Opinion

Keep growth balancedDear Elected and Appointed Morgan Hill Representatives,In recent weeks we have had extensive meetings and discussions with representatives from a large number of Morgan Hill’s major private employers, and every one of these companies is in a solid growth mode. Many of them are considering physical expansions as they have filled out their current facilities. They need to know that there is a place for them to expand into; otherwise they will be forced to expand and/or relocate elsewhere.Since this time last year, much has changed … and all of those changes further support the argument against land conversions of this type. Our industrial building vacancy rate has dropped from a great recession high of approximately 20 percent to about 3 percent today.  Meanwhile, large numbers of new housing units have been built, but the vast majority of them are occupied by commuters and retirees. The counterintuitive argument that more housing will automatically mean more good paying jobs in Morgan Hill has, in fact, not been demonstrated. Housing has been added at a much, much faster pace than have good paying jobs. Meanwhile, many cities to our north have been pursuing a job focused development program; relying ever more heavily on communities like Morgan Hill to provide the housing, services and amenities people need to live their lives.A healthy Morgan Hill must be a balanced Morgan Hill. That is why we have land reserved for industrial development in our General Plan. Those in the development business focus on doing the projects now which can make money now, and then they typically move on. The point of zoning and planning is to ensure that an appropriate long term view is taken as we further build out our terrific city.Please continue to support a robust, balanced Morgan Hill by denying requests for industrial land conversion to residential uses. Yes, Morgan Hill needs more apartments, but not at the cost of building a balanced city.Sincerely yours, John T. Horner, President and CEO of the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce Coffee with the MayorThe first Coffee with the Mayor for 2015 will be 10 to 11:30 a.m. Feb. 7 at BookSmart. Coffee with the Mayor gives Morgan Hill residents an opportunity to give input to the mayor in a very relaxed and informal environment.  The “input” can be anything—questions, suggestions, criticism (hopefully constructive!) or just a friendly chat to get more familiar with the mayor and with Morgan Hill governance. Some regulars come because they want to hear what other attendees have to say, and that’s fine, too.  The coffee is on the mayor and BookSmart very graciously provides some yummy treats to complement their great coffee. The mayor and City Council will have concluded their annual goal setting retreat the previous weekend, so Mayor Tate will give an overview and provide an opportunity for residents to provide feedback on the city’s direction. The mayor usually brings along a guest but for this first meeting of the year, he will go it alone.  Steve Tate, Morgan Hill‘Original Navy SEAL’ to speak in MHFriends and Family of Nisei Veterans (FFNV) will hold its annual membership meeting Feb. 14, 2015 at the rear building of  Morgan Hill Buddhist Community Center, 16450 Murphy Avenue. Pot-luck lunch will be served at 11:30 a.m. for FFNV members and the main program will start at about 12:30 p.m. The program portion of this meeting is open to the public.Our guest speaker will be William Goehner, Jr., of Morgan Hill. At the beginning of World War II, he joined the Navy at age 16 and volunteered for the elite Underwater Demolition Team (UDT), popularly known as “frogmen.” The UDT was the original Navy SEAL. He led many “suicide missions” against the German Navy and became one of the most decorated and fastest promoted sailor in the Navy.  In Hollywood’s Oscar-nominated movie “The Frogmen” (1951),  Goehner was portrayed by Richard Widmark. Goehner will take you through a harrowing and danger-packed mission to mine a German submarine base in the Baltic Sea to a heartwarming encounter with a young German soldier while on a reconnaissance mission on Normandy just before D-Day.Brian Shiroyama, Morgan Hill

On the March 3 ballot, voters in Morgan Hill will decide whether to pass Measure A. I personally encourage you to research this issue and vote YES ON MEASURE A.

With the Hale extension, hopefully they will follow through and implement the diet permanently.

Fill the Boot was a great success! I just wanted to take a moment to say a hearty THANK YOU to all of the citizens that came out to help support our Fill the Boot dive a couple weeks ago.  The collection benefited MDA (Muscular...