Opinion

The City of Morgan Hill is breaking ground on several downtown community parks while continuing to invest in our existing city parks and trails. Construction is beginning on Little Llagas Creek Trail, located west of the Third Street and Monterey Road intersection; Depot Park, along Depot between Third and Fourth Streets; and “Hill Top” Trail, connecting Third and Fifth Streets at Del Monte Avenue. I am proud to make beautiful parks and trails accessible to our residents and encourage you to use them here and throughout South County.The city invests in parks and trails for their many economic, health, environmental and quality of life benefits. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, providing places residents can be physically active can improve both physical and mental health. Chronic disease sufferers can greatly benefit from walking on local trails and spending time at our parks. Being outdoors can increase vitamin D levels, decrease blood sugar levels for diabetes and reduce feelings of depression, thereby improving mental health. Parks and trails function as a hub for community members to meet for social events and recreational activities resulting in increased social cohesion strengthening our community.The City of Morgan Hill has partnered with Santa Clara County Public Health, the City of Gilroy, Santa Clara County Parks, the South County Collaborative and the South County United for Health Leadership Team to coordinate a “Let’s All Go to the Park” project to promote parks and trails as a destination for physical activity and meeting other members of the community. Five free events have been planned in South County geared to all fitness levels.I encourage residents to participate in all five of these events. The first event is at 10 a.m. May 13, starting at the east side of the Centennial Recreation Center, 171 W. Edmundson Ave., and will include a walk or bike ride along Little Llagas Creek Trail. Please join Santa Clara County Supervisor Mike Wasserman, Morgan Hill Unified School District Superintendent Steve Betando and me for a walk or bike ride on the Little LLagas Creek Trail.Taking steps toward better health as a community is important.  More details are available on the City of Morgan Hill website, morganhill,ca.gov.Steve Tate is the mayor of Morgan Hill. He can be reached at [email protected].

Think big for Morgan HillMorgan Hill is going through a renaissance of sorts.Downtown is finally blossoming into the vibrant scene we always wanted and knew was possible. Construction is booming, and not just on the Granada Hotel, Sunsweet project or any of the other economic developments going on, with three new parks scheduled to be built and finished this year in downtown.Downtown Morgan Hill is actualizing into our dreams for a prosperous, inviting and sustainable city center, and I couldn’t be happier.But the renaissance I’m referring to is not the one of our downtown. I’m talking about the rebirth of innovation in Morgan Hill; the revival of our Silicon Valley spirit.If you’ve been following news on self-driving cars and the technologies used in them, you may have heard of Morgan Hill-based Velodyne LiDAR, a high tech sensor producer that has worked with Google, Baidu and Ford on autonomous vehicles.If you’re into cutting edge recreation, you might have heard how Morgan Hill’s own industry-leading Specialized recently won 2017 Bike of the Year for its Roubaix Comp model.Morgan Hill companies are leaders in their respective fields and now some South Valley entrepreneurs are trying to help make Morgan Hill a true center for innovation with their upcoming Innovation Goes Outside Disrupt Forum, a local networking event and pitchfest. Never before have local leaders taken such proactive measures to help grow an innovative incubation community in Morgan Hill.Now is the opportunity to grow Morgan Hill as an integrated center of innovation in Silicon Valley. After all, this seems the logical step for a city with pioneering startups and an ideal location within Silicon Valley.Mayor Tate and Councilman Spring both came from tech and most of the other city councilmembers have experience working with tech or with Silicon Valley as a region.We are a population poised with the expertise to transform the future of Morgan Hill’s economy and culture. Our residents are more educated than both the California and national averages. Our schools continue to succeed above state and national graduation rates. In fact, our schools are now even expanding comprehensive opportunities for our students to explore (Paradise Valley Elementary transformed into Paradise Valley Engineering Academy last year).Our infrastructure is constantly improving and the investment that’s been put into our downtown will radically improve our community and its attractiveness as a great place to live and work. We have a chance to come together and actively work to make Morgan Hill all it can be.So let’s connect our local Silicon Valley veterans with new startups. Lets help incubate local businesses and support a culture of innovation. To do this we have to think big; we have to #ThinkMorganHill.Christian AntunesMorgan HillRail is a FailWe can glimpse what's in store for South County with the arrival of the Bullet Train by looking at those Monterey Salinas Transit ("MST") luxury yachts that sail past your old office every day going to the local Transit Hub. Why don't you tell your readers the truth about the losses taxpayers sustain with those ultra extravagant examples of government transport gone amok? Of course, you'll have to look at legal accounting for their losses, and not the losses reported by the transit agency.Why? The legislature has exempted the transit agencies from using legal accounting (aka Generally Accepted Accounting Principles = GAAP), which federal and state tax regs require that everyone use. This has the effect of hiding the true extent of their losses. They all do it: VTA, TAMC, SCCRTC, etc. So, when you read Mr. Roadshow's articles about the "fare box recovery rate" on transit, bus or rail, you are seeing what the transit agencies report—far from truth in transportation.Since fares are not remunerative, meaning that they don't cover their costs (all of their costs), they can never run in the black; only in the red. So, to keep going, they need heavy infusions of OPM—motorists, truckers and motorcyclists. If they wanted to be transparent and accountable, then they would use legal accounting, and tell us just how badly they are screwing us. But they use Enron-style, Bernie Madoff-style, "off book" accounting.Take a look at Amtrak's reported losses; Caltrain's losses. Then adjust for GAAP accounting, if you want to let your readers know the truth about the waste, fraud and abuse at the joint power authorities ("JPAs"), MST, VTA, TAMC, SCCRTC, etc. Then, if you want your readers to get informed about what the Bullet Train is going to do to us, extrapolate the MST's losses by factors of 100s, 1000s, etc.Please give us truth in transportation; it would be a refreshing change.Joe ThompsonGilroy

