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David Wolfsmith, a 51-year-old personal trainer and former owner of a Morgan Hill gym, pleaded guilty last week to sexually assaulting more than a dozen female victims—one of them a child—according to Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Tim McInerny.Wolfsmith, a Morgan Hill resident, entered the plea at South County Courthouse June 23. Specifically, he pleaded guilty to 14 counts “pertaining to 13 charged victims,” McInerny said. One of the counts was a felony charge of lewd and lascivious acts against a child younger than 14, and another was a misdemeanor charge of child molestation.The other 12 charges to which Wolfsmith pleaded guilty are felony counts of sexual battery by fraudulent purpose, related to 13 victims, McInerny said.Wolfsmith agreed to a prison term of seven years in exchange for the guilty plea, according to court files. He also agreed to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, and to pay restitution. He will be formally sentenced Aug. 25 at the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill, where the judge will determine how much restitution Wolfsmith must pay, among other penalty requirements.Wolfsmith assaulted the victims when he was a personal trainer for the Wolfpak Training Center, which he owned with his wife, Julia Wolfsmith, according to authorities. The Wolfpak gym was located in downtown Morgan Hill near the corner of Monterey Road and Third Street.David Wolfsmith used his position as a personal trainer to gain the trust of the victims who trained at Wolfpak, according to police reports contained in the court file. He convinced numerous female victims to let him massage them as part of their personal training and recovery regimen. During these massages, he subsequently touched the victims in sexually explicit or inappropriate ways that made the women feel uncomfortable or threatened.Wolfsmith also asked some of the victims to take off all of their clothing before he gave them a massage, according to the court file. In at least one instance, he removed a victim’s pants and underwear while he was massaging her.Wolfsmith touched these victims in this way “for the purpose of sexual arousal, and fraudulently represented that the touching served a professional purpose,” the police report states.Morgan Hill Police officers arrested David Wolfsmith April 11, 2016 in relation to accusations of sexual assault made by five female victims. The initial MHPD investigation began February 2016. After Wolfsmith’s initial arrest, more victims came forward, and the D.A.’s office added more charges to his case.After he made bail following his initial arrest, Wolfsmith continued to train clients in Morgan Hill, and attempted to open a gym in San Jose, according to authorities.

