Opinion

Did you know that before Gilroy became the Garlic Capital of the World it had the distinction of being the Tobacco Capitol of the United States during the 1870s? Since 1850 our fair city has also been deemed the Hay and Grain Capital, the Fruit and Nut Capital, the Dairy and Cheese Capital and the Prune Capital of California.   

Well, I thought I was going to be able to share a little good news with you this week. You see, I believed my hearing greatly improved one magical night. Unfortunately, a visit to my good friend, Dr. Joe at the Hearing and Speech Services here in Morgan Hill, told me it was just circumstances. You see, Lady M had eleven of her friends over recently to play Bunco and, although I was sequestered in an upstairs bedroom, the noise level was close to the 135db pitch of a jet engine at 100 feet. I was certain that my hearing had returned to normal – no group of lovely ladies could possibly have that much fun and express their enjoyment that loudly.

Let’s try pedestrian safety suggestionsI appreciated Kathy Sullivan's more expansive solutions to the serious concerns about pedestrian safety downtown.As a member of the Downtown Association, she presented more proactive suggestions than just saying that flashing pedestrian lights would detract from the ambiance of downtown. It's obviously a tricky proposition. How do we create a situation in which downtown businesses thrive, which is the obvious goal of the Downtown Association, while providing a safe environment for residents and visitors?Perhaps the dialog has now progressed to the point where these are not mutually exclusive endeavors. Downtown businesses need patrons and people will not venture downtown if they fear for their safety. Expanding our creative options to benefit both downtown businesses and the safety of their patrons should be our goal.She has offered many good starting points for reaching consensus. Among them is closing Monterey Street downtown on select weekends or even every weekend when commute traffic is not an issue. Her suggestions merit further discussion and trial implementation.Working together and thinking outside the box, we can create a win-win situation for our downtown businesses and pedestrian safety!Debra UllmanMorgan HillCut down on wasteful spendingVery biased views on downtown presented in last issue. Let's interview and talk with a vast array of real citizens without vested business interest in downtown and find out what they are thinking.Downtown is not the only place that feels unsafe. More traffic in the entire town by distracted careless drivers is pronounced.My opinion: too much taxpayer money is being poured into downtown. Instead, that money should have been spent on infrastructure such as road and pipe repairs. No new taxes please.Learn to spend the resources more wisely. City government tends to be somewhat wasteful spending our tax dollars. The economy isn't going to be like it is now forever. We need to spend more carefully.Marie LambMorgan Hill