serve and to love this great country of ours.Karen Ann CraneMorgan Hill Columnist should offer more dialogueIn response to John McKay’s opinion regarding social media dialogue in the Nov. 11 Times, I agree more of an effort is needed to bring civility to discussions. But Mr. McKay is hardly the spokesperson for “honest and civil” digital dialogues.Mr. McKay contributed to the divisiveness in Measure S conversations and perpetuated dissent by suggesting residents with differing opinions weren’t talking to the “experts” or reading the facts, and were therefore misinformed. I felt insulted that my attempts to understand the facts weren’t good enough, my conclusions were wrong, and my ability to make up my own mind was impaired.Mr. McKay’s participation in social media discussions, in my experience, serves his purpose of expressing his opinion and providing information he feels is beneficial to the community. I respect his right to do that, and I have gained insight from him that I probably wouldn’t by dismissing his views as contrary and one-sided. However, I did not see similar consideration in return.As Mr. McKay speaks of cyber bullying, he forgets his own criticism targeted toward those attempting to share differing opinions. Just prior to the election, Mr. McKay attacked Councilmember-elect Rene Spring on the Jackson Oaks Nextdoor site, stating Mr. Spring, who helped develop Measure S, “did not show any concern that the wording had been changed” regarding open space protection and “support for him will suffer by definition.” He also called into question Mr. Spring’s Planning Commission vote on Oak Meadow (in west Morgan Hill) that contributed to the loss of 80 acres of open space protection—a protection that Mr. McKay also voted against. Mr. Spring did not have the access to the Jackson Oaks site and had no opportunity to defend himself.As for Mr. McKay’s suggestion that he is a target of planning commission protests, I’d like to know who those groups are so I can distance myself from them. To date, I have not read one word on social media indicating any planned protests. If these threats are being sent to Mr. McKay personally, he is doing a disservice to his point by including them to support his view of a social media problem.Yes, there can be problem with social media as the language and intent can be misinterpreted. Mr. McKay sees this contributing to an “unpleasant shift in the spirit and culture within the digital realm of Morgan Hill.”One way to adjust that shift is by reaching out personally. I’d like to remind Commissioner McKay that what also comes “with the territory of being a city official” is availability to the community. He has never once responded to my emails to the commission, nor has he offered to speak with me in person, which is something other members of the commission and city council have done to clarify their messages.To me, that makes him an addition to the problem more than the solution he seeks.Chris MonackMorgan Hill
Letters to the editor: Measure B, teachers’ salaries
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
Letters to the editor: Candidates’ views on Measure B
Measure B offers accountabilityJoin me in supporting Measure B, the 30-year, half-cent sales tax that will reduce traffic congestion in Morgan Hill by:• Completing and modernizing Hale Avenue/Santa Teresa Boulevard to provide a thoroughfare for the west side of Morgan Hill.• Increasing Caltrain capacity and service with more user-friendly schedules.• Providing more than $800,000 annually for road maintenance in Morgan Hill.• Providing direct access to Saint Louise Regional Hospital with a Buena Vista interchange.• Providing bicycle and pedestrian improvements near schools.While Measure B provides the traffic improvements Morgan Hill needs, it also provides the accountability improvements our voters deserve:• The two-thirds vote threshold (67 percent majority required for passage) assures that the Measure B projects are legally binding.• Changing a single word or sentence in Measure B requires a 75 percent (9 of 12 members) vote of the VTA Board.• Measure B requires Annual Independent Audits by a Citizens Oversight Committee to report on how every dime is spent.Please vote YES on Measure B.Steve TateMayor of Morgan Hill Sales tax measure has pros and consI have been given an opportunity to state my opinion on Measure B by Valley Transportation Authority for a half-cent sales tax on the purchases of goods and services in Santa Clara County. In return, VTA promises to distribute some of this money back to Santa Clara County and its cities for road repair and gridlock mitigation.I am conflicted as to whether I support this measure. I am not going to ask you to vote yes or no, but instead tell you what I feel are the pros and cons as I see them so that you can perhaps make an informed choice. First, Morgan Hill could use the money earmarked for improvements to our crumbling roads. South County needs the additional Caltrain service to and from Gilroy. Monies are supposed to be set aside for the west-side bypass from Hale to Santa Teresa. Extra money is always good if the people in charge of that money have a proven record of fiscal responsibility and fulfill their promises. For all of that I would say by all means, please consider voting for Measure B.However, we are being overtaxed. It seems so easy for government agencies like VTA to come around with their hand out. We face a backlog of street repairs and severe gridlock on 101. We have multiple taxes and fees from Santa Clara Valley Water District, property taxes, school bonds and state bonds, gas tax, water/sewer charges and garbage pickup.At this point, you the taxpayer are paying 8.75 percent sales tax in Morgan Hill. At some point our local government is probably going to need some type of tax to help with the backlog of infrastructure repairs. An additional .5 percent by VTA will bring us to 9.25 percent total sales tax.From this standpoint, I am inclined to vote No on Measure B. VTA does not seem to ever get control of the situation and give the relief that the people of Morgan Hill need. VTA has broken many such promises in the past, and I am having trust issues with VTA and our money.Would I trust VTA with $6 billion at this point? The answer is no I would not.So I hope this helps you make the best decision for you. Can you afford the tax increase? Will VTA fulfill their promise to use the money correctly? Do you trust VTA?These are your decisions. Please vote with your best interest and that of your community.Kirk R. BertoletCandidate for Mayor of Morgan Hill Editor’s note: Mayoral candidate Joseph Carrillo did not respond to a request for his opinion on Measure B.