Local officials and members of the public have many unanswered questions about the details and logistics of Morgan Hill’s imminent switch from an at-large to a by-district election system, which the current council claims was forced upon them by the threat of a costly lawsuit.What happens if nobody tosses their hat in the ring to become a candidate in one or more of the new districts in an upcoming council election, leaving the voters in that geographic area with no one to elect? Can the city’s voters continue to elect its mayor on an at-large basis, or would this also violate the California Voting Rights Act, as at least one private attorney contends?On June 21, the Morgan Hill City Council held its first public hearing since deciding earlier this month to implement district elections, starting with the November 2018 balloting. The June 7 decision to make the switch was in response to a “demand letter,” dated May 2, from the law firm Goldstein, Borgen, Dardarian & Ho, alleging that the current at-large system, in which every voter inside the city limits gets to elect every seat on the council, violates the CVRA.Specifically, the at-large system—which the city has used since it was incorporated in 1906—results in “vote dilution” and prevents under-represented groups such as Latino voters from “influencing the results of elections,” according to the demand letter.The same law firm sent a similar letter to the Morgan Hill Unified School District in 2015, subsequently prompting the district’s seven-member board of trustees to make a switch to by-district voting.Based on council discussion June 21, city staff is recommending the council “create four voting districts in which each council member must live within the district they wish to represent, and voters may only vote for candidates within their voting district.”The staff report continues, “Any changes to the procedures for electing the mayor would need to be approved by the voters. Staff is not recommending placing a measure on the ballot at this time. Under staff’s recommendation, the mayor will continue to be directly elected through an at-large election allowing all residents (within) the city to vote for mayor.”There is a difference of opinion on whether an at-large mayor also violates the CVRA if the remaining council members are elected within individual districts. Attorney Mike Baller, who signed the May 2 letter from Goldstein, Borgen, said the council will not meet its requirements under the CVRA if it keeps the mayor’s seat elected at large.City staff is currently working out a contract with National Demographics Corporation to provide “experience, technical expertise and legal/political know-how to assist the city with a successful and inclusive transition to by-district elections,” reads the staff report. This work will include drawing the four geographic council representation districts within the city limits.The city is also planning an “extensive engagement effort” to make sure residents and voters are aware of the change. This effort includes distributing information in both English and Spanish, and an interpreter was available for Spanish speakers at the June 21 meeting.The public outreach process also includes periodic email blasts to residents—such as a June 22 message from city spokeswoman Maureen Tobin—and a series of upcoming public hearings. The next two public hearings are scheduled for June 28 and July 10 at council meeting chambers, 17575 Peak Ave.“During its discussions, the city…will strive to have an open, transparent and inclusive process,” Tobin’s email says. “More information will be available very soon, and we want to alert all residents of the need for your input and participation in establishing city council districts in Morgan Hill.”Reluctant changeMorgan Hill resident Doug Muirhead echoed council members’ views on the likely effectiveness of attracting Latino candidates under a district-based election system.“Changes to district elections under threat of legal action doesn’t guarantee that minority representation will happen,” Muirhead said June 21. “That’s the discussion I wish we were having.”He also wondered, “If we have a district, and no candidate applies, what happens to that seat?”When Councilmember Gordon Siebert resigned from the council halfway through his four-year term in 2016, the council eventually appointed Caitlin Jachimowicz to complete his unexpired term. That process started with an application and public interview process, in which more than 20 candidates participated.But the current council doesn’t even know if they would follow a similar process if confronted with a nameless ballot in a district election.Morgan Hill resident and Gavilan College Trustee Jonathan Brusco also addressed the council June 21, offering his experience from when the community college’s board switched to district voting in 2015—also under threat of a lawsuit.“It probably will not give you the best candidates,” Brusco said.Mayor Pro Tem Larry Carr said the most difficult part will be ensuring voters know about the change to a by-district system before it kicks in November 2018, which is crucial because the change is so drastic and fundamentally different from how local voters have elected their councilmembers in every election until now.Carr noted that when MHUSD implemented its by-district election system, even after a lengthy public outreach process, many voters still wondered in November 2016 why they were only voting for a single candidate.He also offered his criticism of the district-based system, and questioned whether it would attract high-quality candidates.“You can’t handicap (an election) and make a council good,” Carr said. “That’s all this is doing. I’m afraid it’s going to start politicizing everything.”By approving the change to by-district elections June 7—albeit reluctantly—the council “will take advantage of legal protection that enables cities to have a say in district boundaries and avoid costly litigation,” reads Tobin’s June 22 email.Staff reports and video recordings of the June 7 and June 21 council discussions can be found on the city’s website, morganhill.ca.gov.

A small plane was forced to crash land on the shoulder of the San Martin Avenue on-ramp to U.S. 101 after suffering engine failure about 5 p.m. June 24, according to a Department of California Highway Patrol collision report.

Three Morgan Hill seniors will get one more shot at playing high school football when they join the south roster for the 43rd annual Wedemeyer Classic.

Sometimes a passion is born from a desire to overcome a failure and be the best in a field.

