Opinion

The Times noted in the Sept. 30, 2015 article on PG&E’s proposal to build a new substation in South County, "The last open house took place Sept. 28 at the Morgan Hill Community Center. Two previous sessions took place in Gilroy and San Martin.The trio of meetings was sparsely attended, but the public can continue to provide feedback to PG&E via email, phone or the internet.”I believe the sparse attendance was by design on PG&E’s part and not apathy on the part of those who will be negatively impacted. I was completely unaware of this project as were most of my neighbors when we just recently learned of the plan and the eight possible locations for the substation. We learned that mailers had been sent out, but were intermingled with other ads and junk mail, and easily dismissed rather than in an envelope PG&E would normally send customers regarding matters of importance.Many of us are now scrambling to understand how these eight sites were determined. It obviously wasn’t using valuable public feedback.Three of the sites are particularly distressing to the residents along the scenic Watsonville Road Wine Trail corridor. The “Watsonville C” site location is particularly troubling for my family in that it will be built directly across the street from our house! My neighbors are understandably equally troubled.This is such a scenic area that it is hard to fathom how PG&E would even consider a 6-acre substation and its devastating impact. The impacts are devastating in potential health effects for those living in the vicinity, environmental considering the impact to Little Arthur and Uvas creeks, and loss of property value.I am also wondering where our county stands on this very important matter. I have yet to hear back from our District 1 County Supervisor Mike Wasserman to whom I have sent several emails. The county should have been giving PG&E guidance, direction and input from the start because there are obviously so many zoning, planning and permit issues.Redwood Retreat Road has by county ordinance been designated as a scenic road and as such the county has placed limits on building in order to preserve the beauty of the area. So again, my question is, why wouldn’t the county be involved and also keeping us informed? Mike Wasserman has never mentioned the South County Power Connect Project once in his newsletters—leaving me to wonder, why?John Tepoorten and his family have lived on Redwood Retreat Road for 19 years. PG&E is in the outreach phase of its South County Power Connect project, which will add a new substation and new transmission lines to South County to enhance the electrical grid. To learn more about the project and the eight substation site options, visit pge.com.

I’ve lived in Morgan Hill for 16 years now. To some, that makes me a newcomer, and to others an old timer; but to me it’s been time to understand and reinforce why I chose to live here.I recently spoke to some folks about why we moved here and it was fun comparing stories. It seems that emotions and desire played a surprisingly important role for quite a few in a decision that for so many is just a practical one.Michelle and I moved here after we spent one of those idyllic evenings visiting and enjoying the Friday Night Music Series. That was back when it was on Second Street. Maybe 100 people showed up.I’ve said it before many times: I felt like we were back in my father’s hometown in Iowa and it just felt right.At the time, we were in the middle of a house remodel, lived 15 minutes from work and were close to everything. But something grabbed us and made us do what so many others we’ve spoken to have done: we dropped everything and found a new home—not just a house—here in Morgan Hill.And I’m going to throw a rant in here—we did not buy a house here because we got more house for our money. We bought here because we got more of a home for the life we choose to lead.It’s not just us, it should be no surprise that so many of us felt an emotional response to this town and decided to move here. It’s a choice that is not taken lightly, so it’s no wonder we have such a volunteer-rich community.We live on the northern edge of a lifestyle and we have a 12-mile gap to the next outpost to the north where we have to steel ourselves to enter an environment that is akin to being packed into sardine cans. To most of the “sardine canners,” we’re the ones making the sacrifices by living on the frontier and to some extent they’re right. We’re modern frontierspeople, I tell ya…We consciously and gladly give up a lot of conveniences to live here.  In trade, I got this incredible rural community where the vistas of a narrow valley greet me every time I walk out my front door.  We have access to such great local produce that I really suffer when I can’t get what is local and fresh in season.We have a downtown that is a regional dining destination and it’s just getting better.I don’t need to jump on a freeway to get to hiking, biking, boating or other outdoor pursuits. I can go to a couple dozen wineries within 20 minutes of my front door!Okay, so I have to leave town for fancy clothes (except for Tommy Bahama…), I may sit in traffic for a couple hours a day trying to cross the great divide to earn a buck, I wear out my car and my gas card sizzles.I make those sacrifices and it’s OK, because I am a frontiersman.John McKay is Interim President of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association, a city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

