Opinion

Once a year Morgan Hill gets to strut its stuff and the show the world how the Fourth of July should be celebrated, from parade to fireworks. This community has had 140 opportunities to get it right and I think you can safely say that they have done just that, and it continues to get better.I only recently started attending the parade because I’m not normally a huge fan of crowds. Much of our community shows up and we draw thousands of families from outside of Morgan Hill, many of whom have adopted our parade as theirs too. I’ve come to appreciate this crowd now.But the celebration really starts on July 3 with the Patriotic Sing and the Family Street Dance.I attended the Family Street Dance and I can tell you that moving it back downtown this year added a lot of effort for the Independence Day Celebration crew, but it was worthwhile. Just about every type of person could be seen strolling the streets having a good time. There was lots of energy with the music and the buzz of the crowd yet it was so calm that security had a relaxing evening.This year I was offered a seat in the parade on the Leadership Morgan Hill float and accepted. The parade was a lot of fun from this perspective.  First thing you notice is that there are a lot of people watching this parade. Next thing you notice is everyone huddles around every bit of shade available or tries to make some, with lots of parasols and pop-up canopies.If I were a business trying to do some advertising I would hand out those little fans that everyone seemed to be using as we rolled by (note to self: bring fan next year…).Another thing I noticed is that anyone with a home on the parade route probably just acquired a few dozen new friends. So many homes were having their own private parties that staying seated on the float was a challenge at times. Liquid refreshments seemed to be flowing and likely contributed to the many smiles to be found.I decided that if I ever come into a windfall I’m going shopping for a house downtown. Being on the float really opened my eyes to what is on the route and that included some nice homes. I’ve now got my eye on a couple because, God knows, you buy a home for location, location, location—one of those “locations” being on this parade route.We spent a lot of time on the float waving and yelling back at family members of those on the float. This is truly a family oriented event.Hopefully most parade spectators occupied themselves in town and went on to witness one of the best fireworks displays in the county to cap off the Fourth of July celebration—Morgan Hill style.Something I hear over and over again is that Morgan Hill embodies small town America. I think that what happens in this town around the Fourth of July cements that description with a lot of pride.We throw a heck of a birthday party.John McKay is a longtime Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

Bring dinner and a bottle of your favorite wine and be treated to a delightful evening with the French farce “Boeing Boeing” at Limelight Actors Theater through July 18.

A couple columns ago, I wrote about the Aquila Loop Trail, a short loop near the Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve parking area. In that column, I promised to return to walk the longer loop that reaches deeper into the preserve.