Former Morgan Hill producer Gary Harmon ran a vast, pyramid-style scheme to defraud investors in his various entertainment ventures by dropping celebrities’ names and promising to help young people gain training and careers in the arts, according to court documents.Harmon, a 41-year-old former Sobrato High School teacher, faces two counts of grand theft and three counts of communications containing untrue statements and omissions of material facts in Santa Clara County Superior Court.He was arrested March 23 in Nevada, on a Morgan Hill warrant, in relation to these charges. He has since been released on $250,000 bail, and his next hearing is scheduled for July 13 at South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill.Harmon also faces a “white collar crime enhancement,” based on the allegation that he used “fraud and embezzlement” to steal more than $500,000 from the victims, according to the criminal complaint filed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.Morgan Hill Police reports contained in the case’s court file list at least four victims who Harmon allegedly convinced to invest in his production companies or projects, with promises of repayment and profits that were never realized. The reports claim Harmon exaggerated or fabricated relationships with beloved celebrities—including country music legend Willie Nelson, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and former Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil—to fraudulently sell hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of investments to the marks, according to police.The fraud goes back to 2012, when Harmon—then the director of ISE Entertainment—asked Drew Perkins to loan him $125,000 to help produce “The Vince Neil Poker Series,” according to the police reports. Harmon promised to pay Perkins back in full by September 2012, plus interest and a share of the television series’ future profits.Perkins transferred the money to Harmon’s ISE account at Wells Fargo, but he was never fully repaid, according to police. ISE and Neil signed an agreement to produce the series in August 2012, but the television program never got off the ground.  Neil himself gained an advance payment of $20,000 for the series. This sum came from the ISE account into which Perkins dropped $125,000, according to police.The MHPD investigation report claims Harmon spent large sums of Perkins’ investment on transfers to other accounts, luxury car rentals, airfare and credit card payments.Complex scheme?Then in summer 2012, Harmon met Morgan Hill couple Jesse and Roni Jo Castillo, according to the police reports. Harmon told the couple that he was Nelson’s manager, and expressed interest in representing the Castillos’ daughter, a musician and artist.Harmon introduced the couple to another producer, Kerry Wallum. Wallum and Harmon later claimed they were the owners of another film production company, Luck Films, as well as Boulder Creek Guitars, which was based in Morgan Hill at the time, the court documents claim.Harmon also told the Castillos he was about to close a $10 million deal with Wozniak, the couple told police.The Castillos were thus convinced by Harmon to invest $125,000 in Boulder Creek Guitars, which Harmon said was going to “help students work with other musicians” and “work with Sobrato Arts to help students be involved in the arts.”The Castillos were promised they would be repaid in 90 days, with a profit on their investment, but they haven’t seen a dime, according to police.When Jesse Castillo started asking questions of Harmon about where the money went, Harmon allegedly told him Boulder Creek Guitars was raking in at least $60,000 per month, but did not present any paperwork proving that claim. Furthermore, the company was not paying rent or other bills, the police reports say.When the Castillos demanded a list of Harmon’s expenses made with their investment, he omitted thousands of dollars’ worth of cash withdrawals, transfers to other accounts controlled by Harmon, restaurant purchases and even a cruise, according to the police report.Around November 2012, Harmon convinced another victim—Mary McGreevy—to loan him $140,000, the court documents say. Harmon told McGreevy he needed the cash to pay off his debt to Perkins so Harmon could begin marketing a new program called “iJams,” which he said was developed by Wozniak.Harmon promised to repay McGreevy’s $140,000 by February 2013, plus 10 percent interest and 5 percent of proceeds from the Vince Neil series, reads the police report. McGreevy told police she has not been repaid.MHPD investigators could not find any evidence of a deal or personal relationship between Harmon and Wozniak.Police reports claim Harmon used McGreevy’s investment to repay Perkins $100,000, but also for personal purchases at airlines, restaurants, bars, movie theaters, limousine services and other expenses.Partial repayment allegedHarmon’s latest victim, according to the court documents, was his former friend and business partner Mike DiRubio, also a Morgan Hill resident. Harmon and DiRubio had worked together with the ARTTEC production company, and in 2014 brought big-name acts such as Kiefer Sutherland, Queensryche and Survivor to perform in Morgan Hill.DiRubio claims that in 2013, Harmon embezzled more than $250,000 from him by reneging on a promise of a share of ISE and recurring income, in return for the investment. Harmon only returned about $71,000 to DiRubio, according to the police investigation.As the weeks went by after making his initial investment, DiRubio noticed his name had been removed from the ISE bank account and he began asking Harmon about it, according to police. Harmon eventually told him his money went toward the Boulder Creek Guitars transaction.Harmon allegedly made about $72,000 worth of cash withdrawals from DiRubio’s investment, police claim. He also spent $26,000 on personal credit card payments, $20,000 to Luck Films (partially to repay McGreevy), $70,000 to Boulder Music Group and $97,000 to a nonprofit of which Harmon was director until May 2013.Wallum did not receive any of the funds invested by Harmon’s alleged victims, and he was not an authorized signer on any of the bank accounts into which the investments were deposited, the police report says.Boulder Creek Guitars is now based in Gilroy, and is not affiliated with Harmon or Wallum. Current owner Tom Strametz declined to comment on the Harmon case.In recent years, Harmon has filed a number of civil lawsuits against DiRubio, Wallum and other parties who have accused him of fraud.The court documents add that Harmon’s employment with Sobrato High was terminated in 2011, “after he was caught removing equipment from the school theater.”