The amazing story of Carole King is an inspiring one, showing what talent and drive could do in the world of popular music back in the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. She has won four Grammys, been inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame and was the first woman to receive the Library Of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Her list of achievements goes on and on.This musical, from the book by Douglas McGarth, bundles songs she wrote and some she co-wrote with others for an entertaining evening of great music.Take some of her words, add some of her music and Carole King will meld it all into something Beautiful. That’s what happened with the songs that King (played by an outstanding Abby Mueller) created in her brilliant, sometimes jarring life. Beautiful begins in 1961 with songs by King and her husband, Gerry Goffin (a solid Liam Tobin) and friendly competitors Barry Mann (a pleasant Ben Frankhauser) and Cynthia Weil (the exceptional Becky Gulsvig), then moves to the early ’70s when King leaves a bad marriage and reluctantly writes and records one of the most successful albums of all time, Tapestry, and realizes her dream of performing at Carnegie Hall.Starting in the late ’50s as a strong-willed 16-year-old, she convinces the tough agents in the songwriting field of Broadway to listen and appreciate her music. She churned out pop, rock, and blues songs with Goffin for groups like the Shirelles, Drifters and the Righteous Brothers, creating hits including “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” Splish Splash,” “Stupid Cupid,” “Yakety-Yak,” “Love Potion # 9” and “Some Kind Of Wonderful.”She went on to become successful singer-songwriter on her own with “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “It’s Too Late,” “You’ve Got A Friend,” “Up On The Roof” and “I Feel The Earth Move” and many more. To be sure, Carole King remains a legend in the recording industry.Director Marc Bruni keeps this fine cast moving in a tightened up production from the 2013 version, which includes one additional song.Creativity is the watchword for scenic Designer Derek McLane with his innovative, mobile set that smoothly changes before your eyes. A grand piano effortlessly slides off center stage to be replaced with two-storey offices and living rooms as needed.Abby Mueller delivers King’s music as close as you can get to the real thing.  ‘Beautiful’  Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market and Eighth streets, San FranciscoPerformances through Sept 18Tickets: $45-$212For reservations and information: (888) 746-1799, or visit www.shnsf.com

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

What an incredible quarter century I have spent working for these community newspapers.  Twenty five years spent learning, teaching and contributing to producing your local newspaper.  I had several mentors over the years, who each had many more years here than I have racked up.  They taught me so much about each department, how it works and how they all fit together. Thank you to each and every one of you (you know who you are) for investing in me and making me better.  Much of my work was behind the scenes, planning and organizing, making sure everything came together on deadline.  I loved every minute of it!

One unusual Friday night, with no plans on our calendar, my husband and I went to Sarah’s Vineyard for their Sunset Music Series. For $60 we enjoyed some of the finest pinot noir on the Central Coast, dinner and live music amidst an amazingly beautiful, 360-degree vista.

