Local resident Dennis Delisle will challenge City Councilman
Steve Tate in the race for mayor.
Morgan Hill – Local resident Dennis Delisle will challenge City Councilman Steve Tate in the race for mayor.
City Councilman Mark Grzan, who was considering entering the race last week, has decided not to run in the Nov. 7 election. Grzan still has two years left in his four-year city council term.
Delisle, 58, and Tate, 62, are each longtime residents with similar views on public safety, namely figuring out how to add more police and fire services during a budget deficit. Both said fiscal responsibility was one of their strong points.
Despite their similarities, the two candidates differ in how they will sell themselves to voters.
Delisle is a political newcomer who touts his business smarts above all else. He owns an accounting firm and has lived in Morgan Hill for 30 years. During the 1990s he served as board president and treasurer of the Independent Business Owners Association International.
“I want to bring my business sense to the city council and make sure the city is run as fiscally sound as possible,” Delisle said.
Reigning in the city’s budget deficit ahead of schedule would be his top concern, though he’s currently unsure of what his tactics would be. The city council adopted the Sustainable Budget Strategy in 2004 to bring revenues in line with spending by 2008, but the city is still having difficulty identifying new sources of revenue. While a rebounding economy is generating more sales tax, the city continues to use its reserves to fill the gap. This year’s budget requires about $800,000 in reserve funding.
Delisle is a member of the South County Joint Planning Advisory Committee.
Delisle faces a tough battle against seasoned community leader Tate, who is coming to the end of his second city council term.
“I have a lot of experience, we’re on a great run and we hope to keep the momentum going,” Tate said, adding he welcomes the challenge of competing against another candidate.
Tate officially launches his mayoral bid today with a reception from 5-7pm at the Villa Mira Monte house on Monterey Road.
He has a long and visible track record in Morgan Hill, including seven years on the city’s planning commission in the 1990s. He is currently retired after a 38-year career at IBM where he held marketing and planning positions.
Like Delisle, Tate says he’s a stickler for fiscal responsibility. But he favors staying the course on gradual deficit reduction as recommended by city officials. Delisle, on the other hand, has suggested he would hunt for a more immediate solution by trimming the city’s operating costs.
Extending the city’s redevelopment agency is another priority for Tate. Adopted 25 years ago, the agency has spent $250 million to rejuvenate blighted areas in the city. A map has been drawn and property taxes that normally would go to the county have been redirected to the agency. The city council acts as the agency’s directors. In November, the council will consider renewing the agency and authorizing more flexible financing and limited eminent domain powers.
Delisle said he supports the redevelopment agency but is against funding projects that impact the city’s general fund budget, such as the Centennial Recreation Center, the Morgan Hill Aquatics Center and the city’s Community and Cultural Center.
As for public safety, both candidates agreed police and fire services should be expanded. The city currently has fewer police officers per capita than is recommended by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report, with 33 officers serving 36,000 people.
Mayors are elected to a two-year term in Morgan Hill. Current Mayor Dennis Kennedy announced in May he would not seek reelection and said recently he is not yet endorsing any candidates.