Santa Clara County’s Board of Supervisors approved a $6.5 billion operating budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year at their June 16 meeting with a focus on affordable housing, services for homeless, jail operations and infrastructure.

In the summer before her sophomore year, Morgan Salzwedel was content just playing soccer and watching football from the stands.

Fines in Morgan Hill for local fireworks violations will triple during the upcoming Fourth of July period, when calls to the police department for such violations historically reach sky-high volumes.The tripled fines will apply to specified violations cited between July 2 and July 8, according to an announcement on the Morgan Hill Police Department Facebook page. Violations of three municipal code violations—possession of fireworks, discharge of fireworks and drunk in public—will be subject to tripled fines.With the typical violation of a Morgan Hill municipal code section costing $100 in the off-season, these fines will thus rise to $300 per citation under the holiday triple fine ordinance, which the city council approved at the May 3 meeting.“With hundreds expected to visit Morgan Hill over the upcoming Independence Day week, the Morgan Hill City Council has taken steps to ensure the City remains safe for everyone,” reads the MHPD post, adding, “Every available Morgan Hill Officer will be on duty throughout the week to ensure that residences and visitors enjoy a safe holiday week.”The city council approved the triple fines for the specified violations during the Fourth of July period, as well as the days before, after and including New Year’s Eve. A city staff report notes that residents surveyed January 2017 indicated a preference for more enforcement of the violations during these times of celebration, which can bring thousands of visitors to town and associated illicit behavior to local neighborhoods.“Although most (Fourth of July and New Year’s) celebration activities are law abiding, some have included excessive alcohol consumption, fights, overcrowded parks, packed recreational centers, and the use of illegal fireworks,” reads the May 3 staff report.The use of illegal fireworks was “one of the top areas of concern” identified by respondents to the January 2017.“Violations dramatically increase in many neighborhoods during the Fourth of July period because of the influx of patrons to the city events compared to other large celebrations such as Memorial Day weekend,” the May 3 staff report continues.In 2016, MHPD responded to 35 calls reporting illegal fireworks from July 3 to July 5. During the same three days in 2015, police responded to 20 calls reporting illegal fireworks. In 2014, those calls tallied 50.Morgan Hill city staff came up with the triple fine ordinance by researching what other cities in the region have done to crack down on illegal holiday fireworks. The City of Santa Cruz enacted a triple fine ordinance in 2014 for the 48 hours surrounding July 4, and the number of calls for service and citations has dropped since then, according to the Morgan Hill staff report.In 2016, the cities of Oakland and San Jose also increased their fines for fireworks violations during the summer holiday.The Morgan Hill staff report added that the holiday triple fine ordinance will help “educate, deter and mitigate the potential threat to safety by illegal fireworks during the specified periods.”