The Morgan Hill Downtown Association Board of Directors joins the entire community in the sorrow surrounding the tragic accident on the evening of July 4. While crossing Monterey Road, two young boys were struck by a car and critically injured at an intersection widely known to be one of the riskiest in the downtown.On a night when most of the community was celebrating our nation’s birth, those two young members of our community ended their day in a most horrific way that undoubtedly forever changed their lives, as well as the driver’s and both of their families.As historically safe as our downtown has been, the hard-earned growth in popularity of our businesses may challenge the past record. As the efforts of everyone—from the stalwart businesses of the community, to developers, to city staff—continue to contribute to the success of the downtown, we will see a growing competition for the use of our sidewalks, crosswalks and roadways.We still don’t yet know the details surrounding the July 4 accident. We don’t know if any of the traffic calming efforts like those currently proposed or seen during last year’s Complete Streets Pilot Project would have helped. We have to hope that we have the best possible solution to our traffic calming concerns amongst our current plans or options being explored, but we need to keep an open mind to additional solutions.The recent tragic accident has served as a reminder that we need to maintain a safe environment downtown, but at the same time we want to remind the community that the downtown is a business district that will continue to grow in its role as the community social gathering place and economic driver.Keeping this in mind, we would like to restate some of our previous recommendations that have not yet been implemented:• Install the traffic control signal at Fourth Street and Monterey Road as quickly as possible;• Provide enhanced law enforcement in a manner sensitive to the perception that excessive enforcement may be a deterrent to bringing more visitors to the downtown;• Identify ways to lower and implement a 15 mph speed limit through the downtown core;• Provide user-held crosswalk flags at pedestrian crossings as soon as possible;• Close Monterey Road to vehicle traffic on selected weekends, or on weekends in general.We do not support the following in the downtown core:• Speed cushions or speed bumps;• Raised pavement markers;• Flashing pedestrian crossing lights;• Vehicle speed indication signage.The recently proposed traffic calming strategy of programming the downtown traffic control signals to flash red in all directions (creating four-way stop sign intersections) during off-peak traffic periods should be further considered for implementation.Recent comments by City Council members have indicated an interest in revisiting the lane reduction, as experienced during the 2015 Complete Streets Pilot Project, when the Hale Avenue extension is completed or conditions present a better opportunity for successful implementation. Please consider a resolution stating that under the se conditions that Monterey Road lad reductions could be revisited.Kathleen Sullivan is a board member of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association. She wrote this letter to the City Council on behalf of the MHDA board, and presented it to the council at the July 27 meeting.

Editor’s note: The letter below was sent July 26 to the families of students attending Silicon Valley Flex, located on Jarvis Drive in Morgan Hill. The letter has been edited for length and style.Dear Flex Families,It is with heavy hearts and the deepest of regrets that we make this announcement. After extensive deliberation, and after exploring every option available to us, the Flex Board has made the decision to close the school.K12, the school’s service provider who managed and operated the school for the board for the last five years, terminated its service contract with Flex on July 1, five years early. While the board disagrees with K12’s grounds to terminate the service contract, it cannot operate the school without K12’s financial support, and does not have alternative funding for the school. Please note that the K12 staff supporting the school are working hard to assist with this transition.While this late notice is very unfortunate, the Flex Board does not have sufficient funds to operate the school this year without K12, and attempting to begin the school year without a sound economic base would inevitably result in closure mid-year, thus forcing staff and students out at a point which would be much worse.Silicon Valley Flex has served its students and families well for the past five years, and our sincere hope was to find a way to ensure it could continue to do so. Sadly, in the past week it became clear that we are simply out of options and can wait no longer to notify our staff and our families.We know that you have many questions and we are working as quickly as we can to get you the answers you deserve. Over the next two weeks, members of the leadership team and representatives from our partner, K12, will be onsite to meet with you to discuss next steps and other options available to you. We appreciate K12’s effort in this regard. We have also included some Frequently Asked Questions at the bottom of this letter to address some preliminary questions that we anticipate you’ll have.We want to hear from you directly and to answer any questions you have. School and K12 representatives will be onsite July 27 from 7:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. and again on July 28 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. For those who are unable to join us this week, we will be available next week from Tuesday through Thursday as well.Sincerely,Mark Kushner, Board PresidentOn Behalf of the Silicon Valley Flex Board of Trustees

On a recent Sunday afternoon, a group of us followed the Wine Trail of Santa Clara Valley and stopped in at Kirigin Cellars, which has been making wine on the property since 1916. There are so many things to love about Kirigin Cellars: to start with, their expansive property comprises rolling vineyards, over 1000 rose bushes and 100 sequoia redwoods.

I love living in Gilroy. We’ve got the natural beauty of open space (for now, anyway), mountains all around us, an extremely friendly community, the Premium Outlets and best of all, a dozen or so awesome wineries right in our very own backyard.