Opinion

Regarding the article on Feb. 9 about ESL classes at Nordstrom Elementary during the school day, as a former Nordstrom parent who volunteered in my children’s classes for 14 years, I think it’s wonderful they are offering ESL classes to its parents.Providing critical programs for parents at our schools during the school day makes sense. Improved communication will help them to support their student. Children will see their parents’ desire to learn, strengthening the value of education as well as help them see that learning is a lifelong process.Lifting up the parents and children in our community only helps strengthen Morgan Hill.I feel proud living in a community that sees the value of being inclusive and supporting our diverse residents.An environment of fear only divides and weakens us.Jenny KirchhoffMorgan Hill

I am on a real Amgen Tour of California tear here. Even though I already thought it was a big deal, my eyes keep growing wider as the significance of this event continues to unveil itself.I have been speaking with some people that have hosted events in the past, and they just can’t say enough about how the world really does come to town the day of the race.This is a big deal, a really big deal!Last week, we announced to the world that we too are a part of this world class event. We had local dignitary interviews, Amgen sent Ambassador Freddie Rodriguez and we had a Seriously Fun Trike race. Our own Mayor, Steve Tate, came in second place overall but first in the “amateur” race class.The buzz is starting right now. I’m committed to providing you with information and inspiration for the upcoming bike race. To that end, I plan on a regular series of columns dedicated to the event. Here is the first one, authored by an avid local bicyclist and dentist who has attended many previous Tour of California races:The TOC is America’s premier cycling stage event and will be broadcast on NBC Sports, featuring many of the same cyclists participating in the Tour de France later this summer.This is the first time Amgen has selected Morgan Hill as a race site, and the course will cover approximately 24 miles of our beautiful countryside.  Because the event is a time trial—which begins and ends in downtown Morgan Hill—spectators will have the opportunity to see each rider as they start the course AND cross the finish line, making it an all-day event rather than a peloton (close group of racers) flying by you for five seconds going 35 mph.A time trial event is often referred to as the “race of truth” because each cyclist must ride the course on their own, without the benefit of drafting other racers, while competing against the clock for the best time.  For those adventurous onlookers wanting more scenery, I recommend bringing a lawn chair and finding a shady spot out on the course. Be sure to bring an ice chest with cool drinks and your camera to get a chance to see the riders in action speeding down winding curves or pushing their hardest up a tough climb.In our downtown Morgan Hill, you will see many of the cycling teams and be able to participate in the ongoing health fair and merchandise/wellness booths that follow along all the Amgen Tour stages. This is a family friendly event with something for everyone.  Spectators from all over California follow the tour and will provide a steady stream of customers for our Morgan Hill hotels, restaurants and local businesses.During the event, you will notice TV crews on motorcycles, cars and helicopters following the riders and showcasing our City of Morgan Hill on national and international TV.I hope to see you at the event!   -Robert Shorey, DDSLet’s get excited.John McKay is president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance. He can be reached at [email protected].

February is nationally recognized as Spay and Neuter Awareness Month to educate and bring awareness to the benefits of spaying or neutering your pet.In the United States, there are more than 6 million homeless animals brought to animal shelters annually. Often, these healthy, well-behaved animals are euthanized due to shelter overpopulation. By making the choice to spay or neuter your pet, you will help to reduce the homeless animal population and increase the longevity of your pet’s health.While not widely discussed, spaying and neutering has been shown to increase your pet’s lifespan because it decreases the risk of certain types of cancers. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, spaying females prior to their first heat cycle decreases the risk of uterine and breast cancer, and also prevent uterine infections. Neutering males prevents testicular cancer and the enlargement of the prostate glands. By fixing your pets at an early age, you can provide them with a long, healthy life.Additionally, spaying and neutering pets can curb bad behavior. Unneutered dogs can be more assertive and aggressive than neutered males, and unneutered cats are much more prevalent to spray than fixed cats.   It is a common misconception that sterilizing your pet is expensive. There are many veterinarian clinics and local shelters that provide these services at an affordable price. Additionally, many communities provide financial assistance to help offset the cost to spay or neuter your pet.  For more information about financial assistance programs in your area, contact your local Humane Society or local animal shelter.To ensure your animal family member has a healthy, long life, and to help save millions of unnecessary homeless animals each year, please remember to spay or neuter your pet.For more information or to find a spay/neuter clinic in your area, use the spay/neuter locator here: petsmartcharities.org/adopt-a-pet/find-a-spayneuter-clinicSen. 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.   

I hope the Morgan Hill City Council does the right thing and allows a marijuana dispensary in Morgan Hill.As it is, I have to travel to San Jose to get CBD, a non-psychoactive extract of marijuana. I use it for my bursitis in my left hip, and by using it, I am able to walk five miles without pain. I am able to sleep on my left side now, which I was not able to do before.CBD improves my health and I don't get high from it.Please, please allow a dispensary in Morgan Hill.Linda O'MaleyMorgan Hill