Next week will be the culmination of months of work for a wonderful and committed group of volunteers. All this hard work will bear fruit April 23 to 29 in the Morgan Hill Downtown Association’s Wine & Food Week and the Wine Stroll.Most of you, hopefully, will recognize the Wine & Food Week as a week where wine and food take center stage, and the Wine Stroll as a fun way to taste some great local wines, shop, dine, and socialize—all in the wonderful setting that is our downtown.The Wine Stroll is a fundraiser for the Downtown Association and like so many other fundraisers, in our community known for giving, you get the benefit of helping a good cause while having fun.The Wine & Food Week and Wine Stroll are special to me because not only are they “fun-raisers,” but they’re also aimed at exposing more people to our restaurants and shops downtown, as well as the Santa Clara Valley wine region.We get to make the events all about our downtown, community and region and the lucky ticket holders are immersed in it.I’d like to provide a little insight into the Wine Stroll that I bet most of you never think about—why do our businesses and the wineries participate?For some, it’s obvious—exposure. People being in a great mood puts a different lens on their day, and the hope is these same people will see something they’ll want to revisit later, maybe come back to the downtown and wineries to re-create fun memories.Some of our downtown businesses actually lose money for the day because their regular customers will avoid the crowds. Most of these businesses are pragmatic and see the overall benefit that this kind of exposure brings to the downtown. Some of this is done just to support the Downtown Association.The wineries are the featured guests and are compensated for the wine they pour. But in most cases, the compensation doesn’t really cover their costs. Many of these wineries also look at the Wine Stroll as a marketing opportunity and want the exposure, but many do not feel that this exposure benefits them.Wineries would like their guests to pause, taste their wine and engage in conversation. Seeing close to 1,000 customers doesn’t leave a lot of opportunity to do any of those things. So a good number of the wineries are doing something that we greatly appreciate: they are participating in the Wine Stroll out of community spirit, a belief that we can all work together to make not only Morgan Hill but the region a destination for wine, food and shopping.And thus, besides the Wine Stroll on Saturday, April 29, we have a week of wine and food related events starting April 23.During Wine & Food Week you’ll find no corkage fees on local wines at many local restaurants, special food and wine pairings and complete winemaker dinners (wines specially paired with each unique course of the dinner).This is the week that the businesses and wineries really enjoy because of the personal contact and manageable customer numbers.  Please come out and have a good time and support your downtown all next week. For more information about these events, visit morganhilldowntown.org/.John McKay is a Morgan Hill resident, president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance. He can be reached at [email protected].

