Opinion

Welcome Cordoba Center to San MartinIt is my dream to live in a community where fears are lessened and differences are embraced.I recall learning in grade school that the pilgrims came from England to America seeking freedom of religion. The Muslim faith has deep roots and longevity. It is an authentic religion honoring the same God Christians and Jews honor, as there is only one God. I know exemplary people who embrace and practice the Muslim religion.I have seen the plans for the Cordoba Center proposal. They have been made with the utmost of care so as not to be intrusive to the neighbors. The cemetery is situated so that it has a natural barrier to mitigate any health concerns. The proposed buildings are compatible in size with the surrounding developments. Since all buildings in the Cordoba plans are grouped in one area, there are many open spaces between it and the neighbors."To know one, is to love one.” It is my prayer that the opposition to the Cordoba is not being based on the negative press about Islam. True Christians know that we are all children of God and that He has given us free will to express His love differently.My family of migrant workers settled in Morgan Hill in 1946. We were warmly welcomed. I wish the same acceptance for all who wish to live and visit our community and whose ethical values contribute to the harmony and well-being of our beloved community.I urge our community to support this worthwhile project as it not only would meet the needs of a significant segment of our community, but also enrich us all.Rose HernandezMorgan HillProject larger than othersSan Martin Neighborhood Alliance welcomes all religious institutions to our community.The Cordoba Center project, as proposed is:• Four times the size of the largest religious/communal/social facility currently in San Martin.• Three times the limit that requires "enhanced scrutiny" under the recently revised Santa Clara County Planning and Land Use regulations.• Twice the size that the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) concludes would reasonably accommodate the needs identified by the proposers.There are numerous inaccuracies in the DEIR, as well as important issues which are not addressed. The SMNA Board will formally address those issues in written DEIR comments to the county, which at that time will become public record.The proposed cemetery is of particular concern, as it would be sited immediately adjacent to homes dependent on well water for household consumption. We believe, based on the references we have found, that this aspect of the proposal requires further study by cognizant technical experts before it can safely be approved. Further, we believe that suitable alternatives to meet this need exist and have not been explored.San Martin faces tremendous development pressure from its neighbors to the north and south.  If we are to host large developments that our urban neighbors can't or won't accommodate, we hope and expect that the county will honor its General Plan commitment to protect our rural/agricultural community.We would be pleased to engage with the proposers, regarding a more modest project that would meet their needs with substantially less impact, but regretfully cannot support this project as proposed.Sincerely,SMNA Board of DirectorsTrina Hineser, President

No concrete vaults in Cordoba cemetery

I am writing to express my disappointment after reading news reports of a student being victimized by an employee of the Morgan Hill Unified School District back in 2014. It is outrageous that the district failed to follow state law requiring a report of this incident to the police. Because of this, even more students may have been involved.

I write in support of the Cordoba Center project initiated by the South Valley Islamic Community (SVIC) to provide a mosque for worship and related spiritual services, a cemetery, a separate community building for social and educational activities, a caretaker’s dwelling and a maintenance building.

When the early settlers came out West, the first thing they did was build a church with an adjacent cemetery. That was their commitment to their new abode, then as well as in the Hereafter. Those quaint churches and cemeteries now dot our countryside, each with its own rich history and interesting stories to tell.