Spend money on students, not lawsuit

Open letter to Mayor Steve Tate,On April 30, 2015, an article appeared in the Morgan Hill Times reciting “a lengthy April 28 e-mail blast” outlining various aspects surrounding City Ventures’ approaching acquisition of an existing “Purchase Option” related to 95 East Third Street or, as you all coin it, “The BookSmart Site.”Essentially your remarks provide a diversion from the issues germane, while attempting to do a great job of confusing a general reader. The fact is, the City of Morgan Hill RDA acquired the Purchase Option on the Book Smart Site for $1.7 million and has agreed to sell it to City Ventures (with additional covenants) for $100,000. That’s a $1.6 million dollar loss!Many local residents are very familiar with what they perceive as the past squandering of RDA money (with seemingly no oversight).What is necessary to define upon reflection is: Why the City Council is now willing to throw away $1.6 million of taxpayer money. I really do not believe this is what Governor Brown had in mind when dismantling the RDA statewide.Your email also noted the city “is committed to assisting the impacted businesses” but has “absolutely no obligation” to do so. The $1 million relocation package you describe is funded by leftover RDA cash. Why don’t you let the community know that the “leftover RDA cash” is TAXPAYER MONEY? The City Council seems to treat it as if it is MONOPOLY money!Under the existing agreement, City Ventures will be handed for $2.1 million (option sale price of the site plus the purchase cost of the property) what was once, according to various newspaper accounts and City Council commentary, an asset worth about $3.7 Million.Did anyone—the City Council, staff, or whoever was representing the City of Morgan Hill in this “transaction”—attempt to encourage City Ventures to pay a portion of its net profit from sales proceeds (it is indicated that they will be building “condominiums and townhouses”) up to the $1.7 million original option price? In the Asset Management industry, when we sell a property at a below-market price and/or a “deep discount,” we generally require a percentage of proceeds as a “kicker” in nearly all circumstances.For the Morgan Hill City Council to GIFT City Ventures a $1.6 million dollar equity stake in this property at taxpayer expense is a blatant slap in the face of every taxpaying resident. Add to that an additional $1 MILLION of relocation expense (although you claim it includes tenants of Granada and Downtown Mall as well), the cost for another boondoggle in the downtown now escalates to $2.6 million! And, add to that the proposed repair of Fourth Street, and the rework of Third Street—who knows the total cost.It is the City Council’s fiduciary responsibility that the sale of the Book Smart option to City Ventures be placed in abeyance, or cancelled outright, unless and until the total amount of $1.7 million which the city expended for the purchase option is recoverable under ANY option sale.If the property is appropriate for the planned improvements and the financial feasibility of the project is acceptable to them, then guess what: City Ventures will go along with a participatory agreement.Regardless, the City Council of Morgan Hill must, and I believe is required to safeguard and judiciously protect taxpayer assets.Richard KhanMorgan HillKhan is a banking, mortgage and finance professional who has served in various capacities in commercial finance, commercial real estate lending, asset management and consumer finance.

I’ve just returned from a long week on the road, touring the great American Southwest where I saw the wide open spaces that crafted the world’s image of how the wild west should look. These places are stunning for their sometimes intense and sometimes subtle natural beauty. Man is still subordinate to nature here.After those many days on the road I returned home to something new in town, specifically downtown.Having stayed informed of a new temporary park being proposed for the downtown, I felt it could be something pretty special if it could actually be pulled off as discussed. This park would be temporary and located in the parking lot of the old liquor store at the corner of Third Street and Monterey Road. The planning was fast and furious. There would be a lot of donated time and materials from the private sector. There would be numerous departments at City Hall working side by side with the community to get this park done.  This kind of cooperative effort can produce some pretty impressive results.I returned to find an incredible little park and it is now hard to imagine that this used to be a blighted corner of our downtown.This little park is known as a “pop-up” park because it is temporary and it literally popped up in just a few days. However, the impact on the users would appear to be anything but temporary. Families have adopted the park and it doesn’t look like they’ll want to let go of it soon. On my first visit I just wanted to sit and look at every little detail and watch the children play while parents watched and some even napped—right here in our downtown!I took in the large mural which is based upon a French cartoon about bicycling and the smaller one that is the impassioned work of a local artist.There is a cool old map which showed that bicycling was important at the turn of the last century and a modern “fix-it” station so you can fix your bike today. There is plenty of bike rack space for cyclists to leave their bikes to explore the downtown. You can even fill a water bottle right here.A huge blue chair is waiting for someone with a rear end as big as the imagination of those who dreamed up this park. There is a large ceramic basket of grapes with a bottle of wine which looks like it should sit next to that big blue chair, just waiting for that giant person and a wine glass. There are lots of little chairs to match the big one that look like cute little spawn.An artist turned old propane tanks into chairs and benches—another of the many works of park art commissioned by the city’s mini-grant program.There are plants in planters which also serve as chalkboards. These two walls of chalkboards entertain the children and, from the looks of things, adults too. There is even a bookcase with books to borrow.All of this is on artificial turf that makes this look like the only green grass in any park in this town.A couple huge trees have been brought in to add some nature, but there is no mistaking this for a man made effort.Not much is subtle about this park, but it is very comfortable. Come see for yourself before it’s gone.McKay is a longtime Morgan Hill resident, city planning commissioner and a co-founder of the Morgan Hill Tourism Alliance.

If I were to rate Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve based on my first visit, I would award it just two stars out of a possible five. But that was four years ago and things have changed.

Memories of veterans