Despite shooting, resident enjoys community

This guest view is the first in a periodic series of upcoming op-eds on tips to prepare for wildfire season, which officially starts May 1 in Santa Clara County.Most people believe that wildfires ignite homes through direct contact with flames, but it is rare to have a home ignite this way. Thanks to effective defensible space campaigns, very few homes are in direct contact with traditional wildland fuel models (e.g., uninterrupted fields of seasonal grass, flammable brush or tree canopies). The collective experience of our wildland firefighters suggests that homes most commonly ignite from airborne flaming brands and embers.Flaming brands and embers can travel a mile or more ahead of the active front of a wildfire. Scientific research finds that up to 60 percent of wildland/urban interface home ignitions result from embers landing on flammable materials such as roofing or landscaping materials, or ember penetration into concealed spaces through vents and other structural openings.Most of the activity that makes a home less vulnerable to ignition focuses on the home and its immediately surroundings. Defensible space preparations are part of the equation, but they do not address the ember threat. Our Ember Aware campaign is intended to educate people on the risks of ember cast and the actions they can take to reduce those risks, to encourage residents to harden their homes against embers and/or to maintain those ember-resistant features, and to practice ember-safe housekeeping and landscaping. You can learn more at emberaware.com.In the coming weeks, we will provide a series of articles and tips on the topic. Make changes now to reduce the ember threat to your home. Tip number one: Stop shaking.• The most reliable way to predict which houses will survive a wildfire and which will be destroyed is by looking at the roof.• Houses with wood shake or shingle roofs are many times more likely to be destroyed during a wildfire. Using wood shakes or shingles for roofs in high fire hazard areas is like stacking hundreds of pounds of kindling on top of your home. During the hot summer months, the shakes or shingles can be nearly bone dry and easily ignited by embers. The embers come from pieces of burning material that can be lofted high into the air during a wildfire and travel a mile or more from the actual fire.• Unfortunately, there is no effective, inexpensive long-term solution to the ember threat to wood roofs. We recommend replacing wood shake or shingle roofs with a rated, fire-resistant roofing material, such as asphalt composition shingles, metal, or concrete or clay tile. Although this can be expensive, it may well be the one thing that saves your home when the embers arrive.Fire Marshal Dwight Good serves the Morgan Hill Fire Department and South Santa Clara County Fire Protection District and the CalFire Santa Clara Unit. He has 24 years of fire service experience. He can be contacted at [email protected].

On Sunday, March 26, residents gathered at St. Catherine Church in Morgan Hill to receive educational information about immigrant rights. Morgan Hill Unified School District Superintendent Steve Betando was asked to speak about the district’s stance on the national immigration discussion and what MHUSD is doing to help students and families. Here is a portion of that speech, which can be read in its entirety on mhusd.org.

I’m writing this from my makeshift office, located on the lower level of our home where we’re holed up during a remodel project.About every 10 years or so I steel myself and plunge headlong into a project that holds the potential to make me very happy or very frustrated. Twenty years ago we remodeled the kitchen in our first home. It was a fixer upper in a pleasant neighborhood that would become more desirable by the time we finished.That first kitchen put the finishing touch on a home that would become the springboard to a home in Morgan Hill. The draw to move to Morgan Hill was so strong that we never lived in that home when it was truly complete. Some form of construction was underway until we moved out and it went on the market.That remodel, laden with sweat equity and increased neighborhood desirability, made us very happy as it not only resulted in a great yield on investment but it got us here.The second remodel was actually one I did for my parents in their home in Mountain View 10 years later. We used a contractor that I had known for many years and had done most of the work on that first kitchen remodel which went reasonably well. But my mother’s remodel was fraught with strain from the beginning and it went very badly. We had to enlist an attorney to get the project finished after it was abandoned.Thinking back, there were signs that this relationship wasn’t going right even before we started. It was a reminder that if things aren’t going well while trying to get the job under contract, it probably isn’t going to get any better once you’re on the hook.So we found another house that was a borderline fixer-upper about three years back. We knew we would have to replace the kitchen and the extensive decking at the time. We finally made the commitment to do it now, another 10 years after that last miserable project.A huge part of any construction project is the team you put together; this was reinforced by my parent’s remodel. For some this is the hardest part of a project, but it is key to success.I recently retired from commercial construction. Even with that background, I find it tough to find a good contractor. Good news is that we have a few right here in Morgan Hill and the surrounding area.We knew one local contractor who we felt very good about and our beliefs were verified by checking the online reviews and talking to others.It took some time to get it all the details just right but we are now happily sequestered on our lower level listening to the sounds of progress above. We are still picking out the stuff like tile and faucets and sinks and such and we are happy knowing that we have a plan that we are really enthusiastic about.There is no moral to the story except spend the time to get the details worked out before you start, pick the right contractor and, of course, use a local contractor.John McKay is a Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association. He can be reached at [email protected].