As part of a nationwide protest through Families Belong Together, we, the members of SURJ South County (Showing Up for Racial Justice) are hosting a rally, march and day of action on Saturday, June 30, 9 to 11am along with local civic leaders, community organizers, activists and concerned citizens, at the Community and Cultural Center (17000 Monterey Road) in Morgan Hill.This movement is to let the Trump administration know that we do not agree with their policies and efforts to separate families at our borders. We also want to let immigrant members of our community know that we stand behind them and will do whatever we can to support them.This president believes that our country can inflict the trauma of separation on children without recourse. We need him to know that we stand with all families in America. Our members are rallying and marching until we no longer have a President Trump because we believe every child is a gift to this world with limitless possibilities.We are appalled by the actions taken by our government. These families have been through so much to reach our borders. They deserve to be treated with dignity and compassion. As a country we need to do better than this.Our members intend to speak up as much as possible about what we see as the unraveling of America right now. Among our group are immigrants who came to this country and were welcomed and made to feel at home. We want that hand extended to others, especially those in need of a safe harbor. Isolating children from adults who care for them is the worst torture we can imagine.We feel it’s important that voices from communities both small and large—rural and urban—will be joining with those across the United States who are also protesting the federal government’s atrocities against families along our borders.We will also be registering voters, because we want to remind people that America is supposed to be a democracy and we all need to use our voting voice.Many of us are parents of children as young as those being ripped apart at our borders. We can’t and won’t stop thinking of the more than 2,000 children separated from their families by the Trump administration. We are horrified at the lack of plans in place to reunite the children with their parents. This all happened on our watch. History has its eyes on all of us.Our rally is a start to ask: What are we going to do to correct this injustice? What can we as a community do to fight against centuries of injustice and to prevent further injustices from occurring? Our families will stand together with the families affected to say “¡Ya basta!. Enough!'Join us.This guest view was written by SURJ members Katie McGinty Ruiz, Gemma Abels and Jenny Kirchoff. For more information about the June 30 rally, visit facebook.com/events/445428659203124

Last month I took a nice motorcycle ride through the great American Southwest. This trip allowed me to reflect on life a bit here in our little community.

The Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Trustees’ decision to withdraw a parcel tax proposal for the November ballot rather than share a piece of the pie with two local charter schools revealed much about the long-seething relationship between the district and the charter schools.Cutting through the political gamesmanship, where cordial public greetings and interactions mask true sentiments, it is safe to say the school district and charter school officials genuinely distrust one another. It doesn’t take any inside information to draw that conclusion.At a June 19 meeting, where a 5-1 vote reversed an earlier decision and prevented a $1.5 million-per-year parcel  tax from going before voters, Board President Tom Arnett said “irreconcilable differences” keep the district and charter brass from agreeing on just about anything.Unfortunately, Arnett, who sits on the board until the end of the month but whose children were in the charter school pipeline until recently, was correct in his assessment. Using a parcel tax proposal to repair years of bad blood was a pipe dream of some well-intended trustees.All sides—the school district, Charter School of Morgan Hill and Voices College-bound Language Academy—are to blame in this one, and they all miss out on valuable funds that could have helped better educate students, improve facilities and limit looming budget cuts to staff and programs.The MHUSD trustees also should be included in the blame since the decision was ultimately theirs to make. Board Vice President Mary Patterson, one of three trustees to change her vote from one meeting to the next, spoke to this, admirably falling on the sword by blaming herself and the entire school board for failing to procure a final parcel tax resolution for the Nov. 6 ballot.But from the district’s “I’m taking my ball and going home” approach to both charter schools’ laissez-faire, noncommittal maneuvering in the days that followed the initial May 15 vote (later overturned), the $75 five-year parcel tax measure never stood a chance. Whether it would have passed, with or without charter inclusion, will never be known.Board members and officials left the door open for developing a future shared parcel tax measure, but it remains a longshot at best considering the parties involved. A memorandum of understanding is necessary, as Assistant Superintendent Kirsten Perez said, before any tax revenues can be adequately shared and allocated. That seems unlikely considering that the district and Charter School of Morgan Hill (the district is the local charter’s authorizer) have yet to come to terms on an MOU based on their five-year pact.This, along with the mutually distrustful relationship between MHUSD and Voices, shows that because of “irreconcilable differences” between the district and charter schools, they should develop their own separate parcel tax proposals. That is where the district was headed in May, and represents a good “new” starting point.

Nearly 29,000 San Benito County adults were registered to vote in the June 5 primary. In neighboring Santa Clara County, the number of registered voters was a record, approaching 850,000. The “turnout”—the percentage of registered voters that actually cast ballots—was considered above average for a “primary in a non-presidential election year.” Regardless of the counties’ size, the turnout was about the same in both: 42 percent.

I just returned from a solo motorcycle trip across the great Southwest. Traveling mostly two-lane blacktop, there were few distractions other than the iconic, beautiful countryside.