Opinion

You will have to trust me when I say my dad and I do more things together than watch baseball, but I think some of my favorite memories are doing just that.

Cheers to the graduates of local high schools’ class of 2014. Students, families, friends and faculty have spent the last two weeks celebrating commencement ceremonies at Live Oak High School, Ann Sobrato High School, Central High School, Oakwood School and Silicon Valley Flex Academy. We congratulate all of this year’s graduates, and wish them the best of luck as they proceed into adulthood and the next big stage of their lives—whether that’s college, the armed forces, volunteerism or new careers. Jeers to Santa Clara County registered voters for their embarrassing display of apathy at the polls in the June 3 gubernatorial primary. A dismal 20 percent of the county’s 806,000 voters showed up for the election. That’s far below election officials’ and experts’ hopeful predictions of a meager 35-percent turnout. In American democracy, voters are tasked with making important decisions that can have a profound effect on the future of their communities, neighborhoods and the entire country. When voters fail at that task and don’t even show up to the polls, they can blame themselves first when barely-elected officials break their promises or make it clear they’re not going to do their jobs. Cheers to Morgan Hill’s Outdoor Sports Center for winning the bid to host US Youth Soccer’s Region IV Presidents Cup this week, June 11 through June 15. The tournament will bring 120 boys and girls soccer teams, age 12 and up, from throughout the Western states to the southeast Morgan Hill soccer complex. The event will not only elevate the facility on Condit Road to a “prestige” it hasn’t seen before, with the eyes of the country’s largest youth soccer governing body focused on the local 38-acre complex, according to Jeff Dixon of Morgan Hill Youth Sports Alliance, the nonprofit that runs the OSC. It will also bring an economic boon worth a “conservative” estimate of $1 million to Morgan Hill, as players, coaches and soccer officials are likely to spend their down time after games eating at local restaurants, staying at local hotels, visiting Morgan Hill parks, or even bowling or at the movies.Jeers to city officials who want to move the First Street veterans monument from its current site in the median of Monterey Road in downtown Morgan Hill. Complaints of a traffic hazard and road closures during annual Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies at the memorial are bunk. The intersection is no more hazardous than others, and the city has many other options to improve pedestrian safety as part of the overall plan to spruce up and redevelop the downtown. And Morgan Hill residents and officials should be proud that so many people show up to ceremonies honoring their veterans that the police have to block vehicle traffic, even if it is for a mere 45 minutes or so, twice a year. 

School board networking helps inform trusteesDear Editor,Your editorial about the school board travel expenses was small-minded and ill-informed. First of all, most school board members volunteer their time. They are community members with great intentions, but often lacking in the extensive knowledge needed to be effective in their volunteer jobs. A couple of bone-headed decisions could cost the school district many times this expense.  Effective school board members educate themselves by networking with peers around the state, and building both political and other alliances within their immediate and neighboring communities. It is important to be able to tap into the knowledge of others when making important decisions, and to connect with those who fund education and pass legislation in Sacramento affecting local schools. You don't get this by staying at home, or making it harder to attend meetings and events in various locations around the state.  Tom Scott, Morgan Hill

It’s time for the Morgan Hill Unified School District’s seven elected trustees to exercise some fiscal restraint and set an example by cutting back on theirs use of taxpayers’ money to attend conferences and banquets in the name of “professional development.”During the 2013-2014 school year the board of education members spent more than $15,000 from the general fund on their expenses for airfare, hotel stays, meals and registration to attend events such as the California School Boards Association’s annual conference in San Diego, Chamber of Commerce breakfasts, the California Latino School Boards Association conference and other events. It’s easy to dismiss $15,000 as insignificant compared to the district’s overall $65 million general fund budget. But the trustees, who are elected by the people of Morgan Hill and are using their money to attend these events, have a responsibility to set an example. Plus, the amount spent by MHUSD trustees on these conferences and banquets is more than twice that of nearby school districts. In Morgan Hill, at the top of the list was Trustee Rick Badillo’s $4,645.70 tab, a majority coming from attending the CSBA and the California Latino School Boards Association annual conferences as well as CSBA Masters in Governance coursework.At the opposite end is Trustee Amy Porter Jensen, who did not attend a single conference and expensed not a cent from the taxpayers’ wallet.We agree with Badillo, who told reporter Scott Forstner that it’s the elected officials’ duty “to be as informed as possible on current issues affecting our district as well as the rest of the state.” However, this information seeking process does not have to come at the expense of the taxpayers. Perhaps the board could implement a policy that reimburses trustees for registration fees but not travel and hotel expenses, similar to the policy in place at Santa Clara Unified.It’s a tough pill to swallow that the CSBA conference in San Diego came at a $7,581.54 charge. Did they have to fly? A carpool drive down to Southern Calif. would have been more economical. And how about a Subway sandwich for lunch rather than hundreds of dollars in meals?And some of the events—particularly Chamber breakfasts and dinners—are simply extravagant and serve no purpose in advancing the trustees’ knowledge of technical school issues. Trustees could also use some of their $200 or so monthly stipend to pay for their meals and hotelsThe board is putting together a subcommittee of three trustees to come up with a more suitable professional development budget. That’s a productive start. Professional development is a vital component to establishing the best board —and something that should not be discouraged. But not at a $15,000 cost to the taxpayers.