April 22 marks the 47th Earth Day—a day created to celebrate our planet, environment and wildlife. Every Californian has a story to tell about how nature has made their lives richer. For some, it is regional food, lakes and rivers, or a beloved local park. For others, it is the ties to ranches, working farms, forests or our magnificent public lands. The ecosystem is one of California’s greatest assets. We have a unique and diverse climate and geography, and some of the most extraordinary plants and wildlife in the world.Today, the fight for a clean environment continues with increasing urgency, as the effects of climate change become more and more apparent. Earth Day 2017 provides an opportunity for all of us to do something meaningful for our planet by giving back in our communities. Thousands of volunteers will be needed throughout California to assist with projects such as campfire center improvements, habitat restoration, native garden conservation, fence building, trail maintenance and beach cleanup.The idea for a national day to focus on the environment came to Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after he took a trip to Santa Barbara following a devastating oil spill off California’s central coast. Upon returning to Washington, D.C., Nelson introduced a bill designating April 22 as a national day to celebrate the Earth. The date was chosen to help commemorate the birth of California naturalist and conservationist John Muir, who was born April 21, 1838.In 1970, the first Earth Day celebrations took place in hundreds of communities across the United States, bringing together millions of Americans who supported environmental reform.  By the end of that year, Earth Day had led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.  By 2000, formal events celebrating Earth Day were being observed in 184 countries, and more than 500 million people participated in those events. It now is considered the largest secular observance in the world, celebrated by more than one billion people every year.Earth Day is a day of action designed to change human behavior and provoke science-based policy changes, and serves as a reminder to us that our planet’s future is in jeopardy. The science is clear: climate change continues to harm our planet and has led to rising sea levels, warmer oceans, rising global temperatures and increased incidences of extreme weather events. I encourage everyone to attend local Earth Day events, which are planned throughout the month of April in communities throughout California. Help do your part to restore and care for the places where we live, work and play…for this and future generations. Seize the opportunity to ensure that nature continues to sustain us in the 21st century.Monning represents the 17th Senate District, which includes all of San Luis Obispo and Santa Cruz counties, and portions of Monterey and Santa Clara counties.

Why do I Relay? My biggest reason is this amazing woman who left us all too soon. Jennifer Pavicich-Murphy was by far one of the greatest people I have ever had the privilege of knowing and calling my friend. For her I Relay!This time last year she and I were lucky enough to be placed in the same corral for the Disneyland Star Wars 10K. Funnily enough, we'd chosen to go as Anna and Elsa. This would be both of our first 10Ks. I was very nervous at first since I had not even run a 5k straight before, but running with Jen pushed me to do it. We spent the first three miles just chatting and catching up when suddenly I realized we'd hit the 5K mark. We both got excited and did a little shout out.We were feeling the Disney magic! She then asked if I was okay to keep going. I felt great, so we did. This was Jen. The girl had been through hell and back battling cancer, was running a 10K, laughing and goofing around, and making sure that I was okay.We slowed around mile 5 to make sure we'd take some pictures and could meet up with the other girls in our group. Thankfully were able to finish with most of them. It was the best feeling in the world to have accomplished that race with my mama tribe and with Jen at my side. We spent the rest of the weekend tearing up Disneyland and having the best weekend ever! Those are memories I will cherish always.We'd make a lot more memories over the following months, especially during special events like her 80s themed birthday and Relay for Life. At Relay we'd all planned to really go all out the following year and make the event one for the books.Sadly, we would lose our beautiful Jen much sooner than anyone expected. Our sweet girl went up to be our forever angel this past August. It still hurts that she can't be with us, but I know deep down inside that she is watching over us all, smiling, just waiting to catch up on all of our adventures one day.This beautiful friend, mother, wife, daughter, sister, niece—she is why I Relay. I will participate in her memory and in memory of all of those we've loved and lost to cancer. I will continue the fight because we all deserve to live in a world without cancer.Last year Jen shared why she relayed: "I RELAY because I want my boys to live in a world where cancer is a disease of the past. Where adults and children of all ages no longer have to endure this fight. And where technology and medicine can provide us with a CURE for every type of cancer. Every step we take brings us closer to these goals."   People like Jen and their families deserve a cure. We shouldn't need to share our warriors stories anymore. We should be able to celebrate that cancer has been cured and that our children get to grow up without knowing the pain of this ugly disease.  The American Cancer Society strives to improve the lives of all those touched by cancer. By creating Relay for Life, they gave us an event to focus all of our energy on, to help raise those funds that are so desperately needed to end this disease.I really hope that after reading this, you'll consider attending our Relay for Life event here in Morgan Hill May 20. Teams, sponsors, attendees, each and every one of you has some way, whether it be large or small, to help make this event great. Let's end this fight for Jen, and for all of those who have been touched by cancer!Amanda Banta, a Morgan Hill resident, is the social media lead for the local Relay for Life.

