Opinion

Gather Brad Nye, Whitney Pintello, Nick Fryou, Sarah Smith and Ronnie Misra and you have an adept group to provide a laugh a minute offering. The production moves with super timing that keeps tickling the funny bone without stopping for the length of the play. As usual as with Pintello’s production their secret weapon is the players have as much fun as the audience, which always makes a visit to one of these productions an enjoyable hoot.

I’m doing pretty good for a new year—I’ve only had to tear up a couple of checks because I was mentally stuck in the past. I think I’m ready for 2016 now and my check writing hand is following suit.2016 is the year the downtown will start to unfold and begin to show us what all of the dust, inconvenience and pain for some of the local businesses was all about; and it better be good.I know that several businesses have been impacted directly by all of the construction, but likely none more that Huntington Station on Third Street. They stand to reap the rewards of being right next to the new parking garage and the foot traffic it will bring; we just need to make sure they survive being right next to the construction zone. So let’s support this restaurant and all of our businesses downtown. They really need your patronage.Since so much of the conversation has focused on each individual aspect of work downtown, like the parking garage and completion schedule, I don’t think most of us are stepping back to imagine the bigger picture of how our downtown will look and function when everything is done.I am just now really starting to put a proper mental picture of the downtown together and I’m starting to get excited about it. What will it look like?On a walk down Monterey Road, you’ll notice that the median has a simple and clean look with native grasses and mulch. At the intersections, rustic looking fencing will define the public spaces—some might even sit a spell to take in the view of the downtown from this different perspective. Surely the “Dear Family” sculpture deserves some time tingling your optic nerves.Walking along the sidewalks you will now be able to sit at tree planter boxes, relaxing or socializing on built in benches. At night there will be a subtle glow coming from under the benches and the trees will help illuminate the sidewalks with their festive lighting. Unique lanterns hang from the trees in the median to add another dimension to this nighttime streetscape.I get to Third Street and I look toward the completed parking garage and see people gathered in the plaza right in front. Some will sit in public Adirondack chairs under the giant lantern supporting oak tree and others in front of the businesses that will front the parking garage, which I can only hope will complement the thriving scene at Huntington. There will be the unmistakable buzz of people happy to be out and enjoying themselves.I’ll miss the colorful pop-up park, but hope to enjoy a corner with yet another business that should thrive in our downtown.Looking up and down Monterey Road, it will look a lot like it has in the recent past, until you start to look at the details. And I think those details will make all the difference in the world in how we see and use our downtown.Please start spending more time enjoying our downtown right now.McKay is a longtime Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

In late November 2015, a plan of sorts was proposed by the city of Morgan Hill where water rates for hillside communities would be raised considerably. Depending on where you lived, starting in 2016 some residents would pay up to 300 percent more than the previous year. It was argued that it was only fair since extra costs were incurred to serve the hillside residents.  In early December and after much discussion coupled with a petition submitted to the city council, the planned increase was modified and the city proposed that hillside residents pay a surcharge to cover the electrical cost for pumping water up to hillside properties. This will become a “done deal” later this month when addressed by the city council.I’m in my fortieth year of living in Jackson Oaks, and I believe it is ill advised to create classes of ratepayers when paying for city services. I’m against this approach as I believe it is divisive to the city at large.In my neighborhood, there are no curbs or sidewalks and the streets are so narrow that only the brave try parking a car on the street. The amount of street lighting in the hillside is scant versus many areas in the flat land. I can recall seeing a street cleaner once in my 40 years of hillside living. There are no city parks in or close to my neighborhood. All of these have costs tied to them and it’s fair to ask, why are residents asked to pay for unequal amounts of city services?  Remember when the city committed about $5 million (in conjunction with the Santa Clara Valley Water District) to renew the out-of-date environmental study for the city flood control project?  Although this was Redevelopment Agency money, hillside residents are probably not going to be underwater.   Do we not all remember when perchlorate threatened some of the city water supply from the Olin Corporation Tennant Avenue facility? Even though not all parts of the city were affected, a citywide surcharge was imposed to pay for equipment to filter out the perchlorate at contaminated wells.The police know the areas in the city where their resource is spent, just as they know where there is less (or little) crime or public safety issues. Why not create classes of ratepayers in the city to make it fair? Use more, pay more.What does this have to do with paying for the electrical power to pump water to hillside residents?  Let’s be clear: Morgan Hill is a city, and city services should come with a flat rate structure for all services, including water.  I don’t support classes of users allocated on costs. The perchlorate citywide surcharge was just. The notion that police costs should be set up by zone is nuts. I defend the city’s flood control expenditures. As for Jackson Oaks’ narrow streets, absence of parks or minimal street lighting, I knew this when I moved here.Also when I moved here, and for 40 years after, all city residents paid the same rate for water. It was sound policy then and that wisdom should prevail today.The Morgan Hill City Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed water and wastewater rate increases 7 p.m. Jan. 20, at council meeting chambers, 17555 Peak Ave.