Last week was a big week in the world of planning for our community. The Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce, Morgan Hill Downtown Association and the Morgan Hill City Council all held their annual planning retreats.Every year, most organizations will spend an extended period of time really focusing and digging into understanding what it is they do and how they are going to do more of it and do it better.Looking to both the past and the future are all part of creating a meaningful and attainable vision.We spend time looking at the past to see how we did; most of what I’ve seen has been pretty good in my opinion. 2017 was a pretty good year if you believe in constant planned improvement in how we operate as a community. I mean this in the broadest sense with things like seeing public art going up, the Friday Night Music Series blowing up, the increased popularity of the downtown, expanded industrial activity, fundraising events reaching new levels in quality and effectiveness, our Fourth of July and Holiday Lights parades growing and adding definition to who we are, public parks with private partnerships opening downtown; the list goes on and on…We will spend a lot of time gazing into a future that is incredibly bright. That bright future could look different to each person in an organization, and must be distilled to ones they can agree to champion as an organization. Courses to a vision must be charted by mere people, often volunteers that practice a level of good common sense that is not so common these days. I would even call our city councilmembers elected volunteers with their level of compensation.Advice from professionals in the different fields of interest is usually available in Morgan Hill, but ultimately it is really up to the dedicated amateurs to make decisions and chart courses to the visions of the future.So I guess what I am working toward is giving recognition to all of those people that work so hard to make this community what it is in so many ways.Thank you to the city council for the countless hours of work that so often go un-thanked. Thank you to the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Association, Independence Day Celebrations, Kiwanis, Historical Society, AAUW and more…Thank you for paying attention to the past and seeing a vision for the future of Morgan Hill.Thank you for having the courage to make decisions that might ultimately prove to be wrong because no one makes all of the right decisions except for the one who makes none, and then they already made one bad one to begin with…Thank you to the professionals who help guide us amateurs. Thank you for putting community ahead of self. As far as I know, not one of you has made a fortune from all of your hard work, contrary to what some may say.Thank you to all of you who are considering joining the ranks of our volunteer community.Thank you to all of the volunteers of all types that make Morgan Hill truly community driven.John McKay is president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, a city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance. He can be reached at  [email protected].

Friends and Family of Nisei Veterans (FFNV), a locally-based, multi-state Japanese-American veterans’ group, will hold its annual meeting Feb. 10 at the Morgan Hill Buddhist Community Center, 16450 Murphy Ave.  The main guest speaker will be Congressional Medal of Honor recipient James Taylor, who was the Grand Marshal of the 2015 Independence Day Parade in Morgan Hill. The host will be Lawson Sakai, who is President of FFNV and also Grand Marshal of the 2014 parade.On Nov. 9, 1967, First Lieutenant Taylor was serving in Vietnam as a cavalry officer. When his troops came under intense enemy fire and one armored assault vehicle was hit, Lt. Taylor jumped into action.The Medal of Honor citation reads: “His actions of unsurpassed valor were a source of inspiration to his entire troop, contributed significantly to the success of the overall assault on the enemy position, and were directly responsible for saving the lives of a number of his fellow soldiers.”The public is cordially invited to attend at 12:30pm.Brian ShiroyamaMorgan Hill

The stories began flying last week: Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents would raid businesses across California and deport undocumented workers.

Here’s a solution to High Speed Rail through Morgan Hill: I read an article that the city of Hawthorne, Calif., has signed a contract with the Elon Musk boring company to bore a two-mile tunnel for traffic. Why can't the state do the same thing with the High Speed Rail to bypass Morgan Hill downtown?Since there are no stops in Morgan Hill, this should be easy to do. Make it big enough for two trains (four tracks), and you can run the regular Union Pacific trains through it too. Morgan Hill could chip in for that as it will be a big benefit to the quality of life along the current Union Pacific tracks, where there have been a lot of homes built up lately.I don't understand why Gov. Jerry Brown hasn't proposed that solution. It would make his HSR less expensive. Seems like an easy, cheaper solution.Regards,Mark ZiebarthMorgan Hill

In my last column, I described an event that could be the biggest thing to hit Morgan Hill since the Swedish Crown Prince and Princess visited in 1926.The Amgen Tour of California is coming and will bring the world right into our living room. This world class event will be in our town, not 10 miles south or 28 miles north like the last two world class events, both of which pretty much passed us by.Again, this is a big deal for us.Are you one of those people that wonder how this event came to be in Morgan Hill? An event that I’ve heard could cost over $100,000 just to be provided the privilege of hosting—in addition to the direct costs associated with a world class event (just the part we’re paying for)? An event that normally gobbles reams of paper just to fill out the qualification forms to participate?We are the beneficiaries of someone else’s misfortune. Another community pulled out of the event, and Amgen Tour organizers gave the folks in San Jose a call, who in turn gave our folks in Morgan Hill a call.Yes, we have a relationship with San Jose that is strong enough for that call to take place. Bet you had no idea that could have happened.So how did that happen? My theory… In April 2013 the community of Morgan Hill declared that we wanted tourism to grow as a key industry. The city council heard that proclamation, and an environment was created that fostered reaching out to our neighbors to work together in the name of tourism.A couple years back, the very people that gave us that recent call were invited to Morgan Hill to see what we see every day—a beautiful community that could actually be an asset to San Jose.An asset to San Jose? Yes, an asset in the sense that one of the lures to potential visitors of San Jose could be our “charming” community just minutes away from the big city hubbub. When you’re done at the Tech Museum, head over to Morgan Hill for lunch and hiking, for example.A stage was set years ago where this event is now about to play out. This event will in turn hopefully set in motion a recognition of Morgan Hill as a great place to visit, build businesses and live. These are called investments in the future.There is a lot of work to do before we can show off Morgan Hill to the world, and at the same time feel comfortable our community will enjoy this event. We have to get everyone who lives in, works in, or regularly passes through the downtown informed about the event and work to minimize the impacts to them. That work will start right away.As short as the event may be, one day there will be some inconveniences that we need to minimize for the entire community. Careful planning will help with that.We need to plan collaboratively to make the most of the large number of visitors and event coverage. We may only get one chance to shine, and we’re going to make the most of it.Let the work begin.John McKay is president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, a city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance. He can be reached at [email protected].