Spring’s growth position not ‘sensible’South Valley Magazine’s otherwise excellent article about Councilmember Rene Spring contained one glaring error. Then-candidate Spring opposed measure S, a sensible growth control measure, and supported more restrictive measures that would not have allowed enough new housing for the natural growth of Morgan Hill and also immigrants working in Silicon Valley.  Had those measures been in place since the 1970s, it is unlikely Spring or others would be living in Morgan Hill. Councilmember Spring may change his tune when his grandchildren grow up and need a place of their own.   Tom ScottMorgan Hill List of thanks for Passport WeekendThis past weekend, the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley hosted our Annual Spring Passport, beginning with Friday evening at the Morgan Hill Community Center where 17 of our member wineries poured their fabulous wines alongside 12 of our local restaurants offering a taste from their delectable menus.The weekend continued with more than 25 participating member wineries hosting guests from throughout the Bay Area and offering an array of food, music and a variety of entertainment.  The pictures tell the stories of folks new to the area realizing that there is a selection of remarkable wines right here in their backyards, and our recurrent visitors enjoying the beauty of the area, the diversity of the wineries and the wines they pour—not to mention the friendships they have made by becoming frequent guests.We realize how fortunate we are to have strong partners who give their time, energy and support to the wineries. We extend a very sincere “thank you” to John McKay, President of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association for arranging these restaurants for Friday evening:  Bubbles Wine Bar, GVA Café, Ladera Grill, Mama Mia's, Milias, Noah's Bar & Bistro, Odeum, Old City Hall, Prova, Rosy's at the Beach, La Nina Perdida and Trail Dust. It goes to show that we are really one community—Morgan Hill, San Martin, and Gilroy—working together.Of course, it’s impossible to name everyone who helps with our success, but I would like to mention a couple of special partners.We extend our thanks to Jane Howard, Executive Director of the Gilroy Welcome Center and her staff. They support us in reaching out to the public on a daily basis, and we appreciate their hard work and continuing efforts.And finally, wine journalist Bev Stenehjem, who leads the way in promoting our wineries through her excellent articles and her own knowledge of the wine industry. A huge “thank you,” Bev!We know it’s hard to visit all of our great wineries in the valley in a short weekend.  Take one look at our new map (santaclarawines.com/images/WSCV-map-2017.pdf) and you will see the expansive area we occupy.We will host our Annual Fall Passport Oct. 13-15 later this year. So even if you missed out this past weekend or if you simply want more fun, food and wine, you will have the opportunity to join in the festivities at that time!Thank you again to all who helped and visited. I look forward to a year of connecting.Karen SeekerCo-Owner Seeker VineyardPresident, Wineries of Santa Clara Valley Flight paths kill peace and quietOne of the great things about Morgan Hill was the peacefulness and tranquility of a small town, while it’s close enough to the larger metropolitan areas to the north.Indeed, I moved to Morgan Hill five years ago to escape the chaotic lifestyle of the Bay Area while still being able to commute to Santa Clara. But for those of us who live on the western or northern parts of the city, things have been changing rapidly.Over the last couple years, there has been an increasing volume of air traffic at very low altitudes routed over our city. This has had a dramatic negative impact on the noise levels and environment.A little research uncovers that a whole new system of flight plans has been put in place that has focused all flights into San Jose through a low altitude, pencil thin corridor right over Morgan Hill. It’s as if the San Jose airport suddenly moved to the northern part of Morgan Hill. The constant drone from the air traffic is intolerable at many times during the day, and getting worse.This is also not a problem unique to us. The new flight paths have created similar issues in places like Palo Alto, where residents expressed enough concern that the City of Palo Alto has issued a lawsuit against the airport authorities.As residents of a beautiful and once peaceful city, we need to let the airport authorities know that this is not acceptable. I would urge everyone who is affected by the noise to respond by registering your dissatisfaction.There are many ways to do this, such as, voice your concern to our congresswoman (lofgren.house.gov), send an email complaint to [email protected], or use the flight webtracker (webtrak5.bksv.com/sjc3) to enter specific complaints.Robin PeatfieldMorgan Hill