SCVWD not doing enough to protect water resourcesDear Editor,While Dennis Kennedy paints a positive picture of the water district, I can’t.  There is simply much more that needs to be done to manage our water resources. The district needs to become a leader and lead cities by requiring better policies, infrastructure and innovation.The growth in the county is unsustainable. Over 55% of our water is imported. We are dependent on outside resources and in light of this drought and climate change our future is in doubt and our quality of life is at risk. While Dennis praises the district for past efforts, I don’t see anything specific, and nothing new in light of current challenges. For Morgan Hill we need to do much more—including a scalping plant that diverts water from the water treatment plant in Gilroy, keeping it right here in Morgan Hill. We need a new water recycling infrastructure. Not just in a local treatment plant but how can we get recycled water to local farmers, big commercial users and public institutions like our parks and schools. We also need to consider bringing recycled water for landscaping to our homes. We talked about doing this for the past decade but nothing has been done. We need to do more than discourage lawns and water wasting landscaping from sidewalks, business frontage, median strips and alike and require native, drought tolerant landscaping throughout the community. We need to look at our housing permits, and require gray water recovery, less lawn space and use of drought tolerant landscaping, including the use of rain water tanks. There is much more we must do and we need bold leaders and leadership to take us to the next century. Relying on past efforts will not get us to where we need to be. Mark Grzan, Morgan Hill ‘Cowards resort to name calling’Dear Editor,I’d like to respond to “know-nothingness and Kevin Jensen” written by the Grzan family, in your May 23, 2014 Opinion section.I would never expect someone of your caliber to have the courage to debate anyone, let alone an entire group of educated individuals knowledgeable with facts that would destroy your empty claims about Kevin Jensen. But I do expect a candidate such as Laurie Smith who uses liberal tactics such as personal attacks and name calling to be required to defend her position on issues in order to support the office she is seeking. Either you can’t read or haven’t taken the time to educate yourself with Jensen’s list of reforms, issues, problems, etc. which are clearly listed on his website along with endorsements of almost every law enforcement agency in this county and then some http://www.kevinjensenforsheriff.com/#!endorsements/c1g7l.  If Jensen’s such a know-nothing candidate as you claim, perhaps you can explain with real facts why numerous top law enforcement agencies and individuals—you know, the experts who know what makes a good sheriff—are supporting him?  Yes, Grzan family, I expect cowards without facts to resort to name calling those of us with the truth “dysfunctional extremists” and a “know-nothing group.” Thanks for the compliment; we must be doing the right thing to get you to make such unsupported stupid comments.Georgine Scott- CodigaGilroy, CAReal dialogue needed on SEQDear Editor, Comparably, to Morgan Hill Planning Commission meetings of the past, there were little public speakers Tuesday evening, May 27, on what seemed to be another “recycled meeting.” We have been through this for 15-20 years now in the MH Southeast Quadrant, with very little result—an exception being the private Catholic High School, which seems to be well underway with its plans at Murphy and Tennant avenues. I would like to see project fruition and progress, as I know others do who have expended and reaped nothing in return but an account deprived of funds, for a project attempted and no desirable reap or results.A few years, another EIR and more recycling may again occur as the picture in the SEQ—barren fields—remains status quo.Comparably, with previous meetings where there was considerable public speaking from the audience, Tuesday night's meeting seemed to have a group “walk-out” after the presentations by professionals. One Planning Commissioner wished to hear from the public but there was little response, given many opportunities. This may be unspoken commentary that I believe needs to be surfaced for future meetings. Why is this happening? I believe that there needs to be a brainstorm session as to the satisfaction level of the project progress in the MH SEQ.Julia Borina Driscoll, Morgan Hill

For those of you wondering, as I have been lately, when exactly Daylight Saving Time starts, it’s Sunday, March 9 at 2 a.m. That’s when the clock springs forward for some inexplicable reason and, voila, an extra hour of daylight appears magically and the days grow longer marching toward summer. Leave the clock alone would be my preference. It’s just a weird cultural fluke from days gone by at this point.