HE FOUGHT to blink his eyelids open against the night’s crust of ‘sleep.’ Through the cinched-down opening in the hood of his sleeping bag, he gazed up at a slate gray sky. A new day was about to begin.

Times of crisis, distress and violence too often expose our deeply held fears. People of faith share much in common: a desire for a peaceful world, respect for one another and a commitment to strive collaboratively to advance social justice and the common good. Current attempts to isolate and demonize our Muslim sisters and brothers violate the foundation of our shared beliefs.

Clear plants from creekMy property—as well as many more, including the Woodland Estates Senior MobilE Home Park—backs up to the Llagas Creek between Santa Teresa Boulevard, and Olive Avenue, which is all part of the city.In 2010, I brought up the issue about the overgrown vegetation to both the Santa Clara Valley Water District, as well as the City of Morgan Hill. This vegetation could create possible fire danger in the summer, and also the impairment of the water flow in the creek.I was impressed with the immediate response from both the city and the Water District. The city was out there the next day to cut down the tall grass up to or about 30 feet from the property lines for weed abatement, and the Water District set up a plan to cut down the overgrown berry plants and remove some of the dead vegetation—which they did a couple months later.In March 2011, we had a lot of rain in a short amount of time, and with Chesbro Reservoir already filled, the water was not only going over the spillway but some water had to be released from the dam. In doing so, Llagas Creek was totally filled with fast running water, within two feet from flooding my property, and had encroached onto other properties along the creek. Water was also bubbling out of the storm drain at the end of our cul-de-sac, putting the end of our street two feet under water.In the last couple of years, the berry plants have come back. Even though they are not nearly as tall as before, they are tall enough to impair the natural water flow in the creek.I have meet with both the Water District and a representative from the city of Morgan Hill, and have had no luck because of the bureaucracy getting in the way. I have even sent an email to Mayor Steve Tate of Morgan Hill, over a month ago with no reply!With El Nino in the forecast this winter, we are expecting more rain than we have had in the past. If the creek isn't cleaned out once again there is a definite potential of flooding of the properties along the creek as well as some mobile homes lifting off their foundations and floating away.Because of this urgency, the bureaucracy needs to be put aside, and matters to take care of the creek area is a must before this negligence causes thousands of dollars of damages. If this were to happen, someone will be and should be liable!Roger MartaranoMorgan HillSpaceX landing an historic eventI want to congratulate Elon Musk and SpaceX for making history by landing the first stage of a rocket back on Earth (in one piece this time) after deploying a payload into space. This is an historic event because the cost of getting stuff into space just got at least three times cheaper.In a world where news is dominated by ISIS, mass shootings and Donald Trump, it's time the smart people get the spotlight and we have good news to report. This event is another milestone representing the progress of humanity on a road that will eventually lead to the human colonization of the planet Mars. All of humanity rejoices tonight at this great accomplishment.Thank you Elon and the team at SpaceX.Marc PerkelGilroy